Two Dragons

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Hushed whispers broke through the odd haze consuming her as she sat next to her egg, stroking it like one would do to a cat. It was growing—and that meant it was alive... that there was still hope for her and her dragon. Even if it was still practically weightless.

"We've... never had another case like this..." the Keeper hissed, his eyes darting between a vacant-eyed Sora and an increasingly worried Oz.

"Don't lie." Oz's eyes narrowed. "You stuttered on your words there."

"Leave it, Oz," he warned, striding out of the room without a backwards glance, leaving a frustrated team leader behind to deal with his munchkins.

"Another day maybe, Sora..." He wandered over to her side, waving a hand in front of her face, and when that failed to grab her attention a knock to the head did. "Come on. We've got some training for you idiots to do."

"What about Silver?"

"Becky is keeping an eye on her at my place." Oz shrugged. "He'll take her to the hospital if her situation doesn't change. I'm needed here..." he said, watching as Raelynn and her dragon started making a mess of the room. "To deal with you muppets."

"Aren't we going to do any training?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she regretted them, the small smile pulling at his lips sending shivers shooting down her spine.

"Of course. Thanks for reminding me, Truant," he said, handing her a map—with a large cross over what she assumed to be her destination. "Go to Training Hall Nine."

"Aren't you coming?"

"Shortly." He nodded sharply, his gaze flickering over to the rest of her team. "I have some brats I need to fob off onto different instructors."

"Aren't we training together?" she asked, her eyes narrowed. She didn't like where it was heading... something felt off—like a strange feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong.

"We will later on in the next couple of weeks, but first you all need to develop your own style of fighting—then we can work about mishmashing you all together into a half-decent squad." His expression darkened. "So you actually survive the next few years..."

Sora bit her lip.

"If your cloak is the one I'm thinking of, then I'm the best person for training you." He folded his arms, turning his back on her as he wandered over to the rest of his students, leaving Sora alone to figure out where the hell she was supposed to go.

Unsurprisingly, she was late when she finally arrived at the intimidating building. It looked modern compared to most of the other places she'd seen on her trek to find the damn Training Hall, made from concrete and glass meshed together in an oddly aesthetic way. She wandered inside, following the merciful signposts placed up inside the building, flinching when she spotted Oz waiting outside the door to her destination.

"You're late, Truant."

"Well... sorry," she mumbled lamely, scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"Never mind that, just get... inside..." he said, his eyes fixing on something behind her as he all but threw her inside the room before she could even take a peek. "Run some laps, then do some stretches. I'll be with you in a minute or two."

Sora silently did as she was told, taking note of the room he'd chosen as she ran around its edges. It had a high ceiling, the walls covered in white bobbly material that wouldn't have looked out of place on the outsides of the building. The floor was a polished dark wood around the outskirts she ran on, but there was a large mat taking up most of the centre of the room—a mat she'd no doubt be taking a beating on in a few minutes time.

She tried not to focus on that thought though, instead finding herself daydreaming as she ran. The rhythmic sound of her shoes against the wood lulling her into an odd trance.

A familiar black misty figure met her confused stare, yellow eyes staring back at her as the Monster uncurled from its nap.

"You're back... again..."

Sora stiffened, staring at the shady figure. "So it seems."

"Want to know why?"

"Not particularly."

The Monster moved closer, black mists curling around Sora as she stood there, frozen. "Well, it's time those ears hear about the little clue left behind by the Oracle for you."

"Clue?"

"You'll figure it all out soon," she said, two hands landing on her shoulders as the Monster whispered in her ear. "And it goes like this... Two dragons of old, one of silver, one of gold."

"Silver... and gold..." Sora echoed, blinking as her mindscape faded away, replaced by Training Hall Nine. She'd finished her warmup, and she seemed to be waiting for Oz to finish his conversation—with whoever was on the other side of the door he leant against.

"So you figured it out... I wouldn't expect anything less of the Hero..."

It was a man's voice, and one she recognised dimly... but she couldn't remember for the life of her where she'd heard it before.

"Don't call me that," Oz hissed, annoyance marring his expression as he stared down at his feet.

"Keep it to yourself..." the voice continued. "The less people that know, the less likely he'll catch wind of it... otherwise he'll come for her—just like he always comes for you."

"I'm not stupid, old man."

"I know that."

"Do you really?" he muttered, curling his lip.

"Of course. I know who you are Oz. I know what you are. I know what lineage you descend from... honestly, what do you take me for?"

"An old, incompetent idiot," he mumbled bitterly, pausing when he looked up and spotted Sora staring at him. "This conversation is over. I have a student to train."

"Umm... I can go..." Sora said, unsure about whether she wanted to deal with the man in front of her. Oz was angry, and she wasn't sure whether her eyes were playing tricks on her—since his eyes had flashed red for a single second.

And the cloak around her shoulders, which had been dormant for all that time, finally stirred like a cat uncurling from its nap.

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