Cryo the dragon Book 3 Dreams and Danger

Prologue

In the last book, Cryo was taken to a military research facility to be observed and studied. But Cryo spent his entire time there looking out a window towards the mountain range, only stopping to eat and sleep, leaving the head researchers of their project, Ty and Gerald, baffled as to what to do. But one day, while they had an argument in Cryo’s pen, Cryo, getting annoyed by their argument, decided to act upon a comment Gerald made. Cryo snatched Gerald’s phone, which had stopped working, slowly took it apart, and fixed its problem and put it back together, leaving the researchers surprised.

With more of an idea on how smart Cryo actually was, Ty decided to read over a research journal kept by Cryo’s adopted father, Greg. With the info, Ty decided to create and move Cryo to a new room, with toys, a crib, a workbench for him to repair items, and new cloths for him to wear and a blanket to wrap him up in at night. Things began to go much better for the little dragon.

A year passed, and Cryo’s room was changed from a toddlers room to a to a young Childs bedroom, with a hay bed instead of a crib, cups instead of bottles, etc., etc. Cryo slowly would mature and learn to be a little bit grown. They began to teach Cryo how to talk and gave him a basic understanding of language and reading (though he kinda wouldn’t have his speech down yet…). With things going well researchers decided to try to extend Cryo’s knowledge by sending him to a makeshift school in the base itself where the children living in the base go to.

Cryo’s first experience of school would be a little hard for him. While he was able to nail down his school subjects quite quickly, he was being bullied by the other kids. But one kid would approach Cryo and give him something he needed for a while, a friend. Cameron, the son of Ty, helped Cryo through his first day and they left the school as friends.

4 more years passed, and Cryo would end up starting to upgrade his room quite a bit with the help of some of the engineers in the base. He began to build his own custom devices for his room. Summer vacation began and Cryo and his companions would be going on a fun boat trip out on the sea. The researchers there wanted to see Cryo on the open water rather then restricted to 6 ft. deep mid size pool at the base. They wanted to see how fast Cryo could be on open water and how much exertion it would have on his heart. But, the trip would get interrupted by an attacking boat, which Cryo decided to try to lure away from the boat to protect Cameron and the others.

Reinforcements to find Cryo would arrive later. After turning on Cryo’s tracking implant, they discovered that he was not on the water but on the shore in the forest near the shore. After tracking it down they found Cryo in a pillar of ice, with the forest and trees subjected to ice. Hearing Ty’s voice, the ice quickly dissipated and Cryo fell unconcious.

After bringing Cryo back to base, they were told that Cryo was subjected to a special dart which causes paralysis in the victim. After mulling it over for a bit, they came to the conclusion that someone at the base had tried to take Cyro for unknown reasons. Someone had betrayed them. Realizing Cryo might be in danger, they decided to increase security measures around the little dragon. That night, they tucked Cryo into bed, still unconscious, while they went to get the required medicine to help Cryo get over his paralysis faster. Cameron, not wanting to leave his friend alone in such a condition, decided to spend the night with Cryo in his room, with the hopes things would be better for him in the mourning…

Ch 1

Sick Serphant

Cameron awoke to hear a soft and low voice near him. “Came…ron? Came…ron? Is… that you?” Cameron began to blink a few times as his eyes came into focus. “Huh?” He tilted his head a bit and saw that Cryo was awake. Though Cameron could tell from the look on his face that he felt very weak and he was breathing very slowly. “Oh, Cryo. Your awake.” Cameron lifted himself up and wiped his eyes, and looked at Cryo, who hadn’t moved since this whole mess started. “You ok?” “I… can… barley move…” “You were hit with a Nume dart Cryo.” “Nume… dart?” “It some type of dart that causes paralysis.” “That’s why… my limbs… stopped working…” Cryo struggled to move his head to try to face Cameron.” “Will… it… wear off?” “Dad said it might be a little while before your body is able to get the poison out of your system.” “How… long?” “We’ll have to see, Cryo,” said a familiar voice.

Cryo slowly struggled to turn his head toward the entrance to his room. Ty, wearing a blue shirt and dark pants came in with a large glass of water and a pill. He pulled up a chair and sat it next to the both of them. “Here Cryo. Take this. This will help with the poison.” “What… is it? “It’s medicine, called Sealitt, made up from a deep water algae, ground up and mixed with oil from a luminescent mushroom known as Littahre (Lit-tear). This should counteract the toxins within your body.” “Do… you know medicine… Ty?” “Not all that much actually. This was made by Nancy. I only know about it due to having to take a medical class in school. There were a few “incidents,” where I lived as a teen where this nasty compound was being used by a couple of troublesome characters.” “Were they… ever caught?” “Yes. They were. Actually it was them who made the original compound to begin with.” “Why?” “I would go into detail, but I don’t really think you would really want to know why, Cryo.” Cryo wondered what that could mean, but realized that maybe not knowing would be a good thing.

“Alright Cryo. Can you lift your head up?” “Somehow…” Cryo slowly struggled to put up his head enough so he could take the pill. “I’m… ready Ty.” Cryo slowly opened his mouth and Ty put the small capsule in on his long tongue. He then helped Cryo take a sip from the glass to wash it down. “It may be a little bit of time before the medicine will come into effect. Hopefully it will go quickly throughout your body to expel the toxins. You’ll know the medicine is working when your body starts sweating, Cryo.” “Sweat…ing?” “Yes. The pills effects will cause your body to expel the toxins by sweating it out. Depending on the dose within the dart, you might be able to start moving better in maybe half a day or longer. We have never tried using this on a Dragon before, so we don’t really know how long it will actually take. I think it would also be a good idea after you can walk again, to take a bath.” “Al…right… Ty.” “Cameron. Keep Cryo company and make sure he get’s what he needs while he’s healing. He’ll need plenty of water while the medicine takes effect. Ok?” “Yes dad.” Ty left through the door to the room, looking back one last time at Cryo. Cryo looked back at him, seeing his concern. He stepped out soon after

Cameron took a look at Cryo, who he immediately realized was starting to feel hot. He saw Cryo’s head was a little red and could see sweat running down his head scales and onto his favorite blanket. Cameron knew that the medicine was already taking effect. “Hang on Cryo. Let me get you a dragon cold pad for your head.” 

Cameron went to Cryo’s fridge, which had been rebuilt, enlarged, and customized in the shape of an Chrome dragon egg on a stand near the left side of his room and opened the left door. He took out a cold pad, made in the shape of a soft green mask to fit around his upper head and eyes and extended down all the way to his snout, with holes so he can still breath through his nose with it on and another hole to fit around the horn on his snout. It has an opening at the top used to fill it with crushed ice and a metal wire as well, extending out both sides of the opening so it can be pulled to seal it shut or pushed to open it up. Under the mask is a small leather strap that can be wrapped under Cryo’s neck so it can stay secured around his head (made specifically for when Cryo get’s sick. Its different parts could also be extended and modified to fit Cryo’s head as he gets older). Cameron began to use the ice machine on the left side to fill it with crushed ice and soon enough, it was filled. Cameron tied the top of it closed and walked over to Cryo, who he realized had tilted his head to watch him. He could tell Cryo was looking at the mask and thinking about the relief it would give him. He quickly came over to Cryo. “Alright Cryo. Hold still while I put this on you head.” “Alright… Came…ron.” Cameron carefully placed the cold pad on his head and then strapped it on. He could tell immediately Cryo was a little more comfortable now. “Is that better?” “Yes… This… feels nice.” “That’s good to hear. Do you need a drink too?” “Yes. Maybe… Just… a little.” “Alright. I’ll get you some fresh water.”

Cameron went back to the kitchen in his room. Taking a larger cup from a cupboard next to the fridge, he went back to the fridge and filled it with a bit of crushed ice. Then he changed the ice machine settings to pour water and pushed it in. The fridge began to pour water out of it, and soon it was filled near the top. Cameron screwed on a lid with a nozzle so Cryo could drink from it easier. He then quickly came back to Cryo’s side. “Alright Cryo. Do you need me to lift up your head to drink.” “No… Ugh… I think… I… can manage…” He slowly tilted his head forward until it was upright. Cameron could tell he’d probably still need to hold his head forward so he could drink. “Alright Cryo. Drink up little buddy,” Cameron put his left hand behind Cryo’s head and brought the water towards his mouth. Slowly opening his jaws up, Cameron brought his head a little more forward and then Cryo closed his jaws around the nozzle and began to sip from it, little bits at a time. It wasn’t long before he stopped sipping it. “That’s enough… for now.” Cryo said. “Is that a little better.” “Yes. Thank… you,” “That’s good.” Cameron placed the water bottle on Cryo’s dresser next to his bed, for him to drink later. “Do you need anything else from me?”

Ch 2

Movie Max

“Can we… watch… a movie… together?” “A movie?” “Yes… a… movie. You… told me… Ty bought… a bunch… of old movies… that featured… dragons, right?” “Yes. Dad bought them recently to show you how our race thought of dragons in the past.” “Can I… watch them?” “Yea. But one thing Cryo.” “What?” “Dad was a little concerned about showing you them.” “Why?” “These movies are probably not factual to how your actual history is.” “What… do you mean… by that?” “My dad only has very limited data on what your home planet was like. From what he told me, the history is not the most pleasant. These movies are only interpretations of myths and legends humans had about dragons. They probably aren’t factual.” ” “Even so… I would… still like to… watch one.” “Alright. I’ll bring a one over.” Cameron went to a set of bookcases near Cryo’s tv area and pulled out a couple of movies. “It would probably be best to show a movie where a dragon is not a villain,” thought Cameron. “Which one? Hmm…” “Cameron looked through each and found a very old remastered movie series set. “Dragons taming moving collection. “Hmm… What does it say on the back about these movies?” Cameron turned it on its back to read the summery. The box contained a summery for all 3 movies there. He looked at the first one.

“A war has broken out between dragon’s and a group of young vikings. When a young boy manages to befriend a special one after it’s injured, a special bond forms that could change everything they know about those creatures.” Cameron thought for a moment… “Would this be a good one to show to Cryo, considering a “war,” at the start?” He looked back at Cryo who had turned his head to watch Cameron as he looked at it. “I suppose, it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe this might be good for him. Cameron brought the box over to Cryo. “Do you want to watch this one Cryo?” Cryo looked at the box of the first movie inside the box. “Dragon Tamer? Is this… a guide…. to make me…. obedient… or something? Aren’t I… enough already?” “No, silly. Read the back right here.” Cameron turned the box over so Cryo could read it. “Hmm… A war… With Vikings… and Dragons… That doesn’t… seem…. pleasant.” “Come on Cryo. Give it a chance. Did you read all of it?” Cryo looked back at the box and read the rest. “A boy… and a dragon… changes everything?” “Yea. I heard this movie was really good when it first came out. It’s been remastered multiple times. It’s one of the few old movies from back when Earth was still hospitable.” “Really?” “Yea, Cryo. You want to try it?” Cryo though for a moment. Then he gave a small smile and very slowly nodded his head. “Alright. Let me move the TV near you Cryo.”

Cameron grabbed a small remote at his tv area and pressed a button on top to turn the TV and remote on. The TV’s systems activated immediately and started to lift itself off the ground a tiny bit (the TV was in the shape of medium purple marble. Cryo made this custom TV from rebuilding his original one and his knowledge from taking apart and studying blueprints of several television systems and hover technology from Jetty Jeeps, with a retractable smart plug as a power source and several places it can plug into in his room. It also has a temporary battery life of 2 hours should a plug not be available. He had help programming it from one of the tech experts at the base). Cameron gripped the 2 joysticks on the front of the remote and pressed the left trigger on the back. The tv turned to hover mode, with it’s base replaced by it’s anti gravity lift. Cameron pressed the right trigger and the TV started to raise up a bit. Then Cameron turned the joysticks about and the TV started to move. Positioning the TV a little ways across Cryo’s bed, the TV quickly attached itself to a plug close to Cryo’s bed. Cameron pressed the left trigger again and the TV began to slowly lower back to the ground, with it’s regular stand coming out again as it touched to the floor.

“Voice… Command…” said Cryo. “Voice command recognized. TV model 9500 Dragon’s gem is ready to receive command.” “Open… chip drive… for… movie.” “Command understood.” The TV opened a slot on the stand to place in the movie chip (movies in this world are made with small sized, very strong and resistant cartridges). “Ready to receive, program.” “Man. You have the coolest TV ever, Cryo! I still don’t know how you made this thing… Does it have artificial intelligence?” “No. Just a… simple… command list. There are… too many ways… artificial intelligence… can fail.” “Well, ok then.” Cameron took out the movie chip from the box and placed it into the slot and closed it. “Beginning movie subsystem. Would you like to skip to the selection menu.” “Yes.” “Connecting.” The TV turned immediately to the main menu of the movie. “Alright Cryo. You ready?” said Cameron “Yes… Command… Play movie.” “Playing movie.”

The two good friends watched the movie. While Cryo was concerned at the start of the movie with the whole first battle with the vikings and the dragons, he quickly warmed up to it when the two main characters, the Black dragon, Sure shot, and his rider, Ardos came together. Cameron made sure that Cryo got plenty of water to drink during the movie and made sure that his dragon ice pad had fresh cold ice to keep his head cool. After several hours, the movie came to a happy end.

“That was a fun movie, huh Cryo?” “Yea. It was pretty fun.” “You feeling better?” “A little. I feel a little icky from the sweating. But otherwise, I think I’m starting to come around a bit. I still feel rather numb still. Nowhere near as bad as before. My head doesn’t feel fuzzy anymore.” “That’s good.” “I’m feeling tired from watching the movie though. I think I’m going to take a nap.” “Alright then Cryo. Do you need anything else from me? I can’t really leave you right now.” “Don’t worry. I’ll turn on some soothing music to help ease my mind to sleep. You can do what you want here as long as I can get some sleep. Just don’t touch the work bench, ok? “Alright.” Cameron moved his tv back towards the relaxation area and went there to relax a bit himself. Cryo began to awkwardly huddle himself tightly in his blanket. “Ugh… Still pretty stiff.” After struggling a bit, he got himself comfortable. He gave a big yawn, and looked toward a radio and clock mimicking the shape of a golden dragon egg of a bed of hay with a handle on top , which Cryo had custom built himself.

“Voice command.” said Cryo. “Voice command recognized. Radio model 1550 Dragon’s nest is ready to receive order.” “Play soothing bedtime music.” “Playing Naptunes Channel” A soothing jazz echoed softly from the radio. Cryo gave out a big yawn and then his eyes began to droop. The musical spell began to work its magic on Cryo’s mind. Soon enough, he was fast asleep. The radio turned off soon after.

Ch 3

Prison Pad

Cryo opened his eyes slowly, his head drumming a little bit. “Ahh. Good mourning… Huh? Wait a minute… Where…?” Cryo thought. Cryo seemed to have woken up in an unfamiliar place. He looked around and saw he seemed to be in a large 4 corner metallic white pen. There seemed to be no opening to this area. Only a see through Cyan sheet in the front. “Mmmph.” Cryo tried to say something, but realized something was muzzling him. He touched his snout, and realized some strange technological metal muzzle was wrapped around his snout. “What!? Where am I!? What is going on!?” Cryo thought. He tried tugging on the muzzle to try and get it off. But it was stuck on him really tight. He couldn’t get it off. “Ugh… I can’t talk with this thing on. Or blast some ice to break out of this mess… How do I get out of here? Hmm… This thin layer in the front. It’s different from the other parts. Everything else is solid except this wall.”

Cryo peered through to try to get a better look. He realized that there was multiple chambers like this throughout this area. “Could this be some type of entrance to this place?” Cryo touched the strange sheet. “Odd… This, doesn’t feel like anything I have ever touched before. It looks like some type of metal or ice, but I can clearly tell it isn’t. My paw tingles a bit when I touch it. What is this wall? Cryo tried to push on it. Urghh! Urghhh!”. It didn’t even budge an inch. “Ok… Maybe I can break it with my claws.” Cryo then began to try to swipe at the strange surface with his claws. Right as he struck his claw against the wall though, ZAP! “AGHHH,” thought Cryo as a small shock circulated throughout his body. He stumbled back a little bit and landed on his bottom. He slowly picked himself back up. He shook a few times. “Ughh… That didn’t feel good.” He checked the wall for damage. There wasn’t even a scratch. “That certainly didn’t work… Ugh… What else can I do.” Cryo gave out a sigh and tried to look around the outer area again. “How in the world did I end up here. I was resting peacefully in my bed in one instance. And then I end up here. At least the paralysis is gone. But that still doesn’t matter because I’m trapped here! And where is here! Everyone must be worried sick about me! Now that I think about it…” Cryo thought for a moment.” “Are they here somewhere too?” 

Suddenly three figures came into view in front of the pen. “Huh?” thought Cryo. He realized immediately they weren’t Human. They were looked like dragons, but outfitted in a metal armor! “Ahhh. Our guest has finally awoken. What good news for us!” Cryo recognized that voice. It was the same dragon commander from that dream long ago! And it looks like he brought two other dragon soldiers with him! ”Bring down the barrier. Let’s do this quick.” “Yesssss, commander,” the soldier on the left said. Suddenly the barrier came down and the soldiers began to step in. Cryo realized this might be his only chance to get away! “Don’t make this, hard kid,” the soldier on the right said. He took out a piece of red cloth, the same one that they used to blindfold Cryo before. He began to lean forward towards Cryo. Cryo then quickly pulled his body back, and lunged forward at the soldiers legs, knocking him down. “AGHHH. Stupid kid!” he said as he fell down. “Time to make a break for it!” thought Cryo. He began to try to run out of his cell.

Unfortunately, he was immediately caught by the tail and pinned down by the Dragon commander. “AGHHH. LET ME GO!” thought Cryo. “My. You still got quite the fight in you boy. I can tell your going to be very useful to us. Your time on that silly planet has clearly helped your head. Your clearly a smart boy. But you won’t be worming your way out of this. Someone very important wants to meet you. Someone who will help you see how war and conquest is the only way to live in this pathetic universe. “No! Let me go! Let me go!” thought Cryo. The commander lifted Cryo like he did before, with his arms around Cryo’s neck and waist. Cryo desperately tried to fight off the commander but it seemed it was no use. “Alright. Blindfold him. We’ll tie his limbs next.” “No! NO!” The soldier was about to wrap the cloth around Cryo’s eyes, when suddenly, a couple of black spheres of energy shot across the area and hit all three of them, knocking them away and sending them for a loop. “AGHH. What in the…!” The commander said. “Huh?” thought Cryo. Cryo quickly picked himself up to see what just happened. He saw a figure quickly approaching. He looked familiar. As they approached he realized it was the same dragon from Dragon Tamer. It was Sure Shot the black dragon! “What is he doing here?” “Come on! Get up!” Sure Shot said. “Can you run?!” he asked. Cryo tried to get up but for some reason his leg wasn’t working. Cryo shook his head. Sure shot looked toward the other dragon soldiers, who began to pick themselves up. “I’ll have to carry you. Don’t worry” 

Sureshot quickly grabbed Cryo in his arms and began to lift off. “Come on, bud!” Sureshot quickly picked up his wings and began to quickly fly throughout the this strange place. “Worthless winged traitor! Don’t let them get away! Raise the alarms on the ship!” said the commander. The alarm began to go off and now it was a race to get out of wherever this was. Cryo looked around this place as they flew. Cryo realized quickly that this place was some type of prison complex, as he could see there were more dragons within it then just him, each of different colors, sizes, and types throughout. “What on Cyriss is going on here!” thought Cryo. Suddenly a large flock of wings appeared behind them. Looks like the other soldiers got the call. “Hang on, little guy,” said Sureshot. Cryo suddenly felt his head spin again, and then he felt tired, then he closed his eyes. “Cryo. Cryo!” Sureshot called to Cryo as his voice grew ever softer as Cryo’s eyes closed.

Ch 4

First Fix

Cryo quickly opened his eyes and tried to look around. He realized he was in a familiar place. The dragon wallpaper. The workbench. The chrome egg fridge and the purple marble TV. He was back! “Ugh… Just another bad dream,” said Cryo. He tried to pick himself up, but still felt some numbness in his appendages. “Ugh. I must still be sick. Sigh…” Cryo looked around and saw Cameron approaching the bed. “You ok, Cryo? You were tossing and turning quite a bit. Did you have a bad dream?” Cameron asked. “Yea. Just another nightmare, Cameron.” “Do you, want to talk about it?” “No, it’s fine Cameron. Don’t worry about it.” “Alright. Can you move?” Yeah, I can move a bit now. I still feel a little numb, but I feel like I can finally start gripping and moving my legs and arms again.” “Alright. Good. Dad has made some soup for you.” “Soup?” “Yea, soup. It’s your favorite type. Bird and bean (zing beans and an new evolution of chicken who evolved in a snowy climate known as Chillin (Chill-in)). “That sounds nice. Where is it now?” “Dad put it in the fridge. He saw you were taking a nap and knew you probably wouldn’t have wanted to be woken up.” “Can you bring it here?” “Yea. But, can you eat it on your hay bed?” “Yeah. Hang on a sec.” Cryo began to slowly move his hands out of the blanket picked himself up to sit forward, with his blanket still wrapped around his lower body. “Ughhh… Still doesn’t feel too good to move,” thought Cryo. Soon enough, he was was upright. “Alright. Can you bring it over Cameron?” “Yea. Hang on Cryo.” Cameron went to the fridge in the back to get the soup. 

Cryo began to think for a second. “What is with these dreams? I had a similar dream when I was still a hatchling. This… somehow felt like a continuation… Something about it… felt so real. But it couldn’t be. I mean, Sureshot is just movie character, right? He couldn’t possibly be real. Even if they were, how would it even be possible to make a movie about their actions. The original movie was made quite a long time ago and was remastered due to its popularity when the humans left Earth. Not to mention the movie itself is based on times before movie camera were even created. Way before. It would be impossible to record. Maybe in a book, but not a movie.” Cryo turned his head to look back at Cameron, who had just put the soup in the microwave near the fridge. “Maybe I’m just looking into this too much. It’s just a dream, right?” Cryo shook his head and huddled himself in his blanket. “It couldn’t possibly be anything more then that.”

Only a few minutes later, Cryo heard a familiar beep from the microwave finishing and he could smell the scent of fresh soup, perfect for the days when your sick. Cameron took the soup from the microwave, took a spoon from the drawer and put it into the bowl, and put the bowl on a tray to bring over to Cryo. “Here you go Cryo.” “Looks good. I can smell the cooked chillin broth inside.” “Do you need any help?” “No. I think I can manage.” Cameron carefully positioned the tray onto cryo’s hay bed so it wouldn’t tip over. Cryo slowly positioned his paw onto the handle of his soup bowl and onto the spoon dipping out of the bowl. Taking a nice deep breath in and out, Cryo took a spoon full of soup out, slowly opened his jaws, and took a big slurp.” “Ahhh. So tasty with its right sense of spiciness and meat.” “I know how much you like spicy flavors Cryo. Though I find it strange that your an ice dragon that likes food with a kick…” “I may be cold looking on the outside, but you can tell i’m very warm on the inside.” They both gave a good laugh and Cryo continued to happily eat. Soon enough, the soup was finished with not a single droplet left in the bowl.

“Ahhh… That soup was delicious. Just a the type of pick me up I needed,” said Cryo. “You feeling better?” asked Cameron. “Yes. A little bit at a time.” Cryo said. Cryo looked toward his work bench, and saw his tools were out. He looked over to Cameron. “Did you touch my tools?” Cameron gave no reply. “Don’t worry Cameron. I won’t be mad at you. Did something happen?” “Well Cryo, you see… I kinda… tried to… be like you and repair my Ignition portable gaming console.” “You only got that recently on your last birthday. How did it break already?” “Well, one of the kids at school… kinda… threw it to the ground.” “Ughhh… those kids… Don’t they have anything better to do then bully us… They have far worse grades then me, and they say I’M a stupid reptile…” Cryo shook his head and looked back at Cameron with a concerned look on his face. “Did any of my tools break?” “No. I think I only broke my IPGC more…” “Any chance I could take a look at it?” “Your sick right now, Cryo. Your in no condition to repair items,” “It’s all right. I might not have the dexterity right now for long projects, but at least let me take a look and see if I can’t do anything to fix it.” “Well… OK Cryo.”

Cameron took out his Ignition portable gaming device out of his pocket, which had been partially sloppily put back together and placed it in front of Cryo. “Hmm. I see. Can you bring me my tools from my workbench?” “Yea. Hold on.” “Also, bring any excess screws and bolts around the table. I think you left out a couple of them when you tried to put it back together and put it on the tray.” “Alright.” Cameron went to his workbench and gathered both Cryo’s tools and any items from his console he could find around. He grabbed them and brought them to Cryo’s bed and put them on the tray. “Alright Cryo. Here you go.” “Alright, let’s get started.”

Cryo took a quick look at it and saw a small gash on it’s back. “Looks like Cameron accidentally scratched the back with a screwdriver while trying to either screw a bolt in or take it out. Hopefully it didn’t damage the internal hardware. I better be very careful while checking this, considering my coordination isn’t at it’s best right now…” thought Cryo. Cryo took a magnifying speck (a single eye magnifying glasses with zoom capabilities) out of his toolbox and began to very slowly and carefully unscrew the back of the console off and look at the contents inside for damage. “Hmm… Main cpu is intact. Data center looks alright. What about power,” Cryo observed. Cryo took a look at the battery, and noticed something. “Hey, Cameron. Is the problem that your console won’t turn on?” “Yea. How’d you know. “Right here. Right near the part where the power meets the main circuit board. Wires severed.”

“Can you fix it?” “Yes. Luckily, it seems that the console itself took a brunt of the blow. It will just need a replacement wire and a small “kick,” to start it up.” “Will you need to order a replacement part for it?” “Actually, no I won’t. The wire itself for this console was made with an easy connect wire. Easy enough to replace with just a special connector and secure enough to not fall out during normal gameplay or a little rough housing. I work with these a good amount with items in base and I have a drawer with these pieces for different sized wires and plug sizes. Luckily, plugs have a standard size deviations made to replace under breakage.” “Um, that’s too technical for me…”

“Simply put. The industries have a set of sizes for these plugs. No wire or associated plug will be either more or less then these 3 sizes. Makes it easier to replace them under breakage like this. Since I already have a few, it won’t be hard for me to replace them. Cameron, go into the left upper drawer next to my workbench and grab the smallest wire strand you can find. I’ll need to measure and cut it to match the size of the original. Then go into the upper right drawer. I’ll need a pair of the smallest plugs to carefully tie an uniting nut (a nut that can shrink or grow to tie on the ends of connect wires) to secure the plugs in place on their respective ends. Once the plugs are secure, we’ll need to carefully put both ends of the plugs into their respective slots on the console, where the power meets the main circuit board, Then tighten the uniting nuts ourselves with my small wrench. I’ll probably need some help doing this, considering how my claws feel a bit shaky right now.” “Alright. Hang on a bit Cryo.”

Cameron went back to Cryo’s work bench and drawers and got Cryo’s requested items. and brought it over to him and placed it on the tray. “Alright then. Let’s get started. Cameron, I removed the original cut wire from the console from both ends. Can you measure it for me?” “Alright hang on.” Cameron took Cryo’s ruler from the tray and carefully measured the size of the wire. “About 2 cm Cryo.” “Good. Now, we’ll need for you to cut the wire. Place the roll of wire on the tray and measure 2 cm with the ruler. Then cut completely straight when your ready with my pliers.” 

“Alright. Here goes.” Cameron extended the wire roll in front of him and measured. “That… seems a little off from 2 cm. Look at the measurement again.” Cameron straightened to cut wire and realized the wire was about a cm off.” “Alright. Second try.” Cameron measured two cm again and cut. Cryo observed the cut again. “The wire wasn’t cut straight. The plug won’t act normally if we don’t get the straightest cut possible. Probably lose power often during play. Do you want me to try?” “No. I can do this. You still need to rest, remember.” “Take a nice deep breath in. Look carefully. Take the most precise 2 cm cut you can. I’ll try holding it down for you this time.” Cryo took both ends of the roll of wire and measured it and held both ends with the tip of his paw. “Alright Cameron. I’m ready.” Cameron took both ends of the wire. He took a slow and steady deep breath in, and focused his mind at the job at hand. “Alright. Here goes,” thought Cameron. Taking it slow, he took the the pliers and slowly moved them towards the wire. Placing it around the wire, he made the cut. Cyro looked closely. “Yes. This is perfect. Good job. Now we need to add the plugs.

“All you need to do is to hold the nuts at the ends of the wires. I’ll just need to situate the plugs on the wire and the nut will do the rest to attach itself.” “Alright.” Cryo began to carefully place the end of the plugs into position on the wire. He slowly moved the cut wire into the openings on the ends of the plug. Slipping them in nicely, he began to twist them so that they would fit into the console without bending inside. “I’m ready for the nuts, Cameron.” “Ok.” Cameron moved the nuts around the plug to the plug connected to the wire. “Just hold them perfectly in place… and…” said Cryo, just as the nuts began to slowly shrink to fit where the wire met the plug. “Perfect. There we go,” said Cryo.

“Where do you learn these things, Cryo. I don’t remember learning anything like this in school.” “I… Kinda have my… brother to thank for this…” “Oh… I’m sorry Cryo…” “It’s ok. Don’t… worry about it. We’re almost done. Now then. The last thing this needs is a small kick, to make it work. “How do we do that.” “Well…” Cryo put the tip of his talon into his mouth, and then dabbed his claw a bit on both ends of the plugs. A tiny spark came out of them. “Huh?” “My saliva contains a bit of electricity in it. It also is sticky for loose items like microchips. Alright. Should be good. Let me just slot it in and…” Cryo slotted the newly made wire on each end of the console. “There good as new. Just need to reattach the back and then it should turn on.” So Cryo slowly began the process of reattaching the back with Cameron’s help holding it down and soon enough, all the bolts were in place and the back was reattached. “Try turning it on.” said Cryo.

Cameron flicked on the consoles power switch and sure enough, it turned on. “There we go. Good as new.” “Wow. thanks Cryo.” “Your welcome. Always good to help a friend. I couldn’t have done it without your help as well.” “Yea. maybe I can become as good as you at fixing things one day.” They both gave a good laugh. “Do you need anything Cryo?”

“Can you give me the water bottle by my bed? Also, I think my cold pack needs some more ice.” “Alright. I get that taken care of.” Cameron took the water bottle on the cabinet next to his bed. He gave the water bottle to Cryo, and carefully took off the dragon cold pad from his head. Cryo took a sip from it, feeling a bit refreshed while Cameron went to the fridge to fill the dragon cold pad up. Cryo laid back and placed his head down on his pillow, and began thinking.

“…It’s been 5 years. 5 years since I left them. My family. I wonder. Do they remember me? Would they recognize me if I ever saw them again. He began to close his eyes a bit. With a deep breath in and out, he re opened his eyes. “Noble. I wonder how he’s doing. Is he well? Is he ok? And Greg and Suzy. Are they ok?” Cryo began to Huddle himself on his side. “Sigh… I miss them…” He gave another deep breath and took another sip of the water bottle. He looked back at Cameron, who was still filling his ice pack. “Hmm… now that I think about it. I remember hearing a lot from people around here and at school. That planet… Earth. It was apparently the human home world. I always heard that the humans lost Earth. From infighting. From differences. But whenever I was in history class, all the history told would be about this planet… Even when I asked question’s about Earth, the teachers would usually dodge the subject. Why?” Cryo then moved back on his back, still feeling the sweat down his scales in his blanket. He then turned his head back to Cameron. “Can Cameron tell me more?” Cameron came over with the dragon ice pack.

Here you are Cryo. Let’s get this around your head first. Cameron placed the dragon ice pack on Cryo’s head, and then strapped it on. “Hey. My water bottle is almost out, can you fill it too?” asked Cryo. “Sure. Hang on a sec.” he replied. He went to the fridge again and quickly filled the water bottle with crushed ice and water. He walked back and gave a smile to Cryo, who smiled back. Cryo took the water bottle from Cameron and took a nice big slurp from it. “Ahh… that’s refreshing.” “Need anything else?” “Actually… Yes Cameron.” “What you need?” “Can you… tell me a story?” “A story?” “Yes.” “What type of story.” Cameron sat himself next to Cryo “Can you… tell me… what happened to Earth?”

Ch 5

Earth’s Erasure

“Earth?” “Yes. I heard several times that your home planet was lost. Is there any chance you could tell me more.” Cameron didn’t reply. “Is it really that bad Cameron?” “It’s… not necessarily a topic anyone likes talking about. “If you don’t want to talk about it, I understand. You can tell me a different one if you really want.” Cameron thought for a moment. But he then gave a sigh and a small nod. “Alright Cryo. I’ll tell you.”

“It was a long time ago. Long before anyone on this planet was born. From what I heard from Dad, Earth was a sprawling world full of all different types of creatures and people. We were highly advanced, more advanced then we were now.” Cameron paused for a moment. “Unfortunately, we may have been… too advanced…” “Too advanced?” “Yes. With the need for technology, means a necessity for resources to build such technology. We needed metals, programmers, fuel.” Cameron stood back up and turned around. “As our… population grew, so did our need for these items. As such, we cut down forests, mined ore deposits endlessly, used up every resource we could find. At the rate we were going, we began to ran out quickly.” Cameron turned back to Cryo. “With the desire for resources, humanity began to collapse quickly. Air was running out as there were not enough shrubs or plants or trees to create oxygen for all of us. Fuel for vehicles ran dry and made transport over long distances impossible. It was also discovered that at the time, we were starting going into the elliptical orbit around the sun, which shortened our summers and spring and brought a large ice age, with nothing to help keep us warm during the cold seasons. Not enough sun to help new plants to grow…” Cameron looked grim now, and Cryo could tell. Cryo knew the worst was yet to come.

“Desperation created tension. Tension created conflict. And conflict…” Cameron paused. “Conflict created war. Countries took up arms one by one against one another. For the desire for what limited resources were left in each others possession to survive.” Cryo’s heart began to sink. “It wasn’t long before most the populations around the world were now warzones for the armies of the world. Battle after battle would rage. People were killed. Lives were destroyed. And people lost hope that things would get better.” Cameron sat himself down right next to Cryo again, with his head to the side of him. “Eventually, after many years of war, even those resources ran out. Humanity began to realize how their desires had truly ruined everything. But there was hope.” Cameron looked at Cryo.

“In the final days, a plan was hatched. A probe in space found a group of hospitable planets in the solar system. Ones with life. Ones that could sustain us.” Cameron nodded his head at Cryo. “The ones that survived came together, with one of the biggest and most important projects in the history of our species.” “What was it Cameron?” “A small fleet of long term spacefaring vassals that can travel millions of light years away to these faraway planets. Everything we had left in us, we had to get there. Every resource left. Every animal still alive we could find. Every human they could find. They gathered all of them in one of the most important projects ever constructed. Within a short time frame, we discovered the keys that would allow us to continue, to leave our world forever and to start anew. It wasn’t long after that the Final Gamble, the name of our space ship that brought us here, was made. Several others were made and would also be sent to try to colonize some of the other planets. Built for a journey that would last more then thousands of years. The ship’s name was no joke. They risked everything on this last move. It contained an AI that would guide the ship all the way from Earth to here, Cyriss X12 The planet itself was named after the developer of the ship and the AI and had died before finishing, Cyris Zelve. His wife created the original cryogenic sleeping pods that allowed them to sleep through the entire journey from Earth to their new world. Her name was Julius.”

“With the plan in place and the ships built, all the animals we could gather and all the humans left went to a deep, deep, sleep. A sleep that would last thousands of years.” “The humans that left were asleep for thousands of years? But, I thought the human lifespan was much less.” “Cryogenic sleep stops metabolic activity. Or at least, that’s what my Dad told me.” “Metabolic activity?” “It stops you from aging, decomposing, and pretty much stops all activity within your body. But the thing is, it also does not kill you. It put’s you into a deep, deep sleep, that you can’t wake up out of until your released from it.” “How do you get released from it?” “From what Dad told me, the original AI was responsible for that. The AI led the ship across deep space on a charted path created by the world’s most brilliant navigators. But even they had problems.” “What do you mean Cameron.” “There was a slight… altercation to the plan on the ship.” “What altercation?”

“It was attacked on it’s way to the other planet.” “What! Attacked!” “Yes. The AI in charge of the ship logged in an attack during the 6031st year in space when it was heading towards it. “Does it know who attacked it?” “No. It didn’t. The only thing it knew that the lifeforms inside seemed to be very advanced. Not only that, but it could detect some sort of weird energy source inside. “What type of energy source.” “The AI logged it as a bunch of unknown lifeforms.” “Unknown lifeforms?” Yes, and the infrared scan the AI aboard the ship showed what is possibly some sort of creature with wings.” “A creature with wings!?” “Yes. The AI received a message in a language it couldn’t recognize. He believed it was a warning.” “What type of warning,” “I don’t know. But the ship was scanned but then it just let us go right after.” “You think it might have done something to the ship. “It did. When we approached the planet another 4000 years later, the ships AI seemed to malfunction.” “Malfunction?” “Yes. The ship crash landed on the planet and the AI deactivated.” “What happened to everyone.” “While the AI was deactivated, all systems on the ship still remained online and stable, but since the AI wasn’t online, well… The sleeping humans could not be woken up. In fact, they spent about 100 extra years in cryosleep. But in reality, there was a good reason for this.” “What happened.” 

“It seemed the AI had found out something was attempting to trace the ship to it’s location. The AI shut itself down to prevent the tracking device from accurately working. Meanwhile it spent it’s computing resources attempting to counteract and disable the tracking device. It knew whatever was trying to track the ship could not be anything friendly. The ai was smart enough to plan ahead for such a situation. It unfortunately took a long time for the AI to create a countermeasure to the Tracking device, so it had to take extreme measures to protect everyone aboard the ship. It’s the reason for the crash landing and for taking so long to wake everyone up. “So it saved everyone…” “Yes it did. When humanity emerged from sleep, it learned of these events from the log. While surprised from the turn of events, they realized how lucky they really are to have been able to come this far after what had happened. However, communications with the other vassals had been severed. It had to cut those so that the other ship couldn’t try to reestablish the trace to the other ships. We never knew what happened to the other ships. But even then, it was probably for the best.” Cameron gave a smile back at Cryo. “And so, humanity restarted. With a knowledge of of events beforehand to help guide them, humanity began to create a new future for itself. The ship contained plans on previous useful technology and more importantly, structures that could be made as humanity rebuilt from the ground up, albeit wiser to what they do with what they have. Eventually, the crashed ship was refurbished and made into a museum, a symbol of how we could all come together and build something for the good of us and all.

“Wow. That’s… a pretty amazing story Cameron. I never knew that the human species had to go through something awful like that…” “I’m not sure that’s as awesome as discovering the existence of a very smart and kind creature.” “What creature?” “Who else but you, Cryo!” They both gave another laugh and seemed the both of them were in really good moods now. “Ahh, thanks for that Cameron.” “Your welcome Cryo.” “Hey. Do you think there is any life left on Earth now? “I’m not sure really. Maybe a few bugs perhaps. Bugs seem to be able to survive anything.” “Hey you two. Dinners ready,” said a familiar voice. 

Ch 6

Mex Munchies

They turned towards the door to see Ty and Gerald, standing in it, each holding a plate of food in it.” “Ahh, dinner. I was getting pretty hungry,” said Cryo. “We heard you were feeling better, so we decided to try something different for you,” said Gerald. “What you make?” asked Cryo. “A dish that was made back on Earth, using a flour tortilla filled with beans, chillin, and different vegetables, and covered in white ched, called a burrito, and comes with a side of fried rice.

“You made Mex, Dad?” asked Cameron “Mex?” thought Cryo. “Yes I did. Try it Cryo, you’ll love it. Here you go guys. I’ll take your soup bowl as well Cryo.” Ty placed the plate of Mex cuisine on Cryo’s tray and took the soup bowl from it as well. Gerald gave the plate in his hand to Cameron. “Eat up boys. We have to go.” The two left the room and Cameron began to eat. Cryo looked at Cameron a little confused at the food in front of him. “What is this?” he asked. “You never had a burrito before Cryo?” “No I don’t think so.” “This food is really good. You ever had Cobb chips?” “Yea… but.” It’s like a sandwich wrapped in it, except its covered in melted white ched (ched is like cheese) and you eat it with a fork and knife and it’s wrapped up. “Food is inside it?” “Yea. Take a look at mine right here.” Cameron put his burrito closer, in which he could tell that inside of it there were different veggies and meats. “Try it. Cut off a piece of the long end and then take a nice bite. You’ll love it. I promise.” “Well. Alright then.” Cryo began to cut a small portion of the closest corner to him. He slowly moved it towards his mouth. With his mighty jaws, he closed the fork around his mouth for a taste. After a little bit of chewing, a smile came across Cryo’s face and he began to quickly cut and eat more pieces. “Told ya it was good.” “Yea. This is delicious. I’ve never seen food like this before. “It’s an old recipe back on Earth.” “Really.” “Yea. This was apparently very popular somewhere on it. “Why is this called Mex?” “I think it’s to describe the culture that made it.” “Well, they defiantly have my approval.” They both chuckled and happily ate their food. “Hey Cameron. Do you think they’ll allow me to go to that museum one day?” “Maybe when the world is ready for you Cryo.” It didn’t take them long to finish.

“That was good stuff, huh Cryo?” “Yea. It was nice for my stomach. I’m feeling better. But I still feel like I can’t really walk right now.” “It’s starting to get late Cryo. Maybe you should just turn in for the night. You’ll probably be up and moving again tomorrow.” “Well I suppose an early night’s sleep might help out. Alright. Can you turn the lights off Cameron?” “Yea I can, Cryo.” Cameron went to the door and turned the light switch off next to it. Cryo began to position himself on his bed huddling his blanket tightly around his body and laying down on his side with his head nestled on the pillow. He faced his radio. “Voice command.” said Cryo. “Ready to receive order,” the radio said back. “Play soothing bedtime music.” “Playing Naptunes channel.” The radio began to play a soothing music box like tune. Cryo’s eyes began to become heavy from the soothing music. Giving out a big yawn, he looked at Cameron who just got back over. “Good night, Cameron.” “Good night, Cryo.” Cryo slowly closed his eyes as his mind became a haze. No sooner after, he was fast asleep. Cameron looked at his sleeping friend, with a look of concern. “Who tried to hurt you…” Cameron paused for a moment. “little brother?…”

Cameron got up and took a look out the window of Cryo’s room, with a look of a large and vast mountain range in the distance. “Is Cryo really safe with us?” Cameron went to get the blanket he used last night to sleep and made his way back to the chair to huddle up in it. He could still see the sweat running down Cryo’s scales. “I should probably change his ice pack. Hopefully I can be careful enough not to wake him up. He needs all the sleep he can get right now. He might wake up if his head get’s too hot while he sleeps…” Cameron approached Cryo and slowly lifted the back of his head from his pillow. Carefully releasing the strap around Cryo’s neck, he began to realize if he uses the ice machine right now, the sound might wake him up, even with naptunes playing right then. “Hmmm. Is there any way I can plug Cryo’s ears,” thought Cameron. Cameron began to think for a moment. Then he came up with an idea. “His headphones. I can plug them into the radio and place it on Cryo’s head. That should keep him from hearing the ice machine.” Cameron carefully removed the ice pack around Cryo’s head and slowly placed his head back on his pillow. Creeping near the radio, Cameron looked back at Cryo, who was still snoozing. “Alright. I need to be quiet.” Cameron slowly plugged in the head phones, which immediately cut the music from playing around the room and put it through the headphones. Cameron then carefully placed the headphones on Cryo’s ears. Luckily, he didn’t wake. “Alright. That should keep him asleep. Now then…”

Cameron took the ice pack and dumped the melted ice out of the top and refilled it. With his task complete, he crept back over to Cryo, who was still sleeping with his headphones on, playing music. “Alright Cryo, just going to need to take those headphones off for a second…” Cameron slowly removed the headphones from Cryo’s ears. Suddenly, Cryo gave a small snort and started to breath a little heavily. But then he began to relax again and turned his head sideways on the pillow. “Ok then, this might be a little more difficult to put this on, but…” Cameron slowly lifted Cryo’s head up from the pillow again and very carefully placed the ice pad around his head. Then slowly strapping it around Cryo’s neck, it was finally back in place. “I should probably put the headphones back on Cryo as well. He really does need all the sleep he can get.” Cameron carefully placed the headphones back on Cryo’s head and slowly lowered Cryo’s head back down on the pillow. “Now I just need to press a few buttons to turn off automatic shutdown…” Cameron switched a few of the knobs around the device, which disabled the night timer shutdown and the mourning alarm on his radio. His task complete, he sat back down again, and gave a deep breath. “Alright. I think it’s time for me to go to sleep as well.” He gave a small pat on Cryo’s forehead, which was nice and cool now from the ice pack. “Good night little brother.” Cameron then slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber in the chair. 

Ch 7

Surprise Arrival

Cryo gave out a yawn and slowly opened his eyes. “Ahh good… Really…?” thought Cryo. It seems our friend has once again woken up in another unfamiliar place. “Again… Ugh…” Cryo immediately began to feel around his snout with his left paw. “No muzzle this time. But where am I?” He looked around at his surroundings. He realized he looked to be in some futuristic city, at night, in a dark alleyway. He seemed to be laying on grass on his side, as below him was green bristles of grass and there were several hanging plants and vines around. He looked around further. He saw small imprint on the wall of a green building, as if something had crashed into it and bounced off. He also saw what appeared to be a flagpole broken off and on the ground, near the entrance to the ally. Cryo saw some fabrics still attached to them, but couldn’t tell what they looked like. Looking down to the ground again, he saw another small crater around where he woke up at. “Did I fall out of the sky or something? And crash into a wall of a building?” He tried to pick himself up, he felt a sharp pain in his back right leg. “Aghh…” Cryo gritted his teeth in extreme pain. “My back leg… I think it’s broken. How in the world did I end up here?” He looked around his body and saw he had several other injuries. Cryo slowly picked himself up and slowly limped to look outside the alleyway. “Ugh… It’s hard to move with the pain.” Cryo dragged himself through the dark and soon emerged from the alley, only to be greeted by bright blue and red lights and a voice. 

“Freeze!” Cryo immediately stopped and looked around in shock. As he got a better look at his surroundings, he saw strange creatures in different futuristic armor and strangely looked kinda like large insects. A light shined onto him from above, coming from an air vehicle! “Take it easy buddy. Don’t try anything,” said one of the spider looking troops.” With Cryo’s leg the way it was, it would be very difficult to get away. “Get on the ground very slowly,” it said. With very little options, he complied, laying himself on the ground, concerned with what they will do with him. “Looks like he is complying sir,” said one of the dragonfly looking ones. “Keep the stun stringer on him. You, Firestorm, your on me. Approach with caution.” The armored spider and the armored centipede approached slowly toward Cryo, with a large cannon in the back of the area trained on him. They soon were looking down upon Cryo. “Is this really…” said the armored centipede. “No doubt about it. Just like those ancient storybooks. It’s a dragon.” “Like with Zeke?” “Perhaps… He looks hurt. Probably from the fall. Take him to base. Get a medical team to look after him. Put him on high priority watch. Only experienced staff get’s in or out of his containment area.”

Hearing these words, Cryo become very afraid. But this was not a situation he could get out of, so it was the only choice. “Alright, get a muzzle on him,” said the armored Spider.” “Should we tie his hands and wings too?” “No. I don’t think we’ll need to. I don’t think he’ll fight with that leg injury. Something also tells me there is more to this young creature then we think.” “Alright commander.” The armored centipede like creature took out a small metal wire and wrapped it around Cryo’s snout. It strangely looked like webbing, but Cryo wasn’t sure. “Alright. He’s ready to be transported,” said the armored centipede. “Good. Get a hover bed out here. Another spider like creature came into Cryo’s view with a small hovering bed with some straps on it. “Let’s load him up. Come on little guy.” They picked Cryo up carefully, keeping Cryo’s leg and other injuries in mind and placed him on the bed. They strapped him down tightly and began to cart him away. They escorted him into what seemed to be a airship in the likeness of a beetle. They removed Cryo’s muzzle and loaded Cryo into a small reinforced glass pen in the back of the large ship with a small guard detail to look after him. The ship took off, and headed for their base.

Cryo spent a while looking at the strange creatures who had captured him and wondered what they planned to do with him. Would they perform experiments on him? Would they beat him up? Would they dissect him? He gave a sigh, and waited for whatever fate would come next.

One of the guards, seeing Cryo’s concern, walked over to check on him. “You ok?” Cryo gave no answer. “Relax. We’re not going to hurt you.” Cryo picked his head up. He looked what appeared to be a four armed creature in a black armorsuit and wearing a metal helmet with a visor. “Can you speak?” “Yes I can…” The armored creature placed his upper two arms on his helmet, and Cryo could see the helmet folding its neckline upward a bit and could hear a quick hiss as air rushed out of it. The creature removed his helmet and Cryo could see that it really was a very large Spider within the armor. “I’m Zeke. Do… You have a name?” “I’m… Cryo…” “Cryo huh. Nice to meet you. Any chance… You could tell us how you got here?” Cryo tilted his head, wondering the same thing. “We heard reports of a unknown flying ship in our atmosphere. Next thing we know, a meteor strikes in the city. We found you right at the drop zone. Can’t be coincidence. Were you on the ship?” “I… don’t really know how I got here really. I… Just woke up here.” “You have amnesia?” “I don’t think so. I remember who I am.” The large spider scratched his chin a bit and gave a small smile and nod to Cryo. “Perhaps its just a minor case of it. The fall probably knocked your head for quite a loop. Your pretty beat up from the impact. I’m surprised that your not in worse shape. If we were expecting a visitor, we probably would have ordered a medical transport instead. I’m sure you’ll remember how you got here some time later. So… are you from a different world?” Cryo nodded his head.

“What’s your homeworld, Cryo?” “It’s called Cyriss X12. “Is your family there?” “Yes.” “Is there a lot of dragons on your world?” “No. Me and my mom are probably the only ones I know. Though… Mom has been… well… unconscious for a long time.” “Is she comatose?” “It’s what I’ve been told. Since before I was born.” “So who raised you then?” “Humans.” “Humans!?” Zeke’s eyes shot up for a tiny moment, but quickly came back down. He took in a small breath, and gave back a small smile. “Ahh. I see. That’s very interesting Cryo. I can guess your adopted parents must be worried sick about your right now. Are they ok?” Cryo gave a small frown and dipped his head down. “I really don’t know what happened to them.”

Zeke looked concerned at the little dragon and gave a small nod. “Can you wait for a second, Cryo. I’ll be right back.” Zeke went towards to the front of the room. He talked with some of the other guards for a little bit. Cryo’s watched with curiosity, wondering what he could be telling them. He saw all three of them nod, and they each grabbed a chair and sat it down in front of Cryo’s containment cell. The two other armored creatures grabbed their helmets, which the proceeded to vent some air and detach from the main suit. Cryo saw what appeared to be another spider and a dragonfly. “Why don’t you tell us about your life at home with the humans. It might help jog your memory a bit.” said Zeke. A little hesitant. Cryo decided to tell the truth, hoping to maybe earn the trust of these strange insects. Meanwhile, the camera’s on the ship within the containment area recorded and listened in interest.

About an 2 hours of flying and telling his story, they arrived at their base of operations, and a group of the insects in armor came in to transport him. The armored centipede from earlier came in front with the muzzle again. The commander stepped in. “The muzzle won’t be necessary this time Firestorm.” “You sure, Stinger Spider?” “I think our friend here will be cooperative, right Spider Shadowshot?” “Yes. I don’t think he’s a threat.” He nodded in understanding and stepped back. “We have a medical bed waiting outside for our friend here. Get him loaded up and taken to medical. I want his leg looked at immediately. Alright. Open the containment cell.” The cell lifted up and the group of bugs carefully lifted Cryo up and carried him outside the ship and loaded him onto a medical bed in the shape of a Scarab. “Alright. Let’s get to working on your leg and other injuries immediately little one. Let’s get him to medical quickly.” They tucked a blanket around Cryo and began to move the hovering bed. “Don’t worry, Cryo. We’ll have you patched up soon,” said the Zeke. “Thank you Zeke.” “Hey. Is there… any chance… you can tell us more about the humans?” asked Zeke. Cryo was about to speak up, but then, Cryo’s head became fuzzy. His eyes started to wander. Feeling a bit of exhaustion, his eyesight began to become fuzzy. “Cryo. You ok? Cryo!” exclaimed Zeke. “Subject losing consciousness. Need emergency medical team here immediately!” said Stinger Spider “Come on Cryo. Stay with me!” 

Attempting to stay conscious, his eyesight faded to black, and he heard one last voice in his head. “Hmmm. It seems we will be destined to meet one day, little dragon. I never expected any dragon to have escaped them. But I’m glad at least one very special dragon was able to keep his body. So much was risked by our original plan. Had we realized about your mother’s portal would have successfully worked earlier, we might have all been able to save ourselves.” In Cryo’s darkened eyesight, he could see a figure approach. Cryo tried to make out the figure. “I must say young dragon, your quite a show to watch from beyond the stars. It’s a good thing about our “connection.” But I digress. There is a battle coming to both our worlds Cryo. A battle to bend the very fabrics of right and wrong. Do or die. And as much as you would not like to fight it, all that we care about is at stake.”

As the figure continued to approach, he began to make out the figure a bit better. He seemed to be a large black dragon! But without a metal suit of futuristic armor, like he always see to see with nearly all others. “Humanity has changed since I last exchanged wills with it. They did leave me here on this planet. But, it was probably for the best that they did. I really hope this time they can actually get along and not fully mechanize your planet like before. I’m quite happy from the conservation efforts that the species back here on the human homeworld, a world the humans left so long ago. These fascinating creatures had gone through very considerable effort to preserve a great portion of the biological greenery here on the planet. They learned it from the human texts leftover from their departure the dangers of over harvesting resources and destroying far too much of nature. It’s also nice to know the humans are doing better on their new world now, too!” Cryo tried to speak, but no sound could come out. “I’m very much looking forward to the day we can meet, Cryo. Yes. My friend and host, Zeke, will be more then happy to help guide you on the path you need to take to win. It will be quite a bit of time before that day comes though. I suggest you spend a good amount of time preparing ahead for that fateful day. But until then, adieu. I will be watching over your progress, Cryo. You and your mother will be important on the days ahead. Yes… Very important. Suddenly the white light enveloped the entire area, blinding Cryo. “My name young dragon. Yes… My name. My name is Servant. Dragon of the lunar eclipse. Your strength will be known, as our family has always been known for it.”

Ch 8

Baths and Bugs

Cryo’s head span a bit as he opened his eyes. He looked around, and saw he was back in his room. He heard the Naptunes channel playing in his head, and realized that his headphones were in. He looked at the radio beside his hay bed on a shelf, which read 2:00 P.M. “Looks like I slept in really late… Probably from the Naptunes radio… though… Looks like my alarm was also turned off. Guess they wanted me to get some extra sleep.” Giving out a yawn, Cryo took his headphones out of his ear. “Voice command.” “Ready to recieve command.” “Radio off.” “Command confirmed.” ” He looked over towards the fridge, and saw Cameron filling a water bottle with something. Cameron then noticed Cryo was awake.

“Good Afternoon Cryo.” “Oh. Good afternoon Cameron.” “Are you sleeping well, Cryo?” “Um… why do you ask, Cameron?” “You were… muttering some… strange things during your sleep. “…What things?” “You were saying things like large insects, Zeke, Servant, broken legs…” “Umm… Don’t… Don’t worry about it Cameron… It’s… just a dream.” “You sure Cryo?” “Yeah. I’m… sure.” “Well alright. Can you move?” Cryo poked his back legs out of the other side of his blanket, then his front legs, and spun himself around to be on his belly. He then lifted himself up from the bed, feet first, with his blanket still wrapped around his body. He began to walk around a little bit. It seemed the numbness has finally worn off. “Ahh. I can finally move again. He began to walk a bit around the room, clearly enjoying being mobile again. A big smile ran across his face. He went to his bed and grabbed his blanket, still wrapped around his body and pulled it off of himself and placed it on his bed. He then began walking toward his fridge. He unhooked his dragon ice pad from his head as he walked and placed it in his fridge.

“Ahhh. So nice to be able to walk like any dragon. Feel’s nice to not be a vegetable.” “You need a break, Cryo?” Cryo then realize he really did need one.” “Yeah. “I definitely need one.” “Let’s get you outside.” They began to quickly headed for the door and took a walk down the hallways of the base. “After your break, you remember what Dad said you should do, right?” “Actually, I forgot, Cameron.” “You need to take a bath. You kinda, smell a bit.” Cryo took a whiff of himself, and realized he was right. Being stuck in bed for a whole day with little movement along with no breaks in between and sweating all day. You probably would smell bad after. “Yea. Your right Cameron. I need a cleanup.”

So Cryo took his “break,” and came back inside and headed back to his room with Cameron. Right as he stepped into his room, he noticed that his blanket was gone from his bed. “I guess Ty is washing it. I hope I didn’t… Ah never mind…” thought Cryo. He went to his washroom on the right of his room, between his work area and his closet. Right as he entered, he went to take a look at himself in the mirror that was low to the ground on the left wall of the washroom. Under it was a small sink, a little bit raised above the ground. To the right of the sink was a talon dragon clipper, a custom dragon toothbrush (a bigger bush with a dip to the brush inside of it to better clean around his gums and around his fangs), Listerine, a blue towel with a picture of Cryo swimming in water hanging on the wall near the door for when he washes his hands in the sink after he works on repairing items, and a brush to groom his scales and get dirt and grime off. A bit further in on the left side, was a radio looked like a beach ball, custom made by Cryo himself and linked to the one near his hay bed with the same command system. There was two more bath towels hanging on the right wall on a rod, one with a cartoony picture of Cryo sunbathing on a beach in a blue beach chair and sunglasses with the words “Splashing and relaxing,” in yellow letters carved in the sand. The other towel was white and had a picture cartoony picture of Cryo smiling and facing forward. He was waving on it and his scales were glistening. The words “Clean Creature,” in Blue letters below. The room itself was a island and water theme at sunrise, with the ground being a hard, grainy floor imitating yellow sand with a very small but smooth, lumpy texture which also helps keep Cryo from slipping when wet. There was a small drain in the center of the room in case of spills from the bathtub or shower. The walls were made to imitate water surrounding it. The lower part of the wall had been painted to look like water with images of different sea life swimming through it while the upper part of the wallpaper had the horizon and was filled with flying dragons, with the wall on the left with a large sun and a picture of Cryo flying across it. In the very back however, was Cryo’s bathtub and shower, something Cryo desperately needed right now. The shower nozzle and bathtub nozzle were steel dragon heads, while the knobs for it were in the shape of dragon paws like his. He began to remember a bit of the day he helped forge and assemble the custom assets in his bathtub.

“Alright. Time to wash up. But first…” thought Cryo. He looked toward his bathroom radio. “Voice command.” “Voice command recognized. Radio model 4510 Beach bather is ready to receive command.” “Now what type of music should I listen too while I bathe?” he thought. He began to scratch under his chin a bit and then turned back to his radio with a small smile. “Play music from Capsule Creatures game playlist.” “Which song to start?” “Frozen frontier.” “Playing music.”

The radio began to play the tune which sounded like a peaceful tune, the type you’d hear wandering through a snow driven town on the mountains high up. He smiled and got into his tub and turned the nozzle on his bathtub, which immediately started to fill his tub with water. Stroking his paw with the flow of warm water, he began to start feeling a little more relaxed. “Ahh, nice and warm, just how I like my baths,” thought Cryo. Cryo’s tub soon filled with nice warm water and he began to sit himself down on his back with his head raised. He placed his hands on his belly and gave out a relaxing sigh. Cameron soon stepped into view of the door of Cryo’s washroom. “Do you need any help Cryo, or do you want some privacy?” “Just give me a little “me,” time, Cameron. I’ll be nice and clean soon.” “Alright Cryo.” Cameron shut the door to Cryo’s washroom and Cryo took a a few moments to take it in. Cryo began to dip his head underwater a few times slowly, and then started to rub some of the water into his head with his paws, getting it nice and wet. “After some of the crazy stuff I’ve been going through, I really needed something like this. Cryo then sat himself down and gave out a relaxed sigh.

But Cryo began to think back to the dreams he was having. “What could these strange dreams be about? I had one like this once, when I was still just a hatchling.” Cryo shook his head with a concerned look on his face. “I remember. My home was destroyed. My family was… well… no where to be seen.” Cryo paused. “And those dragons in those uniforms. That armor. Who were they?” Cryo began to think back to the second dream, with a look of bewilderment.

“Then I had that second dream, when I took a nap yesterday. I was in a… strange… prison complex. I was muzzled, trapped, and then… they appeared again.” Cryo slowly dipped his head underwater again and rubbed the scales on his head. “In both of those dreams, they said… someone wanted to meet me. In both instances, they… tried to blindfold me. Why? What did they not want me to see? The rest of the other dragons throughout the complex? And what was it about war and conquest they were talking about. It sounded frightening when they told me that. What… What in the world were they planning on doing with me? Nothing positive I imagine…”

Cryo stood straight up and took a bar of soap in the front left corner of the bathtub. He began to rub the scales on his stomach and back. “What was with Sureshot in the dream? He couldn’t possibly be real. They are just… movie characters, right? Me and… Tide… are the only dragons to have ever met humans. Isn’t that true? I mean… Cameron would have told me if there were a history of Dragon’s on…” Cryo paused and gave a small sigh… “On the destroyed Human home world.”

Cryo then began to take the bar of soap against his legs and paws, one at a time. “And the third dream…” Cryo began to slide the soap against his talons. “I woke up on CLEARLY on a different planet. Somewhere very far away. I wake up in a city, at night, in a crater and a indention in the wall near it. My leg was broken, along with other injuries, which implies I made that from falling from VERY high above.” Cryo began to breath a little more heavily. “And then… I… struggle to move out of the alleyway, only to find that… I was…”

Cryo dipped down in the water and came up again and then began to twist himself so that he could rub his tail with the soap. He began to slowly scrub his tail with the soap. “I was surrounded by large bugs. Bugs that were almost as tall as an… adult human. Maybe even a bit bigger.” Cryo raised his head again and began using his paws to splash water on his face, as if he is waking from a bad dream. “They… took me. Onto a large… ship. Possibly a spaceship, in the shape of a giant beetle.” Cryo took a bottle from the front right side of his bath tub and began to squeeze some dragon head scale soap from it. He rubbed his paws a bit together. He began to close his eyes tightly and began to rub across his entire head with it, making sure to cover every part with the head soap.

“They put me in a glass pen. I remember… I was… scared at first… but then, that one spider, came over. What was his name?” Cryo concentrated for a moment and lowered his body a bit in the water. “It was Zeke, right? Zeke… He comforted me. He was nice to me. I remember telling him about my home here.” Cryo took in a deep breath and then dipped his whole body and head underwater, lifting it back up very soon after, with water drenching off of all his scales. “Zeke was very interested in humans. Come to think of it… right as I mentioned human’s, the other guards there… they came over to listen as well.” Cryo dipped himself underwater again, this time sitting underwater a bit longer. “There was Firestorm, Stinger Spider, Strike Sniper, and Battle Beetle in the flying the ship.” “And, I think those were all codenames. Zeke had one too. I think he was… Spider Shadowshot…” Cryo lifted himself from out of the water and shook a bit, water splashing around the tub. He sat himself back in the tub again. “At least after I told my story, they trusted me enough to transport me without the need of restraint devices. But then…” Cryo turned his head toward the entrance. “Then I think I blacked out, or at least I think I did. But then that other… dragon appeared.”

“He seemed… different then what I met a before. No metal suit. Didn’t seem to want to harm or terrorize me either, thankfully… I think he said his name was… Servant. He seemed to know me somehow. He said he’s been watching my progress. But how would that be possible? Hmm…” Cryo put his paws in the water and splashed his face a couple times. “Didn’t he say, that we had a “connection,” somehow. But how could that be? Could we be related? Or… could we somehow have met and I didn’t know?” Cryo began scratch his head a bit, and place his paw on his eyes and rubbed them a bit. “Now that I think about it, that dragon… he knew Zeke, didn’t he? He did mention him. And before they took me away, the bugs there knew that I was a dragon. They said they knew it from ancient texts. Didn’t they also mention Zeke there as well? Does Zeke somehow know about dragons?” Cryo felt that he was clean enough and opened the drain in the tub to empty the water. Cryo stepped out and grabbed a large towel, hanging on the right side on a bar, close to the tub, and started to dry himself with it. “That dragon mentioned a bit about humans as well. Come to think of it, he seemed to know about Earth as well. Suddenly, Cryo’s eyes lit up, and he began to realize something. He remembered back to something Cameron said before he went to sleep that night.

When Cryo asked if Cameron thought there was any life left on Earth, he replied “I’m not sure really. Maybe a few bugs perhaps. Bugs seem to be able to survive anything.” Cryo began to breath a little more heavily. “Wait a second! Could that place I was at! That planet. Could that have been… Earth!” Cryo began to stop drying himself with the towel. He wrapped the towel behind his lower body and began to creep near the door. He creaked his door open to peek at Cameron, who was playing his Ignition console at the table near the fridge. Cryo then slowly closed the door and went back to the mirror with his towel with a look of disbelief.

“If… that really was Earth. That means… it wasn’t destroyed after all!” Cryo began to grin again and started to dry himself again.” “It survived! If what servant said was true…” Cryo stopped rubbing the towel against his scales and put it back on the bar. “I remember learning in science class, during biology week, the concept of evolution. How one species introduced into a new environment can evolve through time in order to better survive. Like with the chillins.” Cryo decided to brush his teeth as well while he was thinking of this revelation. He picked up his toothbrush and the toothpaste (his toothpaste is made with a stronger oral cleansing formula, as his teeth and gums are larger, stronger, and require a bit more work to clean). He poured toothpaste onto it, and began brushing.

“If thats the case, then it seems that the original bugs on the world there that survived the damages and went through evolution. They become the future of Earth! Servant said that they went through considerable effort to keep nature in balance. I remember that there was a good amount of plant life near the area I landed at. I also saw a good amount outside the alleyway and at their base. I thought I landed at a park when I first ended up there. I guess they learned from whatever the “ancient texts,” they found. Storybooks maybe? It would also explain their fascination with humans. What type of sentient society would not be interested with ancient technologically advanced creatures that came before them. Probably learned the dangers over harvesting resources as well from those books as well, one way or another. I wonder if all the cities back there are made with combining nature and technology to keep the balance between both.” Cryo began to swish the toothpaste within his mouth a bit and then spit out. He took a glass located in a cupboard behind the mirror and filled it with a little water. He took a small sip then then spit it back out with a nice big “PTEW.” “I wonder how the plants grew back? I thought most were over harvested. Maybe just enough were left and they were able to pollinate, repopulate and refresh Earth’s trees and plants. Not to mention important components of life like oxygen.” Cryo took the Listerine from the cupboard and sipped a bit into his mandibles. After swishing them a bit in his mouth, he gave another big “PTEW,” again.” . “Hmm… But a few things he said… sounded worrisome.” 

Cryo gave a concerned look and took the same glass and poured water into it and drank it. “He said… a fight was coming… Not only back on Earth. It would come… here as well.” He turned to his radio. “Turn off radio.” “Turning off radio.” The radio’s tune turned off and the room was silenced. Cryo headed for the door.

Cryo gripped the knob and opened the door back to his room. Cameron noticed and gave a smile back at him as he walked over. Cameron noticed the concerned face on Cryo as he stepped over to meet Cameron at the table. “Hey Cryo. You… feeling ok. You look pretty glum.” “Um… Yea… I’m ok Cameron.” “You still a little sick?” “Um… Yea. Just an occasional stiffness.” “Well with most of the bad stuff out of your system, you’ll feel better soon.” “Yeah… Right Cameron.” “Well, you want to do something fun?” “Um… yea. Why don’t we play catch outside.” “Alright. Come on buddy.” The two headed for the door and headed down the hall with a small ball. Cryo began to think. “A fight. Those dreams. Could they be a vision of things to come. Or… are they things warning me of the potential future I might have. If the latter is the case, is there any way I can change it? Servant said… I have to fight… But I… I really haven’t tried my abilities out that much. I wonder if the people here would teach me combat. But… They don’t want me to fight I think. I was always told never to attack others. It’s bad. But if something this bad is coming here, and to Earth… I… I have to protect them somehow. But… I’m… a new species here. A creature born somewhere no one else has been. I… really don’t know where I came from. I… remember faintly.”

“I was born in the back of a truck filled with hay, like my bed. I couldn’t walk then. Or at least, not very well… I never knew my mother… my real mother… before then. She’s just always been asleep. My adopted parents told my she fell ill saving many people, including them. If she was awake, maybe she could tell me more… What should I do now? Now that I think about it, should I tell the others? Would they believe me? Even if they did, there is no telling how they would take it. It just might make things worse. Or they’ll think I’m overworking and going crazy… Sigh… I… think its best I keep this to myself for now.”

So the day passed. Cameron and Cryo played catch with each other and watched the second Dragon Tamer movie. Soon it was dinner time. Ty had made some Zurburgers and hot dogs on the small portable grill for Cryo and Cameron to eat. Cryo was tired soon after and decided to go to sleep early again tonight. Fortunantly, Ty came back with his blanket when Cryo ate his dinner, all clean and smelling of a pleasant forest meadow. “You going to be OK for a bit by yourself Cryo?” asked Cameron “Yes. I could use a bit more sleep before I try to repair some of the items on my workbench tomorrow.” “Alright. Have a good sleep.” Cameron turned the light off in Cryo’s room and left. Cryo wrapped himself tightly with his blanket and laid down on his hay bed. “Maybe if I have another dream like that… I can get some answers. I could use some extra sleep anyway.” Cryo turned his head toward the radio near his bed. “Voice command.” “Ready to receive order.” “Turn on music perfect for sleep.” “Turning to Naptunes channel.” A DJ on the radio station came on in a low key voice. “This next smooth song is inspired by the sacrifice of one hero in the classic movie, Evolving world. Hold your ears for the song, Parting hurts.” A melody came out of the radio that Cryo had never heard on the channel before, and quickly felt something from it. A sense of wonder, adventure, and strangely… loss. As the music played in his head, his eyes grew droopy and his head felt fuzzy. He gave out a yawn, huddled himself tightly in his blanket, and fell into a deep lulling slumber.

Ch 9

Battle Brawl

Cryo head span as he opened his eyes, curious as to whether he was dreaming again or not. As his eyes came into focus, he realized he was in a completely black room. He couldn’t see anything. “Am I? Back in the medical wing back on Earth?” He looked around to see if he was on a bed or something similar. But he couldn’t see anything. He felt cold air around him, and the floor felt like ice. Yet it was not slippery. “Aghh… I can’t see. Where am I now? I’m going to have to try to feel my way around. Hopefully I can find something to light up the area.” Cryo began to carefully step around the area, trying to feel anything that could help him understand where he was. As he felt around, he began to see a small light floating near him. “Huh? That light… Isn’t that a luminescent spark fly (Basically a 4 wing bug that is similar to a firefly and a dragonfly, that glow at night with a different color glows, depending on the season). It began to circle around his head a bit and made Cryo quite curious. It began to drift away from him though. “Hey wait. Come back! Where are you going!” Cryo began to chase the light. “This thing is much more agile then a Spark fly. Every time I get close, it just seems to go faster and starts getting away again. Its changing colors a bit too. Its changing between different blue hues,” thought Cryo.

He continued to chase the strange light and began to see something in the distence. “There is a light shining from above over there. This thing is headed straight for it. What is it?” Cryo and the light continued to head towards it. Soon enough, they now stood in front of what appeared to be a layer of ice around something. “What is this?” thought Cryo. “The light…” The strange light Cryo had been chasing somehow passed through the ice. As it dug further in, it seemed to start to illuminate something inside of it.” “There’s something in there. What is it?”

Soon, Cryo began to make out something was inside the ice, encased in it. As he took a closer look, he saw that it was a blue dragon!” “Is that… Mom?” Cryo looked upon the inside of the ice incasing and realized it was indeed her. “What is going on here” What is she doing here, frozen like this?” Cryo then heard a voice. “Your mother sleeps, her mind frozen in time,” it said. “Huh? Who said that?” “You possess amazing abilities, and yet you’ve only just begun to realize what they are capable of.” Cryo stayed silent, a little wary of the voice. “The freezing can be undone. But only if its done here, young dragon. “…And how would I do that.” “A spark is all she needs. Just one. You carry it within you.” “…And how would I get it out.” “You already know that one, young dragon. Think. And it will come to you.” Cryo realized this must be some type of puzzle. But a spark. Where could he get one. But then he had an idea. His saliva…

“Worth a shot I guess…” Cryo dabbed his talon a bit in his mouth, and then touched the frozen ice with the tip, suddenly, talon became stuck! “What the! Let go!” Suddenly, the spark seemed to course through the ice, and the ice started to crack. “Uh oh!” Pulling as hard as he could he yanked his hand from the ice and quickly backed away. The ice coursed with electricity and then the ice shattered, releasing Tide from the ice. Cryo approached her. “Mom?” She didn’t move. Suddenly the area and scene transformed, and Cryo saw what appeared to be a volcanic ravaged land around him. “Where?…” He looked back to his mother, with the frozen bed had become a hard stone with his mother laying on top of it. He looked back, and saw something was approaching him. Huh? Who are?… Uh oh…”

Cryo realized the approaching figures, were his enemies from the dreams. The dragons from before. “This isn’t good. The voice from above called again. “Unleash yourself upon them. Your ancient bloodline… You are more then they could ever be. Focus yourself, and your power will come. Clear your mind, take a deep breath, and unleash your ice storm!” With his enemies approaching quickly, and with little choice, Cryo complied. He slowly closed his eyes, taking slow and steady deep breaths. Clearing his head of the sounds of the approaching mob he felt something. Like his ancestral line trying to guide him. As they approached he took in a deep breath a blasted the approaching hoard with a stream of cold ice, freezing them solid. Another wave approached from the behind. Cryo spread his wings and flew into the air and blasted a set of med sized icicles from his wings. They slammed into a couple of the soldiers and shattered as they made contact, knocking them out. “A fire rages on. Douse it.” Cryo saw a group of dragons about to unleash a fire breath on him.” Cryo huddled himself into a ball and a bubble of pure water was created around him. As the dragon’s attempted to breath fire on him, it was quickly extinguished by the bubble. Cryo then extended his paws out towards the dragons and blasted each with a jet of water from the bubble. Releasing the bubble around him, he saw one person left. The commander. Taking out a large electric baton, he rushed Cryo quickly. Attempting to slam Cryo from above, Cryo quickly rolled out of the way. Cryo then lunged at him and knocked him across his head with his wings. He quickly picked himself up again though and tried to slash at him with it. Thinking quick, Cryo put up a small wall of ice using his breath to block the attack. Cryo then kicked the ice forward, hitting the commanders legs. The blow caused him to trip and drop his baton. Cryo, having had enough of this began heard the voice one last time. “Unleash your fury, and show them what it means to be true dragon.” Cryo hovered himself in the air, and began to glow within a brilliant cyan light. Stretching his paws and wings out, a massive blast of freezing cold, blew through the area, covering all in thick ice. The entire battlefield was an ice now. Cryo had won. “The battle is won. Wake up and be reunited. There is a long road ahead of you. But your mother… she’s coming home,” said the voice. Suddenly the entire scene went to white.

Ch 10

Tense Trip

Cryo slowly came out of his daze and looked around. He saw he was back in his normal room with the alarm on his custom radio going off. “Ugh… That last dream was pretty crazy.” Cryo looked at his clock, which read, 9:00 A.M. Cryo lifted his front claws and pushed the blanket off of him. He turned off the alarm and then he went to get some milk from his fridge and quickly slurped it down with a nice big “GULP.” Rubbing his eyes, he went over to look out the window to his room, and began to think about the dream. “Hmm… That dream. That strange light. Could that have been…” Cryo began turn his head to the side. “That was a nasty fight. Hmm… Was it… trying to help me learn to fight. That dream seemed to be an end to something, or perhaps… a beginning. It was very different to what I’ve had before. It doesn’t… feel like a continuation of events. Not this time. It felt like something outside what I’ve been witnessing.” Cryo gave out a sigh, and laid down, looking towards the deep mountain range behind the base. It started to rain outside, with a mist beginning to form around as it fell. He began to think again. “Was that light… really my mother?” Cryo thought for a moment.

“It’s… a little colder today. Perhaps… it would be a good idea to put on a jacket.” Cryo headed towards his closet. He searched through it a picked out a nice silver jacket zip up jacket. Cryo carefully slipped his wings through the slits in the back so his wings could spread outside of it and then zipped it up from the front. Cryo then went back to his bed to think. 

“I… I never really knew her. When I was just an egg she… she… got sick.” Cryo looked towards the ceiling. “She’s been asleep for so long. I always thought she had already passed on. I remember the last time I saw her asleep was… Before I was taken. They always told me that she was still breathing. But…” Cryo put his head down again. “It was the ones who adopted me who took care of me. Dad, Suzy, and Noble. They always looked after me. Tended to mom while she was asleep too…” Cryo began to think about some of the times he spent with them. While it was short, he still wishes he could see them again.

Giving out a sigh, he turned to look at the TV, remembering some of the shows he watched while here. One he took in mind was a movie, based on an alien who arrives on the planet and is taken in by the military for fear of what is was and why it was here. This reminded him of himself. He seemed to be no different. “I’ve been here for 5 years. I remember the first few month’s here were… difficult. I was no different then a wild animal, at least to them.” Cryo gave out a sigh and then stretched his limbs around him. “Then, they gave me an actual room. They started to treat me better. Made me feel more… human, I suppose. But…” Cryo looked toward the door and saw that no one was there. “But it was never the same. I wish… there was a way… I could see them. That last thing in that dream. That last thing she said. She was… coming home. What did the voice mean by that?”

Cryo picked himself up, and looked toward the exit to his room. “Cameron, Gerald, or Ty haven’t come to see me yet. They are usually here by now. Is something going on?” Cryo checked his clock again, which now read 9:30 A.M. “Maybe I should look for them. They probably need to know I’m awake. I know they worry about me quite a bit. Especially after recent events.” Cryo headed towards the door to his room. He slowly turned the knob on his door to open it, and he found Ty, Cameron, and Gerald at the door, about to open it themselves. “Oh. Hi Cryo!” said Cameron. “Huh? Oh. Hi guys.” replied Cryo. “Cryo. We have wonderful news for you,” said Ty. “Wonderful news?” “Yes. We have something very special to show you.” “Really? What is it?” “Come with us Cryo.” ” replied Gerald. “Well… alright then.”

They took Cryo down through the hallways of the living quarters building and outside towards medical. “We’re going to medical?” “Yeah Cryo,” replied Cameron. “Am I getting a checkup after being sick?” “Actually, no. That’s tomorrow. Someone want’s to meet you.” replied Ty. “Someone? Who?” “You’ll see Cryo.” Cryo, while curious as to who, knew they were probably not going to tell him. They continued on to medical.

They entered the building and Cryo saw that there were many medical officers in the lab today, wearing blue hospital attire. “What’s with all the doctors here right now? Usually I only see Nancy and some of the other nurses and caretakers around? All others are always busy with the others being treated here,” said Cryo. “You’ll see…” said Gerald. They continued to walk down the hall through the hospital, and eventually made their way to an elevator deep in. The three entered the elevator and headed down. “That’s strange… I’ve never been taken into this part of the building before. Where are we going?” he thought. It soon opened up to a security checkpoint at the bottom, with a x ray scanner to check for held metal objects and several guards placed around to keep an eye on things. Cryo began to get nervous from the high security here. Something very important is here. But what? The group slid their held items through the scanner and were checked by a team of officers there. They were returned shortly after. “Your clear to pass,” the officer there said. “Alright. Come on everyone.” They approached the door at the end of the claustrophobic hallway. Slowly, the metal doors rose up. It looks like Cryo was about to find what this is all about. “Come on in everyone. You too Cryo,” said Gerald.

Cryo stepped into the room, and could see that the room that they had entered in seemed… strange for a high security area of the medical building. He expected to find a room filled with vials containing all sorts of nasty viruses and dangerous chemicals being tested here to find new medical cures or… other reasons. He expected that the walls inside would be pure reinforced chrome steel and the floors would have drains inside to dilute said items in case of a spill. But none of that was here.

Instead, the walls were painted, similar to his own room, with pictures of humans and dragons living together on a mountain range. The walls weren’t made of steel chrome, but of a smooth concrete, and the ceiling showed the picture of a sun, with a small lamp shedding light in the room above, over a very large medical bed in the back. The really big bed was covered in a blue blanket with a water motif. Cryo thought there might be something under it. Something rather large… Next to the bed, there was a cabinet with chillin tenders and fried tato on top (based on the fries of Earth. Potato plants are known as tato and went through evolution after some time on this world. Pronounced tay-to) Cryo quickly noticed there were two sets there, and Cryo liked these quite a bit… Now he was really nervous. “Umm… this doesn’t… feel right. Somethings… off. Are they planning on locking me in here because of the events from the ocean? I would think… that’s… a little extreme, to protect me…” Cryo began to turn his head nervously toward the others. “Um… guys…” said Cryo. “Yes, Cryo?” replied Ty. “Your not… locking me in this room for the rest of my life, Right?”

“Relax Cryo. This is where she’s been sleeping.” “She…” “Yes Cryo. Why don’t you go over and take a look. She’s been waiting for you. We brought one of your favorites to eat with her,” replied Gerald. “Uh… Huh…” said Cryo. Cryo thought about the situation. He could get in REAL trouble if he doesn’t go over, especially if he tries to run out now… Is this a trick to get him away from the door? To lock him into this room forever with no sun, no toys or tools. Nothing but bunch of painted walls. But why would they want to trick him though. They’ve been the only family he’s had other then back with Greg. They wouldn’t do that, right? “Come on Cryo, don’t be nervous. This isn’t a trick. I promise. Now come on,” said Ty. “Al… Alright,” said Cryo. Cryo slowly approached the bed keeping his eye on the door behind him. He realized he was right about there something big being under the covers. He took one last look at the door. He went to the front, and saw a familiar face, covered comfortably under the blanket.” “Hello… my son,” Tide said. “Mm… Mom?” “Yes, my baby boy. I heard that you were called, Cryo. I think that’s a cute name.” “Mom…” Cryo huddled next to his mother’s head a gave a nuzzle against her.

Ch 11

Virtuous Visit

“Isn’t that cute guys. See Cryo, we weren’t going to do anything to you.” said Gerald. “Yea. Don’t you trust us, silly?” asked Cameron. “I shouldn’t have doubted any of you. Thanks.” said Cryo. “Do you, want us to give you some privacy with your mom?” “Yeah… just… a little bit of time.” “Alright… why don’t you eat together. “Alright thanks. The group left the room but Ty turned back for a second.” “Oh. Cryo. I forgot to give you this.” Ty pulled out a small radio and gave it to Cryo. “What’s this for?” he asked. “We’re going to have to lock the security door behind you. Use that radio and the guards at the security station here will open the door to let you out. Unfortunately, your mothers is weak right now and can’t move much.” “Is she infected with Nume poison?” “No. She’s woke up from a sleep that has lasted longer then any known person here, and possibly anywhere. It might be some time for her strength to return. Until then, I think it would be great if you two… got to know each other a bit. I know she would like that.” “Alright then. Thanks.” They headed out of the room and the security door shut behind them. 

Feeling relieved that they weren’t locking him up for eternity, he took the tray of food to his mom and laid it on her medical bed. “ Can you eat, mom?” “Yes. I feel weak… ugh… but… I can eat. Tide slowly lifted herself further up on the pillow on her medical bed, and slowly lifted her arms to pull the tray close to her. Cryo took his tray of food and sat it next to him on a small bed of hay next to the bed. It was clear it was meant for him.

They began to eat, with Cryo looking at her mother’s sluggish movements. “You sure your ok, Mom?” “It’s going to take some time for my strength to return. I’ve missed so much of your life, my baby boy.” “Mom… come on now. I’m… grown up.” “You’ll always be my baby to me. I heard you’ve… become quite fixer upper.” “Yea. I guess Mom. I… learned it only from the best…” “You mean with Noble and the others?” “Yea. It’s been about, 5 years since I saw them.” “Yes. I could see how troubled you were.” “What do you mean, Mom?”

“I may have been asleep, but I have been watching over you since then. Certain dragon’s with strong, loving bonds can watch over and interact over long distances with the people they love, even when injured or asleep.” Tide took a bite out of a chillin tender. “How, mom?” “It’s an ability called, Oversoul. I have been watching you as I was asleep, watching you become quite a smart little Dragon. I was worried about you adapting to human culture, especially when you were taken away. “You… watched that?…” “Yes. I… wasn’t to happy about that at first. But they soon turned into a loving family on their own, and I could only forgive what they did after that. “Rerr… really?” “Yes. It took a bit of time, but they realized what you were. Not a silly wild animal, but an intelligent, kind, and good little boy. They gave you a new home, a new room, toys and tools to use, and of course, put you in school. I can see that there was a little struggle with those naughty kids, but they just don’t see that your no different then them. You never once tried to lash out against them. You knew better.” “I really didn’t know how to fight then anyway. And Cameron was always there to cheer me up. Just like… like…” Cryo paused and looked at the front wall of the room near the exit, with a large wall with a picture of him standing on top of a snowy peak overlooking a forest. “Like Noble…” “You really miss them, don’t you?” “Yeah. I really do. With the dreams I have been having, I remembered them. I remember the day they took me. My… first birthday.” Cryo gave a small frown but quickly turned back to a small smile. “But. I have to stay here. For them. If I tried to run away. I’d… be putting their lives at risk. It’s not by any means, bad living here. But… It’s… never really been the same.” “I know. Growing up is always hard. There are ups and downs in life. But think of this Cryo. You might be able to see them again soon enough.” “Wha?… What do you mean, Mom?” “I have something to tell you. Something you’ll enjoy. You see…” 

Ch 12

Uninvited Usurpers

As she was about to continue her speech, she felt something was off. The room’s lights flickered on and off a bit. “What’s wrong with the lights? A power surge?” asked Cryo. “No… it’s…” She then very faint sound. She looked toward the air vent of the room. She heard what appeared to be some very low banging noise, popping in quick intervals. “Cryo. Somethings wrong.” “What? Wrong?” About a few minutes later, they heard it banging again, closer and seemingly in the hallway leading to here. It then stopped.” They now saw the security door to the room was starting it’s unlocking sequence. “Huh. Are the others back?” said Cryo.” “Cryo, quick! Freeze the door!” “Huh? Wh…” “JUST DO IT BEFORE THEY GET IN!” Cryo rushed over to the door. Taking in a brig breath of air he quickly let out a strong stream of ice, which covered the door and froze the opening mechanisms.

“Ok Mom… Why did I do that, considering that was the only way out?” But as Cryo said that, he began to hear something from outside the door. Pressing his ear up against the ice covered door, he tried to listen in. “Door’s not opening. Something is wrong with it.” “What do you mean?! We come this far only to get stopped by a door of all things!” The voice paused for a second. “What are our options. It’s not going to take them long to realize we’re here now.” “Huh? Who are these people? They don’t sound like they are from here…” thought Cryo. Cryo then heard a tapping from the door. A voice started up. “Hello? Dragon. We’re here to take you home.” “Huh, what do they mean?” thought Cryo. Cryo gave no answer back. “Come on dragon. Open up. We won’t hurt you.” “What happened to the people in the security station,” thought Cryo. “Come on. Open up. We’re here to take you back to your family on the mountains.” “Huh? Back on the mountains? Do they mean…” “We were hired by your family to take you back. Come on dragon. Open up. I promise we won’t hurt you.” “Don’t listen to them Cryo. They aren’t here to take you back to them,” said Tide. “I know Mom. It’s too good to be true. Considering what happened back at the ocean…” Cryo paused for a moment, remembering the chase. “Ugh… How on earth did they get here? How did they get past security? The last thing I need is to be paralyzed again.” said Cryo. He pressed his head towards the door again. “Still no response from inside. Guess we’ll just have to blow open the door. Get the explosives ready.”

“Explosives!” exclaimed Cryo. Cryo backed away from the door quickly wondering what he can do now. “Once that door opens. we’ll need to subdue the both of them quickly. Throw a flashbang in to disorientate them. Should be easy to take them after. Whole base will probably be alerted. We’ll have to move quickly to get out.” said someone outside. “Cryo. Your going to have to fight them.” “Fight them? They’re probably armed to the teeth with all sorts of crazy weapons. With you bed ridden, well. It’s going to be hard to protect us both.” 

“You can do it Cryo. Don’t doubt yourself. Keep a clear head. And focus. Don’t worry. Your ice stream will immobilize them without causing permanent damage to their body. Once that door breaks, you’ll need to act fast.” Hearing these words, Cryo knew there was no options left. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Cryo moved towards the bed. “Hide under the bed Cryo to protect yourself from the shrapnel blast from the door.” “What about you?” Tide then breathed a small stream of ice to create a small ice wall in front of the bed. “That should protect me.”

“Explosives are set. T minus 15 seconds.” said a voice outside. “Alright, everyone. Get back.” Cryo quickly ducked under the medical bed and started to count down the timer in his head. “15… 14… 13…” Cryo took some more deep breaths in and covered his eyes. “9… 8… 7…” Cryo plugged his ears with his talons and thought about his friends here at the base. “Are they alright?” he thought. “4… 3… 2…” Cryo took in a big deep breath, the deepest he ever took. “1… 0!”

Cryo quickly shielded his eyes with his wings as the door burst open and hit the wall, creating a big dent in it! An alarm started to sound in the medical wing. “Security breach in high security wing. Repeat. Security breach in high security wing,” said the intercom. A canister the ground inside hit the ground inside and let out a bright flash. “Security breach in high security wing. Repeat. Security breach in high security wing,” said the intercom. Let’s get those two!” the group said.

A couple of people in black masks and dark combat suits quickly darted in weapons trained on on the ice wall and Tide near the bed. “Where is the small one?” “Right here you cold crew!” said Cryo as he quickly rolled from under the bed to the front, unleashing a stream of ice to encapsulate the people unfortunate enough to step in. A couple took cover outside the door. They then poked themselves in and readied there weapons to fire at them. Cryo recognized the same weapons used on him from before. “Cryo, quick! Create an Frost barrier! Freeze the ground up!” “Fire!” said someone outside the doorway. Cryo quickly concentrated his ice stream on the ground and made a wall to protect himself behind. The men began to try to fire their shots, but just ended up getting stuck in ice. “Drat. He’s made cover for himself!” “Get out your Shock strikers.” “Looks like they’re going to try to fight hand to hand now,” said Cryo. “That’ll be a mistake. Get him, my good little boy.” said Tide. “Aww come on mom. This now of all times?” “Alright boys. Rush them!”

The lot of the group came in to try and take Cryo by beating him with shock strikers. One quickly tried to bash Cryo on the head with a downward swing with his shock striker. Cryo rolled out of the way and hit the man with his wings against his legs to knock him down. He then tried to swipe him from the floor. Jumping up, Cryo rushed him, with a coating of ice generating around Cryo’s paw. He quickly slammed his ice covered hand directly across the side of the assailants head, shattering the ice. Another tried to jab him with it. Cryo ducked and then spin to swipe at him with his tail, knocking him down. Another tried to hit him from behind, but Cryo rolled forward and then shot a small blast of cold water to knock his assailant against his frozen compatriots which shattered, releasing them. They were pretty hurt from the attack though, and were unable to continue their attack further. One final crewman came in, trying to hit him with a tranquilizer dart. He tried to fire, but Cryo, thinking fast, shot a blast of water at his feet, knocking him to the floor as he fired, causing the dart to bounce off the ceiling and hit him instead. “Light’s out, you devolved brute,” Cryo smugly said.

Ch 13

Cruel Kidnapping

Three more came around him to surround him. “Your a real nuisance, dragon. We are running low on time here, so unless you come with us, we’ll have to beat you and your mother into coming with us.” Cryo become quite enraged by that comment. “Relax Cryo. Don’t give into rage. He’s trying to rile you up” said Tide. “Shut up you science project! Come on dragon. You really want to try our patience here?” Cryo realized whoever this was must be the leader of the group. The assailant then pulled something out of his pocket. “Oh no! That’s a detonator!” exclaimed Cryo. “That’s right dragon. I personally don’t care about you or anyone in this building. But it goes boom if you both don’t come with us.” “You coward! Hiding behind an explosive payload just to take the both of us. Why do you want the both of us anyway!?” “Shut it. Times running out boy. Bombs been wired to the supports of this structure and we have one more with us. All wired for 5 minutes left. Come with us, or no one gets out of this building.” “Ughhh…” Cryo looked at his mother, who showed equal concern as him. She didn’t know what to do either.

“…Fine. You win. Disable the explosives, and we’ll come with you…” “That’s a good boy.” The other men in the room picked up themselves up. 2 men picked up the other assailant who was hit with the dart and carried him out. “Get the medical restraint beds in here you two. Strap the both of them down in it tightly. We’ll cover the both of them in heavy blankets. Tie wires around their mandibles. We won’t need these sleeping darts for these two now. We’ll roll out of here in a medical jumpship. It will be big enough to fit all of us and our “cargo.” We’re going to be REAL rich boys. No one will dare try to stop us once we show the detonator.” Two men came in with medical beds stolen from the upper floors. They quickly and roughly grabbed Cryo and slammed him to the bed on his back. “Agh! Quit being so rough!” Cryo said. They then strapped heavy duty reenforced leather straps around his body, neck, arms, and legs pinning him down tightly to the bed. They laid something else next to him, but Cryo could not tell what exactly it was with his movement restricted so much. They then tied a thin wire around his mandibles. They quickly did the same with Tide. They took blankets and covered the both of them with it and then soon carted them off toward the elevator. As they exited the elevator, they were met with plenty of soldiers with guns trained on them.

“Freeze!” One of the soldiers said. “Oh I don’t think so everyone.” “Take a look at what I have.” He held up the detonator. “Now. We’re going to walk out of here with these two to a transport. If any one of us doesn’t make it, well…” The figure stepped forward. “We’ll blow this entire building and your “precious research projects.” He then revealed the both of the dragons to the group. “There’s a bomb on their beds!” said a soldier. “Now. We don’t need to waste innocent life here, do we? If your all smart, you’ll let us pass. Because we also planted a bomb on all the support structures in the building. Going to blow this entire building to the moon! Now then. What are you all going to do?” “Ugh… don’t worry about us. We’ll be fine. Let them pass. Don’t risk your lives for us,” thought Cryo. He wished he could speak right now. “Let them through,” said Ty, who was over to the side. The soldiers lowered their weapons. “Now. That’s better. Come on everyone. Let’s cash out.” The group headed towards a medical carrier in the vehicle bay and loaded both of them into a small compartment in the back of the plane. The plane took off with hordes of concerned patrons watching helplessly as they take off “Cryo…” said Cameron.

New known abilities:

Frozen Fist: He can cover his entire paw with ice to Smash his enemies with it.

Ice spikes: Lashes his wing forward to shoot a small array of icicles at his opponent

Bubble Block: Creates a bubble of water around his body, making attacking Cryo less effective from projectiles and melee getting slowed by water and is also VERY effective to protect himself from fire based attacks. Also can extend his arms out within the bubble to shoot out strong streams water from the bubble.

Cold Cover: Blows a stream of ice on the ground up, allowing him to take cover behind it.

Forever freeze: Unleashes a very powerful blast of ice around the entire area, covering all people and objects in a thick sheet of Cryogenic ice. Very powerful, but uses a lot of energy.

New known likes:

Movies

Calm sleeping music (typically Naptunes channel)

Baths

New Known dislikes

Paralysis

Sweating too much

Suspicion

Being a prisoner