Hakurei Nothingness

((Author's Note: Hiya everyone, it's Niji here writing a one-shot story! For a basic summary, Hakurei Nothingness is like... Well... This isn't the first story of the Isle Illumine series, but it does take place before all Dragon Clans went against each other, before the Wars. Actually, it's about the fear and the warfare during the Revolution. But it's also a touching story on friendship, and how violence isn't always the answer. Interesting, I suppose, with an almost Sci-fi twist entangled within! Well, I'm looking forward to your reviews and comments, and I hope this is something you'll enjoy! ))

Long ago, on the continent of Isle Illumine, wars were at one time non-existent and the breeds of dragons, as many as there were, lived in peace and harmony; That was a time when a rare breed, the Twilight dragon, roamed the grassy plains, shared the clear water and twirled about in the cloudless blue sky. But ever since that long time ago, times have changed: If not for the slightly better, for the ultimate worse. As a result of this, Twilight dragons ceased to exist.

Rarer by far than all other breeds, the Twilight dragons didn't have just the magnificent beauty that made them known, it was mostly their unrivaled skill that made these creatures a legend; Dragons of this descent could fly high enough to break the planet's barrier and breath the nothingness that was Spaces' air. Now they remain but a legend passed through generations because of an unstoppable force of but three letters that led to their horrific slaughter; War.

But one Twilight dragon, one said to be the last one ever to live upon Isle Illumine before the Dragon Revolutions, had not just the will to live, but the spirit and the determination of friends that makes a great life, for not just him, but for others.

This is his tale.

The sun glinted through the transparent clouds as the afternoon began after dragonling's lunches. Their padded feet dashed through the grass as their parents, with loving eyes, looked upon them.

"Hey, Jin! Look what I can do!" A female Water dragon exclaimed as she side-dived into a pool of cool water, though the surface seemed heated from the sun. Her head poked out with her mouth forming an 'o' position, and bubbles blew bursting from her mouth. As they popped, she giggled.

"Wow!" Jin gasped, the golden strands that was his mane, hair, paws and tail (even like tassels on his heavenly feathered wings) swaying across his pure white fur as he jumped to his feet. His bronze/golden colored eyes were opened wide as he looked as his friend. "That is pretty cool, Ame!"

Ame blushed, showing easy on her smooth, cobalt scales. A Water dragon elder looked to Jin with an unsure glance.

"But Jin, you're a Twilight dragon," His ruffled voice reminded him, his large tail thumping rhythmically against the ground, the tail fins breezing the dragonlings behind that were tired and hot. "Surely, you can do the same."

Jin cocked his head to the side. The single garnet colored "jewel" encrusted on his forehead reflected light into the elder's eyes as he turned towards him, the old Water dragon squinting from the glint. "No... I don't think so."

"Why don't you try? I think you'll be surprised. Legends say the differ, Jin... You'll be able to."

Hmm. That was something Jin heard a lot. He frowned with a sigh, his furry ears lowering slightly against his head.

Everyone, adult, child or elder, always thought Jin to be the ultimate at everything. Could he run faster than an Earth dragon? Could he hold his breath underwater as long as a young Water dragon? Could he outmatch an Air dragon with aeromatic tricks, or drink lava as one would water like a Fire dragon could? Well, no, he couldn't. Really, Jin was no different except for his own ability, and everyone has everything that they're good at. He was not one to be admired more than he was currently, as he was just an idiotic, overexcited dragonling... But all this was because of one thing; Space.

He could breath the nothingness of Space, travel near stars, go to other planets if he really wanted to, and could stare directly at the sun though he could not journey there; He wasn't as invincible as they, the others, thought.

Jin sputtered as the water shoved itself up his nostrils. He ripped his head out of the water, coughing and hissing to get the uncomfortable feeling to leave, as the elder looked shocked and slightly bemused. Ame swam to Jin's side. They began to joke around.

"I guess he couldn't do it..." The elder, taken back, turned his head away in embarrassment. He had overestimated Jin... Well, until the time he forgot, as the elder was awfully senile.

Over the years that passed as Jin, Ame and Jin's other friends of other breeds grew, tensions between the major dragon clans mounted. Aggression of the adults were high, and they were optimistic when other breeds crossed territories that never were really there before.

Jin, noticing this, wasn't pleased. Of course, he asked his friends if they, too, had noticed this. It would seem he was preaching the obvious.

"Yes, I have," Ame nodded with a troubled look. The two antennae on her head behind her webbed ears dropped. "But, what could this mean?"

"Beats me," Kaji, a Fire dragon, flicked his claws together, creating a small flame. He laughed. "But yeah, I noticed it."

"As have I," Chikku, an albino Earth dragon with black markings, gave a melancholy expression. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"But what are we going to do about it?" Kaji flipped his tail back and forth lazily. "...Nothing, right?"

"I don't think we can do anything... But just because of the simple fact that we don't know with accuracy what the problem really is about," Chikku replied, stretching out his legs as he lay on his stomach.

"Then I say that we find out!" Jin made a determined sparkle light up his eyes. They looked at him with curiosity.

"But it would be awkward asking them," Ame shyly shifted, her tail curling around herself. "I mean, what is it of our business? The adults will be very suspicious on our interest and will probably end up checking in on things."

"If that happens, something is definetly out of the ordinary. It means that they have something to hide, something that they can't afford for others to know about," Jin put his paw to his chin, pausing for a moment. "If you like, I'll go gather some clues while you all hold up fort so the adults don't wonder. I don't have a real clan, anyways. I just go to and fro between your clans," He laughed. "You know me."

"Hmm..." The Earth, Fire and Water dragons looked to each other, thought for a moment, then answered their agreement. Jin smiled, bid them farewell, then left swiftly, swerving past trees from the forest that were in his way. Ame, Kaji and Chikku returned home to their separate clans.

The forest gave way to a large plain, with grass blowing freely in the windy breeze and lazy clouds, barely seen, rolled through the peaceful oceanic sky. Nothing suspicious; Nothing note-worthy.

That was until a scent tickled Jin's nose. His eyes widened largely. This was a scent he hadn't ever smelt before... It was slightly sickening, slightly yearning for, but mostly ominous. It bothered him greatly, so Jin followed the scent in case of something out of place.

His head twisted abruptly to the left, Jin's wings rising to slow him down in speed.

That was when he saw it.

A large carcass of what seemed to be a smaller Blackwing, though the body was twice the size as Jin.

It was torn and ripped with powerful claws down what used to be its side, its two horns broken and shattered, its eyes left of all life as it lay motionless in a thick puddle of crimson blood. The wings were shredded and the tail was repeatedly bitten with harsh fangs, a few left behind because of the thick scales underneath the few smooth layers. It smelt absolutely wretched, looking and smelling that it was there for quite a while.

The sight seemed all too terrible for Jin, one that had never even dreamed of a dragon killing another in his wildest ideas. Never a thing did he ever guess of seeing in his lifetime... Especially, not to a Blackwing, which was a dragon breed he hadn't seen often, and heard that they were ever so shy despite their size.

"W-what...?" Jin landed, his brain in too much shock to properly fold his wings.

As he padded cautiously towards the dragon (hoping for this to be one big joke by rude shapeshifters), the more he wondered on what had happened. An accident? Well, that was proved false when he saw a sight that made him even question his own vision...

From the dragon rose a black, aura-like fog with piercing red eyes and fangs of an ivory white, sharp like jagged rocks washed ashore. Jin jumped back, his eyes widened fully as his head pumped furiously against his chest. He was paralyzed with fear.

However, the aura didn't attack Jin. It merely swirled around him with hissing that perked his frightened ears to their own extent, until the aura disappeared... But as the swirling fog got to the planet's limits, it shone purified like a single star in the sky. Jin was speechless. His mind went blank.

Jin later returned to where the Water clan held up their "territory." With little word, Jin left the next day and didn't return for time to come.

"Hey... What's that?"

"How should I know? ...With the color, I think the possibility is that it's an Air dragon," The Water dragon, an adult with shimmering scales, squinted to the sun, a companion of a Water dragon heritage as well at his side. "I really hope so. I'm ready to blow some steam to those dunces." He cracked his knuckles, drawing sharp claws from his webbed paws.

Jin glided down, eyeing the two Water dragons and veering 'round to land beside them. His eyes narrowed towards them.

"Hmm... I don't recognize you two... But nevertheless... Do you know where Ame is? I said I'd meet her at the Clan."

"What are you?" One of the dragons snorted as he looked Jin up and down, ignoring his inquiry. "You have a gem like a Platinum, but you look like an Air. I bet you're a cross, eh?"

"No bother, it doesn't matter; And remember, you idiot, Platinums are a legend!" Said that other, grinning his fangs. "You're on Water dragon land, and you're obviously not one of us. As for this 'Ame'... Who really cares? You're a goner!"

Jin stepped back as the two Water dragons advanced. Land? ...Territories?! Wasn't it just a few days ago that these 'territories' meant nothing? It was like they never existed!

"Territories? What are you talking about?! Oh... I get it... You're joking."

Noticing, finally, with their intimidating silence that the two dragons were anything but flippant, Jin's eyes widened as he scrambled backwards and bolted on four paws through the misty forest, just ahead.

He looked up... Were those clouds? Clouds on Isle Illumine? They covered the sky creating a horrid, depressing teal. Well, no hassle; The misty teal sky had then gone pitch black and the sound of leathery wings beating took over his ears. Looking back, the Water dragons were gone.

"What is going on...?!" This was nothing of the same. The forest even seemed diverse... This was Isle Illumine, right?

It was then that the mist gave way in a second and red eyes formed from the thick fog. It formed the familiar shape of a dragon; And then... Behold, it was!
"Jin! Hey, long time, no see!" The cute voice Jin knew all too well came from behind him in a split second. When he turned, his golden eyes spotted Ame; She looked much older - It would seem she was almost an adult now.

"Ame! What's going on here?!" Jin asked, strained and incredibly perplexed. His tail shivered as overhead was the flock of midnight that devoured the sky; Luckily, they paid no attention to the forest below.

"You've been gone for years, so it doesn't surprise me that you're unaware of these recent events," Melancholingly, Ame lowered her head to look away from the sky and to the ground.

"'Years'? No, that's impossible," Jin would have laughed may the surroundings be not what they were. "All I did was leave Isle Illumine (literally) for just a little while. I went around, visited at the stars and looked for answers hidden in those places hidden from… Nevermind... Well... I can't tell you now. But really, it didn't feel like I was gone for too long. Why? How long have I been gone?"

Ame shrugged. "Much time has elapsed since your disappearance," She paused, then gave Jin a childish smile. His heart seemed to break at her gloomy, yet loving expression. "How about, it was many moons ago."

Both of them flushed as if to laugh, but instead they hurried off together through the forest. After all, it wouldn't be long until the shadowed figures in the sky decided to check the forest.

"Gee, Jin! 'Long time no see, man!" Kaji poked his head out of a cave, one that was lit up of his fiery decorations. In this part by the ocean, the sky was still cloudy, yet not polluted with the spreading darkness.

"Who that?" A smaller dragon, a baby Fire, lifted up Kaji's tail, his head peeping out. Another, a baby female, was perched between Kaji's ears.

"That's Jin," Ame introduced as she gave a giggle towards them. She looked to Jin with a smile, He however, was absolutely confused.

"Who're they?" Jin asked to whomever would answer first. Of course, it was the spicy-tongued swift-talker, Kaji. Chikku was a close second.

"My kids!" He exclaimed with a grin. Even his fangs, showing juvenilely out of his mouth, seemed to be beaming with pride over his two dragonlings. "Hiromu's the boy and Eika's the girl. They're older dragonlings, though they might not look it... 'Hatched a while after you left; Speaking of that, where you been, man?! 'Gone for so long, we feared the worst!"

"Worst?" Jin asked, completely and utterly taken aback and out-of-it; It was almost funny at how dumbfounded both him and his idiom was. "Older dragonlings? I've been gone for long, I understand but... I just don't get why I was gone so long when I wasn't and now I don't get anything!"

"It doesn't matter," Chikku flipped his silky black mane out of his face. "But if you really want to know, it's probably the fact that you were in Space... Time, for you, probably went faster; Of course, that's just my immediate theory. I can't go to space, so I don't know."

"Whaa! Hey mister, you can go to the stars?!" Eika gasped longingly as she looked to Jin, her large eyes blinking up at him. He was always uncomfortable when people spoke of that. So, of course, he pretended that he didn't hear her, though Eika's words echoed throughout Jin's head repeatedly like a broken record. Things like that disheartened him the most... And it was something he was exposed to his entire life.

"What happened when I was gone?" He repeated once more, this time, being spoken to with an actual answer.

"The Bull rose and conquered the Blackwing clan, and now all clans are at war.

"Apparently, some Blackwings are training near water grounds and now water is being polluted down streams with carcasses, and the Water clans are wary of their land - They're even attacking Air dragons that fly overhead. So that's Air, Blackwing and Water. Add in the Fire when the Water think they're all powerful and try to put out the Fire's flames. They won't be extinguished, and Fire clans fight back.

"But the lava flows thick and seeps into the dens of those burrowing Knuckers, and they're not content with that... Actually, it's contrary, as, with great numbers, they're being wiped out.

"Archaeo are being killed and are fleeing to the tropics. Everything is out of whack. That's why we must watch our back."

All eyes turned to Chikku. He shrugged, as he continued to lay lazily yet aware on the torn, dead grass at the foot of the rocky cave, a mountain only a climb away.

"Glass dragons are no longer seen, as well. Oh. And I mustn't forget my own clan...

"The Earth clan are sparring with Air because Air is going after our mountains. Blackwings are getting involved because, well, they're jerks who always like to get involved. They're so strong, and with the Bull leading, they're invincible because of the amount of Blackwings being born, raised by training and then forced to battle."

Jin found this hard to believe. Blackwings were very shy, relentless of their gigantic size. Well, that was how he remembered them: Never, though, did they ever seem threatening. Now, Jin was supposed to believe that those friendly giants were the ones who were massacring and ambushing clans into non-existence? Of course, and the sun rises in the north!

"No..." Jin stifled a laugh. "...Blackwings? They only have but a few small clans and they were so peaceful!" But Kaji didn't seem to think so. It was palpable by his expression. "Hey, what's wrong?" His head tilted to the side.

Ame took a closer step to Jin as Chikku, Kaji and his dragonlings pretended to be deaf towards that particular query. She whispered in his ears, her quietly hushed voice sending shivers down his spine.

"Kaji's mate was killed by Blackwings - Eika and Hiromu's mother. Chikku's entire clan was entirely wiped out only days before..."

"Oh..." Jin's ears flattened to his head, ashamed to have even brought up the topic. Sure, it was something he needed to know, but only if he had put the pieces together, it wasn't the place or the time to ask.

Seconds later, it would seem the stormy oceanic sky had begun to turn poisonous black, and sounds of leathery slapping and flapping had approached. Kaji looked up in a blink, Eika started to whine, Hiromu growled a baby growl in the back of his throat.

Chikku gave a snort and stood, his tail twitching aggressively behind him as the scythe-point screeched against a rock; It wasn't necessarily sharp enough to cut through; Unless he applied much strength.

Ame's ears flattened and her antennae bobbed, her tail swirling around her in a type of fear. She scooted closer to Jin.

"Blackwings."

"Oh... My... G- How many are there?! It looks like millions!" Jin gasped and gaped, his bottom paws stuck to the ground and unable to move, his tail plastered still to the earthy floor with pure beads of sweat slowly creeping down his furry face. They made a sort-of metallic sound as they planked the ground, though the others, thankfully, didn't notice.

"Let's go. We're not safe here," Kaji loaded Hiromu and Eika onto his back as the two youngsters shivered and trembled.

"Sure, but where to?" Jin padded over to Kaji and Chikku, Ame right behind him. His golden eyes kept focused on the mould-growing darkness that eluded the sky. Fear had never touched him like this before... It was strangely entrancing. His companions, however, seemed more disgusted than rapt.

"Up the mountain. We can't go anywhere else. They have us surrounded... Luckily, however, I don't suppose they know we're here. Perhaps, if we're sneaky, we can flee!" Chikku exclaimed his strategy in a monotone voice, his claws gripping onto the rocky ground. Swiftly, he started up the mountain, then looked back down to them. "I will climb. I have no wings. Heh... Catch me if you can."

Jin looked to Ame, then to Kaji. Despite the situation, it still wouldn't be that bad if, for their first reunion in who knows how long, that they could just act like dragonlings again... As really, it could very well be their last time together; Ever.

"Don't your feet ever hurt, Mr. Chikku?" Hiromu blinked as he looked down towards Chikku, holding his own quick pace as they neared the top of the mountain. Chikku smirked.

"Nope."

"Hey... I smell something. What is it?" Jin sniffed. It was a scent he had smelt before... But his nose couldn't quite get what it was, precisely. It was too horrid to be another dragon type, and surely, there weren't any other life around with the Blackwings approaching.

"Take a good whiff, Jin," Kaji, his voice in a lower tone for reasons that Jin couldn't tell. "It's the smell you'll get a lot around here... Death."

"Ack!" Jin sputtered and coughed. "Death? What?! Not funny, Kaji!"

"I'm not being funny," Kaji replied sharply. "Don't you recognize this place? It was the old Fire clan!"

"Kaji's clan was wiped out soon after you left, Jin," Ame sighed. "Mine was, too, along with it. Then it was later Chikku's Albino Clan. Now different clans fight over this area, and I think the Blackwings are currently coming to reign over it. The smell of death cloaks this place because, well, take a closer look to the ground."

"Huh?" Jin narrowed his eyes. Rocks. White rocks. Yellow rocks. Ground, barely any grass. There were trees, but most were bare and dead. The trees weren't what Ame was talking about, were they? "What? Rocks, more rocks, other stuff. What do you mean?"

Chikku, overhearing, turned his head slightly so that the side of his eye could see Jin. "I'm not running over just rocks. Ha... You're so naïve, Jin... So innocent. It's what I like about you; Not much like you in the world anymore," His head faced forward once more, so he could keep a better eye on where he was going. "Most of these rocks that you see, Jin, are bones. Bones of Blackwing, Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Knucker... Believe it or not, there's even some Snow clans that were really, really desperate on a suitable place to live and raise young. Do you know why?"

Jin shook his head.

"It's because this is the world, this is the continent that Isle Illumine is becoming. Take a good look, Jin. This is probably as good as it gets anymore."

Everyone remained silent.

It was a few minutes later now. The shading darkness that was the Blackwings were speeding on, gaining on the mountain and thus where Kaji, Jin, Ame, Chikku and the two dragonets were.

Now they sat, unable to really go any further; It wasn't that they were weary and tired, it was the fact that, almost literally, they had put themselves in a complex situation called 'backed into a corner'. Really, they couldn't go any farther on the mountain, as Air clans reigned the west side and Earth had the north. Down the east side of the mountain and towards the beach was under control of many aggressive Water clans and, well, south behind them were the Blackwings. Either way, they were in a dilemma, because now clans had no mercy on affiliated clans, and would even resort to cannibalism and would most definetly kill one of the same species that crossed that particular clan's territory. Truly, the world was a dissimilar place than the world that Jin grew up in.

Suddenly, Ame's antennae perked. Her head swerved towards the east. She huddled closer to her cohorts.

"What is it, Ame?" Chikku brushed his black hair from his face once more. He curled his scythe-like tail close to him incase of immediate use.

"Water dragons..." Ame muttered.

"How can you be sure?" Kaji asked, Hiromu and Eika playing and squealing together, in the middle of the four adult dragons. Jin didn't seen what the difficulty was with more Water dragons; Actually, he thought it was a fine thing. Not yet did he know of the cannibalism that was going on through clans of all types of dragons... Big or small.

"That's an excellent thing, isn't it? They can help us. Let's go greet them!"

"E'en I know dats a baaaad thing," Hiromu rolled his eyes as he looked towards Jin, sticking his tongue out at him once more. Jin did the same back. Hiromu and Eika giggled.

"How is it 'bad'?" Jin tilted his head to the side like he usually did in such situations.

"All clans are against each other, Jin! Didn't we tell you that?" Kaji put his paw to his head. Jin's dumbfoundedness was so troublesome. "That's why we're trapped here, in the middle of this mountain. Blackwings are in one direction, cannibal dragons are in the others. We're toast. Clans keep hard watch to make sure their terrains aren't being crossed. If so..." He gulped.

"Tha's why me and brudder can't pway too faw' away fum' daddy," Eika's voice was flat, as if reciting a lesson; Indeed, if it truly was, it would be a good one. Kaji, Ame, Chikku and the dragonlings were all clanless, and that was the most hazardous type of livelihood of those times... And it was actually quite common. But as the traveling dragons went around, their numbers decreased by the most evident of reasons, and it wasn't because they weren't careful.

"What should we do? We're practically waiting for our deaths here!" Jin blurted the obvious reality. "We should go!"

"Where?" Chikku asked, looking over with a hapless glance over to the Twilight dragon. "There's no where to run, Jin... We're sitting ducks."

"Oh..." His ears flattened against his golden strands of hair as his expression faded and his nose wrinkled. Of course, Jin wasn't one to cry, and it wasn't what he was doing; He was merely pouting and thinking of how there could possibly be any hope left for the stranded dragons, that sat in the trees of the mountains, virtually waiting for their demise.

"Hey, someone out there?" A voice, soon later, was heard from the bushes. As Jin and the others gulped, they could hear claws scratching entrance against the rocky ground, destroying the small blades of grass that had grew from cracks between the boulders.

"You think it's a Blackwing?" Another accompanied one of the first speaker, the footsteps of this dragon being padded by leaves of fallen that coated the ground on some parts. Autumn was drawing near, though the air had not turned brisk of the scent of upcoming winter.

"No," The other replied. "I don't smell that wretched Blackwing smell... I'm not sure. Blackwings are supposed to arrive for the final battle tonight, eh? But hey, it's right over here, those weird scents. Let's go check it out! 'Might be supper!"

"Cannibals," Kaji had spat, nearly silent, after drawing unheard breaths for the minutes that passed. Eika and Hiromu were both in his arms, as he held them close for protection.

"Silently..." Chikku gently rose to his feet, then backed up a bit. Hair got in his face, but it didn't faze him, nor did bother him. The swift beating of his heart was the thing that troubled him more, as the scent of fear was relished more to the enemies around than the scent of newly spilled blood. "...Let's... Move..."

"But where?" Ame whispered back in reply, as she followed his movements. Jin followed at her side, Kaji and his dragonets far ahead, already dodging the crackling leaves that firmly stood ground like ticking time bombs, waiting for the step on them to be made so their snapping sound could be heard to all sensitive ears 'round.

"Just follow me!" Kaji shouted, though quietly. "It appears that the things in this area that we must be wary of, are less than in the other directions. We'll go this way 'till danger is close, then we move out and, hopefully, we won't get spotted."

"What?" Jin was confused. Did Kaji's orders even make sense? Chikku and Ame seemed to get it, maybe that was because circumstances like this had happened more than once to his roaming friends... He was gone for so long, how would Jin have known? The time was now to learn the way of the trekkers, and to use his born skill of slickness and escape that his dragon heritage instincts blessed him to have.

"You'll see."

So, during their getaway, providentially, they met no others, though there were occasional narrow escapes. That was until the sky, in the time of a blink of an eye, had turned pitch black of darkness from the Blackwings, making their way to the mountaintop to claim the land that would soon be theirs.

"Which one is the Bull?" Jin had asked to Ame, very softly, for the reason that he was edgy for Chikku and Kaji not to hear; Ame seemed to have the least hatred for that particular dragon breed. Asking the others, especially Kaji, might just make the journey to freedom a little more awkward.

"The Bull?" Ame repeated, giving Jin a strange look. "The Bull wouldn't waste his time on a little bit of land, Jin! He has his own 'business' to deal with, whatever that may be. In the parts of Isle Illumine that are rich with desertification and drought are the plains the Bull lives and mainly rules."

"Then what do the Blackwings want with this place?"

"Since there are so many Blackwings, and the clan growing so much more even by days, they need more room for their own dragonlings and families... Even though the Bull is the only one allowed to mate... But that's an entirely different story that, really, has no relation to the topic on hand," She gave a smile towards Jin. He focused on the flying ahead of him, his phrase thunderstruck.

"There is so much I don't know, I'm sorry," He apologized, a frown on his face as he looked towards his childhood friend. "If only I wasn't gone for so long..."

"It's not your fault!" Ame quickly interrupted. Her teal eyes met Jin's golden, her blue scales that shimmered so had turned a blush pink when she looked towards him... Of course, the discoloration harder to see because of the darkness of the black dragons overhead that profoundly shadowed everyones vision. He had to squint towards her to see if there really was pink forming in her shy scales, but the fact that he was unknowingly getting his face closer to hers made her scales explode in red from embarrassment as she jumped back a few feet. Jin blinked at her in shock, not exactly getting what he had just accidentally done. Ame, however, had gotten the wrong idea and her heart was pacing double the times faster than it was just moments before.

For most of the rest of the run, both of them had stayed silent towards each other, as Jin started to quietly do some catching up with Chikku and Kaji, while Ame tried to regain her normal heart pace. But as soon as she did, her antennae made a jerking motion and Ame felt her heart literally stop for a flash.

"Kaji!" She yelled out, and Kaji, who was far ahead and already understood what the shrewd dragoness was calling for. He drew Hiromu and Eika close to him and ducked, and Chikku followed the same motion. Seconds later, as did Ame, but she pulled the unsuspecting Jin down with her since he was clearly confounded of what was happening before his baffled eyes.

Seconds later, to Jin's surprise, a Water dragon plunged from the bushes and landed between Chikku and Kaji; But with a violent twitch of Chikku's tail, it bound the Water's legs together and he had almost lost balance. Hiromu and Eika ran from underneath their father's leathery wings and ran to Jin's furred arms in fright, hiding their small, scaled faces in his golden fringes and downy fur. While they turned away in horror, their father pierced his claws into the Water dragon's stomach as the creature then lashed out and bit him on the arm Kaji attacked with.

"You're going down," Kaji smirked, though his façade winced a bit from pain in his arm, which the enemy had his claws and his bloody muzzle clamped onto.

"Wanna bet?" Replied a muffled voice, the Water's mouth occupied with Kaji's scaled arm. He whipped his tail around Chikku's neck, pulling his luxurious hair and threatening to wrench his tail an inch more to suffocate the Albino Earth dragon with ease. However, neither Chikku nor Kaji looked apprehensive, with Kaji giving his friend on the other side of the Water dragon a slight nod.

"Take this!" Kaji's flames, on his ears, mane and tail had flickered for a moment until the Water dragon's eyes immediately were drained of all life, though there was no seen pain being occurred on the outside. But it took Jin only a moment to apprehend what had happened; Every time Kaji used a fire attack, summoning the flames to one part of his body or another, the fire from his ears, tail and mane flickered because of the use of the flames being transferred… Something of that sort; Jin wasn't exactly sure, for he wasn't a Fire Dragon.

"A painless death from a quick, internal fire," Chikku brushed his jet black from his face as his silver eyes looked back towards Jin, Ame, and the pair of dragonlings that hid with Jin in terror of the violence that was about to engulf the adults, and possibly them too. "Thanks, Kaji. You know, we make a proficient team!" Kaji rolled his eyes, though he frankly wasn't sure what 'proficient' meant.

Ame's heart started throbbing as her antennae twitched backwards. Chikku looked towards her, and his metallic eyes that glanced towards the Water dragoness with hidden affection had turned to dread as he caught what Ame sensed behind her and Jin.

"Ame!" Chikku roared out harshly, the claws on his feet grabbing and tossing clumps of earth behind him as he bolted out to defend his friends. His phrase snarled as he bore his fangs; Jin gazed at him with astonishment, as he had never seen the calm, elegiac Albino Earth dragon with such disturbed hatred before… Even if there was an aggressor behind them, disparities could be settled if one really put their mind to it. Yes… And Kaji, moments before, didn't mean to internally massacre another dragon, Jin thought also as he tore his eyes away from the sight of his Fire dragon friend trying dependently to pry his arm from the Water's gut. Isle Illumine was supposed to be a continent of peace. Earth was supposed to be a harmonized world. The universe was never supposed to have cannibalism and death due to another soul's impurity and insanity… So, why was this happening? Why?

Blood splattered across and attempted to stain his untainted fur as the Twilight dragon turned to the foe behind him to try and talk him out of his burden to be taken an instant later, but Jin had found himself too late. Chikku's scythe tail had plunged into the Blackwing's side and Chikku had finished the job from a lethal bite in the neck, which had slashed the dragon's windpipe. An instantaneous death, with many unsure such a demise was agonizing or not.

"Chikku!" Jin cried as he pulled Hiromu and Eika closer to him, not wanting the children to witness this gore so close to them. "Stop! Please… No more fighting!"

Just then, he caught Chikku's pallid eyes glint with an unnatural shine (probably one of a slayer, Jin notioned) as he drew his mouth from the Blackwing's neck, pulled out his tail from it's gut and jumped with a swing overhead of Ame and Jin. He had struck a smaller Blackwing from making an attack on Jin and the young ones, just moments before impact.

As Chikku landed, he eyed Jin, spat out a mouthful of another's crimson blood and sighed. "I know this looks bad but… It's something this world has come to. Nothing will save it. It's fight or flight, and flight in Isle Illumine now means death. So, it's yours to choose. Do you want to die?" Jin said nothing as his eyes fell to the side. "I didn't think so. Then this is what must be done… And I know it's hard for you, Jin, but please… Try not to judge us differently afterwards. We are still your friends, still the inseparable dragonets from our past at heart. We're just doing what we do to survive."

"I… I know," Jin said slowly, then repeated as Chikku walked past him, the scythe on the tip of his tail drenched with that mystic, garnet wetness. "I know."

Trees started to timber as they fell to the side, and grass had been torn from the dead ground from scuffles of the fights that were from Blackwings, Water dragons, few Earth and, rarely, Air dragons that struck from above. Pools of blood, stands of hair, feathers and chipped horns covered the grounds, followed by corpses of those who died in sparring.

Hiromu and Eika, given instructions by Kaji to go and conceal themselves, scurried when a distraction was made and scampered into a tree's hole, made from the animal inhabitants that were temporarily away. They hid inside the bark-and-darkness in fear as they dared to deep a breath.

When Blackwings and other breeds roamed close to that one tree in meticulous, because of scent or noise to investigate, they were quickly cut short of their lives from Kaji and his flames, who was ready to guard that darn oak with his life if need be.

Ame, too, decided to join in on the scrap as she gave a distraught peek towards Jin as she closed her eyes and placed her front paws together. "I'm so sorry, Jin," She spoke softly towards him as she gradually started to evaporate. "Please don't hate me for this!" When she finally became translucent, the single droplet of a tear had hit the ground that was swiftly turning barren. Soon after, a mist had exploded into the forest and dragons, without being fought, limply hit the land with choking facades to their end.

To those that Ame chose in the 'haze' (that was actually herself), poison would seep through her vaporous pours and kill the foe with a slow, perilous fatality, without the battalions (literally) knowing what hit them.

"Oh…" Jin started to feel cold inside. With the dragons around him falling flaccid and dead on the ground, on top of countless others that had perished way before their time before, and had now become one with the earth below, this was… Heartless! How he wished that he were never there! How he wished that he had never, ever returned to Isle Illumine!

But only moments later, thoughts of such had left his mind as only a single, cool, outlandish sensation entered throughout his body, and blood loomed around him on the ground. Suddenly, Jin found himself dazed, confused, lightheaded… Bemused to his surroundings. After all… Where was he?

"Oh, Jin… Jin!" Ame made herself visible again and through the crowd of Blackwings, dead and alive, as she ran towards Jin with tears in her eyes, no longer fearful from the violence around her, no longer with the determination to kill that was thought that all dragons possessed, nowadays.

'Ame!' Jin attempted to yell, starting to well up with fright and trying to reach out towards the adolescent dragoness, but for some reason, he was no longer able to move, and his voice was inaudible. All he could do was fall to his knees and sputter; Sputter for air and to get that strange, strange liquid out from his mouth out! Gosh, what in Isle Illumine was that?! It was terrible tasting, even though it was in the back of his throat. It wasn't saliva… Not vomit, though that would be his second guess… But as he finally got the strength to spit it out, it splattered to the ground as a ruby red and was what he immediately identified as blood.

A new feeling overcame him. Even more uncomfortable than the last, it made his anxieties grow and then lighten, grow some more then dissipate once again.

That crimson liquid, that blood, was it his own? Jin couldn't help but wonder, though even if it was, he was nary frightened! However, he soon became mystified as, before his fogged vision, the ruby pool changed to rainbow water and multicolor sparkles as drips hit the large puddle. Burgundy-dyed blades of grass flew from being drowned in the mottled lake and swirled to and fro around him like the stars at dusk he knew so well.

"Bastard!" Chikku growled and, with a single leap, he jumped over Jin pounded the Blackwing behind him, the one that had attacked fruitfully leaving Jin with a large wound in his back that was gushing with blood. Chikku swung his tail and the scythe-tail caught between the ribs of the black dragon, making the creature roar with pain and swing at Albino Earth dragon, that ducked swiftly and bit rabidly towards the thick neck. A moment passed with his wan, sharp fangs, and the Blackwing fell backwards, dead.

"Jin… A-are you… Alright…?" Ame stopped abruptly before she reached the Twilight dragon, who was so spaced out and immobile, no one was sure if he was completely there. Kaji took out another Water dragon, but his attention soon turned to his friend, the one he had been only recently united with, worried that Jin would leave his three friends and the two young ones; Not for another few years, but everlastingly.

But as the three soon saw, Jin was indeed alive, but all was not well.

Those naïve eyes with color brighter than golden bars… Now they had become silver that was without shine or twinkle that Jin always seemed to possess; They were so cold! Those frozen, hoary eyes sent shivers across Kaji, Ame and Chikku's scales, and then, with a scarlet flash, everything went still; Air wasn't there as if it never was, numbness was mutual between all life forms in the vicinity.

The enemy clans, the Blackwings, the grass, the trees, the bushes… They all disintegrated and swirled towards the sky, which was neither azure nor ebony with dragons… It was blank; The ground was blank; The whole lot was blank.

Hiromu and Eika, both hiding in a tree that was no longer there, had flopped down on the blank ground and looked around, insecure if either of them were terrified or befuddled more. Kaji froze, terrified to move with his amber eyes darting focuses from his dragonets to Jin. Ame's ears flattened to her head and tears welled in her eyes over again, while Chikku looked concerned.

The marble-smooth floor reflected dark colors across from the sky and environs, which was a beautiful navy atmosphere with a graceful crescent moon on the left with a bright, blissful sun in the right. The marble flooring turned to lush, green grass and, in miles away, it turned to lava and dusted, ugly rock. The fragrance in one direction was pleasant… But in the other, it smelt like pure fatality. There were even lavender-inclined mountains, but on the other side, there were terrible volcanoes with vents and lava all over. Deadly smoke and smog was clouding the area. Such a world of attracting opposites… Where were they?

The secret of the stars, whispers of the planets and legends upon all things; Living and deceased. It was the Twilight. Heaven and Hell.

They felt a sense of weightlessness, like air and gravity need not apply in this world. Were they dead, or were they alive? And what of those others that had fought so fanatically for the old Fire clan? What had ensued? What was going on?

"Jin!" Ame cried as she made her way towards him. Her voice echoed in the distance, but peculiar enough, as loud as she was there was a sense of silence at the same time. This world of contradictories was awfully confusing. "Are you alright? Oh… Your wound… What's going on? Oh, Jin, your eyes!"

Chikku ran to the Twilight dragon and the Water dragon, his claws feeling bouncy, per say, against the ground, though it made tinny clicks. Most bizarre was when, in curiosity, he slammed his tail against the ground and it was barely perceptible, even with the scythe. "Oh, wow… This is so strange… But this feeling I get here, it's like… It feels like home, you know?"

"I do, Chikks'," Kaji forced a grin as he looked to his claws and flicked them, making a flame of distorted multicolors. "Oh, sweet!"

"Coo', Daddy!" Hiromu gawked as he and his sister ran to their father's side.

"But… Where aw' we?" Eika's eyes looked up with difficulty towards Kaji, then darted away and around, anxious to leave, nervous to what could transpire and what was happening.

"I'm sorry," Jin's eyes had stayed the frightening color they were before as he glanced up to the others. "I'm not sure how this came to be. I'm not sure how we all got here, I'm not sure how I brought you, I'm not sure what happened to the fight that was ensuing… Nevertheless…" Giving a melancholy smile, Jin's ears flattened and strands of flaxen hair brushed shyly into his face. "…Welcome to the Twilight."

"'Twilight'?" Ame recurred as she sat down close to Jin, still afraid to touch him, hesitant of what might occur. His glazed, almost demonic eyes of his still looked upon them like those of an outcast. "Do you mean… This is…"

"A secret upon secrets," Jin spoke quietly, though his smooth voice was above easy to hear, even with Kaji and his dragonets so far away. "All Twilight dragons know the way here. We knew of this place, even before we were born. We could come here, anytime we like, though to bring others with us… It would be impossible… And to tell others how to come themselves… It's unexplainable… Incomprehensible to any other creature other than us. All Twilight dragons came to be here in this place, but everyone's Twilight is different though it's the same place… So none of the Twilight dragons had ever met another.

"Twilight is a place where time, air, worries and troubles do not exist. When we come here, even when we just leave the atmosphere of Earth and roam through Space… Time works it's effect overtime for vengeance… Sometimes decades and centuries go by without us knowing. This is our curse. Twilight cheated time out of it's world. So did Space, and the other planets. Time only applies to Earth. This feeling of limitations; Time does not like it; It doesn't like to be restrained. So now we suffer for it. We cheated time, so now time cheats us back. Equivalent exchange, some call it, but I… I think it's funny, in it's own way!

"When I was young, when I first came to Earth, I already knew I was the last of the Twilight dragons. I'd have to be. Only one Twilight dragon can exist at a time, and there can only be so many… And I… I'm the last. The final one. Legends say that we can't be killed, and that we can end our own life, but that's not true. As you seen today, even you all can witness that that's fictional!"

"You mean…" Kaji, turning on a more serious note with his grammar slightly improving, leaned in more towards Jin as he was now sitting near him along with his two dragonlings, beside Chikku and Ame as well. "…You're dead, Jin?"

Jin deeply exhaled, then turned his head so he could attempt to see the wound on his back. Of course, his neck had it's own limitation and he was only able to see a little, with the stains on his snowy fur gone and the wound looking cleaned, but the scratch was deep, like a fissure in his back. Seeing this, the garnet 'jewel' on his forehead glistened. "Oh… I'm sure it looks that way, and in the same way, I suppose you're right, Kaji, but…" His smirk returned, that childish one that made the four old friends feel at home in the past. "…I was never living.

"You see, a Twilight dragon isn't born by parents. None of us can really have children, either, because we're not exactly alive, as I already told you. We're solid, so we're not spirits. We can't be killed, so we aren't real. We have a heart but it doesn't beat temporarily, it beats eternally!"

"If you aren't born by parents, then how…?" Ame asked, mystified more than she ever was before, as she scooted closer to Jin.

"It was in the beginning! Not the beginning of time, but so close to that, that not even the Earth itself can remember properly… It was when the Earth and the other planets were born. We were born along with them, in that 'big bang' blast. To prove that, we have this," Motioning to the gleaming 'jewel' on his forehead, peeking vermilion through the strands of golden that swayed in the nonexistent wind. "A scar of gems. A memory of this Galaxy, so I don't forget about it when I head off to the next."

"You aren't leaving!" Ame, Kaji and Chikku cried at the same time, jumping to their feet simultaneously as well. Immediately, tears of multicolors swarmed to Ame's teal eyes as she kept a steady gaze at Jin.

"Yup. Of course I am. I've spent too long at this cosmos, anyways-"

"You aren't much older than us, and we're not even that old!" Kaji protested. "I had children young. There are dragons much older than me that are having their first! We're not dragonlings anymore, but we aren't adults, either!"

"I know. But I'm much older than you all!" Jin looked like he was going to burst out in giggles. The others didn't look that way, other than Hiromu and Eika who were playing happily in the background; Everyone appeared to be stiff, they were so serious. "I'm the same age as Earth itself! Didn't you hear me say that? We were born together, like siblings. The same way. Earth and I… We're one, in a way!"

"The-then… Then you can't leave," Through sniffles and tears running down her scales, Ame shook her head, seeming to be ready to latch herself onto Jin if need be. "The Earth with perish, won't it? If you're truly one? Don't… Don't leave…"

"Such a thing can't happen. Don't worry! Ha, the Earth will end when the Sun dies. That'll be when I'm several Galaxies away…When your children's children's children have children's children's children of their own, with their own children's children's children! Maybe even a few generations after that as well!" Noticing that Ame, Chikku and Kaji still didn't look convinced, Jin sighed. "Hey, come on. Don't you think that the other Twilight dragons had attachments to this world as well? But they all moved on, one by one. And I'm the last. It's my duty to end this."

"How many were there before you?" Chikku asked, and Jin gave a wide grin. Hoping for the Albino Earth dragon to return it, Chikku's eyes didn't move from the ground.

"Eight. Er… Yeah. I think. We've never met. Well… No. No, we haven't," Jin pondered, then shook his head few times afterwards just to make sure. "I've heard they all look like me, though. And there were both girls and boys. I've got a good secret on why we haven't ever met, though. Now I'm sure. Want to know why? I want to tell you everything before I'm compelled to leave. You'll return to Earth as well at that time."

"In that case… If you'll stay in our company for longer…" Ame said through sniffles, flattening her ears and giving a nod. "…Tell us everything, and never stop talking!"

Chikku looked towards Ame in shock. He had never seen her so miserable! Sure, he wasn't in the utmost of moods knowing that a close friend of his would be gone forever, but… Ame seemed to be taking it exceptionally hard. Even Kaji, who was known to be so subtle that he would wail if a bee stung him behind the ear, wasn't crying. Could it be that Ame had fallen in love with Jin?

"Okay, so," Jin stretched out his arms and legs, shifting his wings as he made himself relaxed. His humor, at this particular moment, wasn't being appreciated. "Like I said, Twilight dragons were born at the time when the planets were created.

"Everything living is given a soul. Planets are living… So, that means that us, the Twilight dragons, are their soul. That means there was a Twilight dragon living for each planet; Mars, Pluto, Venus… And I was born for Earth. That's why my name is Jin! 'Jin' means 'one or all people'… I was born in the heart of the only planet with known life!

"And, since we have come to exist one at a time, I chose to be last. Last, because I wanted to know what life would be like after all of my 'siblings' had come, not because I'm appallingly lazy. Perhaps some people would know of them, the Twilight dragons before me! Alas, I found no one with a fond memory of the ones before me. Apparently, they lived quick lives and decided to go onto the next Galaxy. They weren't impressed. But I was. I loved this Galaxy more than anything else!

"I had many friends, centuries ago… I'm sure I probably have met your far-away ancestors. But every time I went to Space, even for an hour, I returned and they were gone. Space and time had screwed me over again! They did so many times, until the time when I met you three. I looked to the sky, knowing that when I left, I would never see you again. So, I never went back to the nothingness of Space for many years, though it called to me. When I did to find the answer I was looking for, luckily, I was only gone for a decade or so… I'm grateful to time for only taking ten years or so… However, it came to this. And now it all ends."

"We'll never meet again?" Kaji asked earnestly, his voice almost cracking.

"Not in person, not in the forms we are now," Jin replied, a smile creeping up on his face. "But, yes, I'm sure we will! I still see those I knew before. They died on Earth, but they still live on in Twilight!"

"What do you mean?" Chikku made a face, curious of what Jin meant.

"Look up," Jin rose his paw and swayed his arm once, left to right, as if brushing away the emptiness above him. Looking up, the silver in his eyes started to break and golden twinkled through. The sky, being oddly unexplainable, had tore open and transformed into a starry night sky. The little lights glimmered beautifully, as if greeting those below.

"Stars!" Eika exclaimed, pointing upward. Her eyes widened, the big blue orbs looking entranced.

"Mommy!" Hiromu then cried, tugging enthusiastically on Kaji's arm, his large eyes spellbound.

"Hm?" Kaji glanced up. His mouth fell.

Through the stars, there were dragons. So many: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Blackwing, Archaeo, Knucker… It was amazing. It was a world of peace. And surely, there she was; Like a constellation in the stars there was a Fire dragoness giving a warm smile, lying down and waving cutely towards her dragonlings and mate.

"Within the stars, there is another world," Jin said. "Dragons who die become the stars we see. Even the bad ones, the ones with sins thought unforgivable… The Earth's barrier sees neither race nor degenerate, and those thought wicked become purified, and are sometimes the shiniest stars we see at night. They are forgiven. That's always for the best: After all, we are all one. And in those stars, I see many that I've known before, of all breeds, of all sizes, of all feelings contained. When you die, you'll become stars as well, and when I travel amongst the Galaxies, you'll be by my side, and by everyone else's sides as well. And until then, I must make my leave," With that, Jin stood slowly to his feet and brushed the sandy-substance of rainbow colors from his fur. But before his wings with golden tassels could spread, Ame swung her arms around him and dared not to let go.

"Don't leave me!" A river of tears spewing down her face dampened Jin's fur where her faced was pressed. "I've been away from you for far too long, and now you expect me to wait for the remainder of my life to see you again? I can't! Every second I'm away from you is an eternity to me… Time is torturing, killing me, compared to what it's doing to you…"

Chikku looked away, for it was too painful for him to watch such a sight. It made his heart tear in two, for he had been quite fond Ame for some time, but other than that, her words of truth were like daggers. It was making him think twice about just letting Jin leave as well, though it would happen either way.

Kaji, nevertheless, looked to be flirting to the sky with a magnificent mood, as his mate seemed to be giggling with a paw over her mouth. Their children were crawling up to Kaji's head trying to reach out to their late mother, happier than they ever were lately.

"I'm sorry," Jin finally pulled the Water dragoness away from him, and his angelic wings spread, his tail swaying against the floor, which was currently changing from one texture phase to another. "You don't think this is hard for me, either? Ame… Kaji, Chikku… You'll always be my best friends. My childhood friends. And until the day we meet again, I must say goodbye."

Backing away and his feet taking off the ground, the others lifted off as well, and in the immobile, nothingness of Space in the background of swirling, attractive colors, they were young again. Their eyes were big and full of hope, and Ame's tears evaporated, adding to the pallid oblivion.

With his heart breaking, the young Jin flashed a childish grin and an insignificant wave, and as he turned away in a swirl of golden in the oncoming whiteness, he was gone. Left behind, the large eyed dragonlings forced a smirk as well, and they waved farewell enthusiastically; Their adventures and this tale now takes its leave along with the final Twilight dragon, to the next and next universe 'till the end of time itself.