Prologue

In the last book, Cryo was attending class in school during his 5th grade year. It seems that Cryo’s work had earned him quite a bit of popularity at school, as he had taken up tutoring for the kids at school and had also repaired and upgraded many different electronic items for his classmates. The bell rang for the end of the school day, and Cryo would begin to walk home with several of his classmates and his “big brother,” Noble, and his best friend, Cameron. Cryo had hoped that they would both be able to spend time with him today. However, Noble and Cameron had some stuff to do at home, but would be back to spend time with him later in the day. Cryo headed back to his room in the residential building within the facility and was greeted by his mother, Tide. He would then spend time doing some of his homework, and then would decide to take a nap after it was completed.

His dream though, had some… interesting events within them. Cryo saw when he opened his eyes in it that he seemed to be in a very cold area, with snow falling from the heavens above at night. He strangely didn’t feel cold from some reason though… He then realized that his paws and arms had changed form. He found a body of water nearby, and looked at his reflection. His scales had turned full white, and his talons had been completely frozen over, with the snow falling around him seemingly being caught in some type of wind currant and rotating around his talons like a planet moves around a sun. His belly scales and turned into a light grey. He saw that his wings had grey linings and seemed to be almost transparent. He saw that his rigid scales across his back also seemed to have snow circulating around them and seemed a bit sharper then before. His tail also seemed to be a bit shorter and smaller. He quickly become curious as to why he was transformed, as he never had transformed in snowy conditions before, even back on the mountains. He saw that his head’s shape had also changed. It seemed to be a bit more rounded and more condensed. There seemed to be a small layer of ice over his yellow eyes, almost like glasses, except it didn’t seem to make it harder for him to see. His horn had been covered in ice as well, with snow circulating around it.

As he continued to observe his reflection, he began to hear jets behind him. Suddenly, he would be attacked by several assailants! The managed to bind his limbs and muzzled him, and took him into a large ship in the distence… They then pulled out a needle with a sedative in it, and injected Cryo with it, causing him to fall unconscious…

Not long after, Cryo finally woke up from his bad dream! He was relieved he was back in his room and not somewhere else entirely. It was getting close to when Cameron said he’d come to see him. Cryo decided to spend a bit of time flying outside. He left a note for Tide, who was not in the room at the time, that he would be flying outside for a bit.

But… It seemed that as he was soaring around for a bit, he would get caught in a black net! Confused at what was going on, he then felt a sting in his leg! He found a tranquilizer dart stuck in his leg! As he began to fall into unconsciousness, he would look up, and see a fleeing airship, with the net beginning to rise into a compartment on the bottom of it. Soon enough though… his mind fell to the dark…

When he woke up, he realized he had his legs and arms bound, and was muzzled, in a small pen. Even worse, he had a collar around his neck… A collar that he realized was there to block the signal of his gps tracker chip inside of him… Not long after, a group of assailants would maneuver themselves in front of the bars of Cryo’s pen. He quickly realized they were Commander Mick, and others from his traitor military unit… The same ones who’ve made several attempts to kidnap him and his mother before.

Mick chastised Cryo and would inform him that they were moving him to a “new home,” where he would be working with them to create revolutionary technology. There was only just a few hours left before they would arrive… And even worse… they were going to “punish,” him for the trouble he caused them. Mick left the room, leaving Cryo with a very limited amount of time to figure out a way to escape!

Cryo would spend that time trying to cut the bindings around his wrist with his talons, hoping that eventually, they’d break and allow him to untie his hands. As he continued to try and sever them though, some strange things began to happen around the ship. At first, he thought they were flying into a storm. But suddenly, the walls of the ship began to break off from where he was! Cryo was launched from the ship and hit the ground below, where he quickly fell into unconsciousness…”

He would wake up later, in the basement of a dwelling. He would realize that someone had seemingly been watching him as he slept… When he opened his eyes, he saw a small, white wolfy, named Lily. The young wolfy seemed to have been very worried about him and had stayed with him for some time. Cryo looked at his body and seemed to have had his injuries treated and more importantly, seemed to not be bound, muzzled, and in relative comfort in the dwelling. Not long after checking around, the Wolfy would begin to bark and summoned one of the homeowners. A man named, Eli Erinson. He lived with his wife, Arianna and his son, Seth.

Eli explained to Cryo what had been happening since he fell unconscious. The ship he was being transported in had for some odd reason knocked into a rock formation on the outskirts of the city, called Winterfell, located much farther north in the colder region of the continent. It had begun to fall apart as it continued forward. He was jettisoned from the ship and landed in a park, where Eli and a bunch of the townspeople would stand in shock at what they’d find inside. Him. Cryo become nervous at the thought at the whole town knowing about his existence…

But it turns out the town had worked together to help Cryo and make sure he’d survive. He had the bars to his pen melted to get him out of it, and then had been rushed to the veterinarian clinic, when many of the townsfolks would wait to hear the news of his survival. It turns out during that moment at the clinic, a report was made about the ship, which was found downed in the snow away from the town… The ship held information that shocked the town, including Cryo’s kidnapping and how they planned to punish him for resistance… And the crew of the ship were nowhere to be found around the crash site…

The town afterwards decided to work together to supply items to aid in his recovery and keep him in comfort. Eli would brought it upon himself to take care of Cryo until they could figure out what they could do to get them home. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get his collar off safely and the communications tower for the town had been hit during the crash as well, so they couldn’t try to make a call to his home. The people would agree to keep his location secret in the event the perpetrators would return looking for him. Cryo learned though that the items he was wearing, including his bandanna, had been taken to look more into it. Cryo tried to explain that he really needed it back, but unfortunately, they couldn’t give it back to him right then, even as he tried to explain to them how they were made. Eli didn’t believe him, and would leave it to the seamstresses in town to try to find out themselves how it was made…

Time passed, and Cryo would find life very hard to live with them and the residents of town. They failed to understand that he was more then just a “wild animal,” and more or less treated him like a dog. He found that Seth, would want to always interrupt him during naps to play, giving him much less sleep during the day. But one afternoon, as he was being walked on a leash outside, He would hear something… interesting, from a conversation between Eli and his neighbor, Clarence. He learned that Eli’s van had stopped working. After the small conversation, they continued on…

Night fell on the town, and Cryo was about to go to bed for the night. But… he decided that despite the treatment he’s been getting, he’d repair Eli’s vehicle and the communications tower, using parts from the local junkyard to fix said items. As he stepped outside in the cold though, he began to transform again, just like in his dream before he was taken. But even better, the cyantrinian collar, despite being resistant to cold, had frozen around his neck! With a good tug, he broke the collar into pieces! Feeling happy that his loved ones could track him again, he began to head to the communications tower to look into fixing it first, before Eli’s van.

As Eli and the other woke up the next mourning, they realized Cryo left the basement. They were about to call the police to help find him, when Lily was scratching and Barking at the Garage door. As they turned to open it and see what was inside, they found Cryo, fixing up the van under the hood. He had apprently stayed up all night repairing it and the communications tower. After testing his phone by calling Clarence. Sure enough, the phone connected with Clarences phone, leaving them shocked. Cryo informed them that he had called his family after fixing the tower. It seems that Mick had also destroyed the runway of the base, meaning that they would have to get new ships and repair the runway before they could pick him up. Cryo asked Eli after to test and see if his car was working. He turned it on and saw that it was working perfectly. Feeling tired after a long night of work, he asked his caretakers to let him get a little bit of sleep, and headed out of the room, absolutely dumbfounded at what they had witnessed. Clarence told them to call the mayor…

A couple days passed, and there were new plans being arranged for Cryo. But on that day, the family wanted a “distraction,” to keep Cryo out of the house for awile. So the mayor agreed to take him in for the day and watch him and try to keep him entertained. They drove to the mayors estate, and dropped Cryo off.

Cryo would meet the family eat breakfast at the table with them. Nia, the mayor of the city, would introduce Cryo to her family. There was her husband, Wake, and her daughter Sara, who seemed VERY interested in the young dragon. After breakfast they would take Cryo to their family room to watch some tv on the home theater. Sara would come into the room later and tell Cryo a bit about herself. She was very lonely, as Nia and Wake’s duties made them work nearly all the time, and really couldn’t spend time with her. Cryo decided he’d try to cheer her up by playing with her. She began to take Cryo to her room.

Cryo realized though, that Sara wanted to play “house,” with him being her baby! He refused to play at first, as he didn’t want to be treated like a baby. But… he then decided that he’d swallow his pride deep down and play house with her anyway, just to make her happy. He was changed into training pants and went about his day with Sara. After a while though, after seeing how happy she was, he didn’t mind as much anymore on being the baby.

The day would pass, and soon Cryo would finally be able to go home. Nia wanted to arrange some more “play dates,” between Cryo and Sara, which he agreed to. Soon, Eli would arrive and take him back home. When Cryo got home though, he realized that the basement had been completely changed. It was now… his own bedroom. Eli had contacted Cryo’s mother and caretakers at home and learned a great deal about the dragon. The townspeople were also informed of this discussion. So they came together and made a “home away from home,” for Cryo while Research Base Omega works on getting ships and repairing their runway. They had made cloths for Cryo, using Greg’s techniques, gave him a nice tv system and workbench to work on creating devices for himself, with parts coming in from the junkyard once a week so he could be supplied for said devices. This nice surprise excited Cryo, and soon he would be tucked into bed for the night, in some new pajamas. Before turning on naptunes to help Cryo sleep, they informed Cryo that he would be going to school for the semester in their school building instead, and his work back at home would be carried over here. Finally, Arianna turned on naptunes and Cryo quickly fell into a deep sleep. But as he slept, a familiar voice would try to call to Cryo over the radio… Realizing he was asleep, the voice decided to instead wait until he wakes up the next mourning…

Ch 1

Dreaming of the Dojo

Cryo’s eyes slowly opened up. He saw that he seemed to be somewhere… different. He looked around and saw he was laying in snow, with the winds whispering its tune all around him. It was dark out, and there was a low mist circling around the area. He picked himself up a bit, and quickly saw he was transformed again, with his scales coated in white and his talons and horn covered in ice. He also realized that his bandanna still was around his neck as well. “Wait… What in the world? Where…” “Do not be alarmed, Cryo.” said a feminine voice which echoed around the area a bit. “Huh…” Cryo looked around to see if someone was there. He couldn’t see anyone though… “I see you’re having a bit of time adapting to a bit of a “colder climate,” Isn’t that right my little grandson.” “G… Grandson? Wait…”

Cryo could hear footsteps stepping in the snow behind him. He turned around, and saw a white dragon approaching him, her form similar to his. She stopped a few feet in front of him and sat down. “Grandma? Is that… really you?” “That’s right, grandson. Its nice to see you after your recent ordeal. It seems you ended up getting into a rather dangerous situation with some old foes back home, didn’t you?” asked Wave. “Well… Y… Yea. I… got kidnapped again…” “Yes… Seems that even before the real fight begins, your finding yourself being targeted by those who want you for themselves.” “Yea… I suppose that’s kind of what ended up happening…”

Wave began stroking him across the head a few times, and smiled at him. Cryo felt comforted by this gesture. “I think you realize all too well your not out of danger yet though…” Cryo tilted his head down and gave a sigh. “To be honest… I haven’t felt really all that safe in my… um… new temporary home. I know everyone in town is looking out for Mick and the others within his squad. But… I know he won’t be stopped just by that alone. I’ve… been worried about the others who’ve been looking out for me… Anyone of them could be targeted by Mick if they know I’m here. I don’t want to end up getting them involved in this. Mick… He’s… incredibly dangerous. I know he’d stop at nothing to take me. I’ve seen all to well how far he’s willing to go to take me.” Wave nodded her head and gestured Cryo to walk with her through the snowy expanse before them. Cryo nodded and began to head forward with her.

“You have heart, my grandson. You care about the others within this town. Despite the fact that not everything you’ve experienced in town has exactly been… happy for you.” Cryo gave a sigh and a nod. “Yea… I admit… It’s been really hard for me since I’ve been here.” “But… like at Firebase Omega, the people in town just needed a small reminder, that just because you might look like a beast, doesn’t mean you are one, huh?” Cryo turned his head toward her and smiled. “Yea. I think… things have really changed for me around here. I have my own room. My own workbench. I’m going to be going to school. Things are looking to become far better for me.”

They continued walking forward as snow fell around them. Strangely, the snow itself seemed to now be taking a more silverish color as they continued forward. “Yes. You seem to be getting settled in for the time you’ll spend at this town. And you’ve already made a new friend, I see.” “A new… friend?” Wave chuckled a few times and smiled at him. “Oh yes. Susy seemed to have a real fun time with you my “little grandson.” “Wait… You… Oh that’s… embarrassing…” Cryo’s face began to become a little red. “Oh don’t worry about that grandson. You were willing to make a sacrifice for someone else. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I hear that Nia wants to set up more “play dates,” correct?” “Well…” Wave chuckled again and smiled at him. “You saw she was lonely, my grandson. And you know that feeling all too well. It’s why you were willing to do it. Don’t be so upset at being given a little “child care.” Remember why your doing it, and you’ll feel much better. Cryo looked back and smiled at Wave. “Yea. Your right. I just hope I can help her not feel as lonely at home. “That’s the way to think, my grandson. Just relax and keep a “cool head, and you’ll be able to handle some “tough spots.” Now, we have just a little further to go before we arrive at our destination.” “Destination? We… are heading somewhere?” “That’s right.” “Where are we going, Grandma?” “That building right there.”

She pointed ahead and Cryo looked forward and saw a small building. He saw a large array of stony steps leading to the top of what appeared to be some type of dragon temple. The dwelling seemed to be similar to how some of the foreign homes back on Cyriss would look like. The walls were translucent white frame with wooden rectangle frames separating it into segments. The roof was very flat, with a red, arching frame surrounding it.

“This looks like homes from the Asiaga culture back on Cryiss. I’ve never seen one in person before,” Cryo said. “This, is the dojo, Cryo.” “The… dojo?” “That’s right.” “What are we here for, Grandma?” “You’ve undoubtable noticed that you’re transformed right now, haven’t you?” “Well… Yea Grandma. I know I look quite a bit different then before.” “This transformation is known as Winter Whiteout.” “Winter… Whiteout?” “That’s right. When dragons are introduced to an element connected to their own, their bodies adapt and transform to better suit itself in it.” “Really?” “Yes. You’ve seen yourself transform in water as well.” “Yea. I know that since I was a hatchling.” “This place right here is meant to help better teach you and harness your elemental energies when within an area of your own element. Seeing as how your now currently in an area in your world where its relatively cold and snowy, this is is good opportunity to help train and hone your skills in both forms. Considering that Mick is still a rather serious issue, you might find yourself needing one or both forms to better counter what he has planned for you.” “Really? That sounds pretty nice.” “Yes. I think you can guess this temple is back on our home world. But… truthfully… this is not what it looks like on it now…” “What do you mean?” Wave looked at Cryo and gave a sigh. “That might be something to tell at another time, but for now… why don’t we head inside?” They both nodded and headed up the steps.

They soon made it to the top, and saw a sliding door similar to the walls of the structure. Wave slid the doorway to the left and they both stepped in. The floors were similar style to the walls, except it was brown squares with a red border dotting the floor. There was a large stony ferrin dragon statue to the right of the room. It’s hands were outstretched towards the center. In each hand were two rather large gemstones cut in a diamond shape in both hands. One had a white gem and the other a deep blue gem.

“This place reminds me of fighting dojos I’ve seen in a couple movies. Though… How can I use this place to train my abilities here? And… this is inside, right? Won’t I just go back to normal being in here, in a warm building?” “This building resonates with elemental energy from Ferrin dragons. It’ll allow free transform between all forms of the ferrin dragon. “Really?” “That’s right.” The dojo can transform itself to help better practice your special abilities within it.” “Really. So the dojo… can make a pool of water come up out of nowhere?” “That’s right. Take a look.”

Wave began to head towards the dragon statue to the right of the room. She put her hand over the blue gem and closed her eyes and seemingly began to focus in it. Suddenly, the whole dojo seemed to grow and extend itself outward! The floor began to sink in the center around the room, and water filled it in only a few seconds!” Cryo stood over the side of the now large pool of water and looked over it.

“Wow! That’s incredible!” As he continued to look, he suddenly began to feel his body changing. He looked at his hand, and saw that the white scales seem to be turning back to its normal Cyan color. He saw his entire body beginning to smooth out and he fins beginning to grow out of his back head, and around his arms. He realized quickly he had transformed into what was similar to when he’s in a deep body of water! “Whoa… I’m… in the water form again…” Cryo said. “This dragon form is known as the Sea Serpent,” said Wave. Cryo looked to her, and saw Wave had been transformed as well. “This is amazing! How is all of this possible!? The temple looked like it grew right in front of me!” “The temple didn’t exactly grow on the outside, Cryo. The temple’s inner structure is special. While it looks like it grew on the inside, if you were to step outside of it now, it’ll still look the same size as before. “Really? But how?” “This place is filled with the energies of the ferrin dragon. Dragon’s power can do things that may seem impossible in normal circumstances. “That’s… incredible!” “Yes… You’ll have time to acquainted with it, but for now… it seems… mourning has come, and it’s time for you to wake up, my grandson.” “Wake up! But…” “I’ll be waiting for you to begin your training the next time you fall asleep. Now… wake up, Cryo.” “But! No! But!” Suddenly, Cryo’s vision began to grow a thick white, and he felt like he was fading from the dream “Good mourning, Cryo,” he heard Wave say as the white haze took over.

Ch 2

AI Answers

“Cryo… Cryo… Wake up… Wake up!” said a familiar voice. “Huh?” His eyes slowly opened up. He saw he was back in his room at Eli’s house. He saw Arianna standing over him and nudging him a bit. “Oh. Good mourning Arianna,” Cryo said. “Good mourning Cryo,” Arianna replied back. He heard the alarm blaring over his radio as well. He pulled the covers down from his bed and began to stand up and step down from it. “There we go. Ready for your for day of school at our campus?” “Oh! I completely forgot I was going to school today! Did I oversleep?!” “Oh. No. No you didn’t. You woke up right on time.” Cryo turned his head to face his radio. He saw the radio read 8:02 A.M. “Oh…” He quickly switched off the radio alarm and looked back at Arianna. “When does school start for the day?” Cryo asked as he began to carefully remove his pajamas. “School begins in town at about 9:00. You’ll be taking a bus to the campus.” “Huh? A… bus?” “That’s right.” “Huh… I’ve never taken a bus to school before. Then again… I’ve never had a need to considering the base itself has the school directly inside.” “It won’t be that bad. The bus will arrive at about 9:45 A.M. to take you.” “Well… Ok then.” “Now come on. Come upstairs and have some breakfast with us. We bought some fruit frenzy cereal for you.” “Oh! Ok!”

Cryo looked at himself for a second. “I should… probably wear a jacket or something. It’s really cold out with the snow. Despite the Winter whiteout transformation adapting me to cold temperatures, I think its better to stay as myself and not transform in the public if I can. I like the fabrics feeling anyway. He looked at Arianna. “Umm… Can I get myself a jacket for school? It’s going to be pretty cold in the snow.” “Why of course you can. Do you need any help changing into one?” “I’ll be fine, Arianna. Just let me pick something from my closet.” “OK. I’ll see you upstairs.” Arianna began to head out and up the steps.

“Alright… Let’s see what is in the closet.” As he was about to look, he heard something behind him. “Good mourning, Creator,” said a slightly distorted and mechanical voice.” “Wha… Huh?” Cryo looked around the room, but saw no one. But then the voice sounded again. “How are you today? I believe I heard this is your first day of school in this district, correct?” Cryo realized that the voice was coming from his radio, and he believed he knew exactly who it was. He began to head to his radio. “C… Craft? Is that… you?” “That’s right, creator. It’s nice to hear from you again.” Cryo looked at the radio in disbelief. He looked towards the steps to see if anyone was listening in or watching. He saw no one was there. He then sat himself down in front of his radio. He began to speak in a whispered tone.

“Craft! What are you doing here?! How in the world did you get in my radio?!” “Well… You see creator. I’ve… been trying to track you for awhile…” “Wait… You’ve been trying to track me!?” “Correct. I realized something was wrong immediately after my sound sensors at home detected what sounded like detonations. Unfortunately I wasn’t connected to security during the incident, due to the System Safety command in place. “System Safety command?” “That’s right. The one where I am not allowed to log into security and database servers without your go too.” “Oh… That’s right…”

“Yes… I would be informed later between a conversation within your living quarters between your caretakers and mother. It was here I learned a great deal of the incident and your disappearance. Apparently, the runway was attacked, destroying the ships and the runway. I also learned that an escape ship in the model of a Commando Carrier class was seen fleeing the airspace, with something caught within a net attachment. You…” “Umm… Yea… That… sounds about right so far.”

“Yes… Anyway. It seems that tracking you was already impossible. Your gps locater chip seemed to have been disabled somehow. After combing over the previous kidnapping document, I deduced that a gps jamming collar must have been attached to your neck, like before.” “Yup… That’s right.” “Realizing you were in danger, I began to… turn to emergency measures to try to locate you.” “Wait a minute… Emergency measures? What do you mean by that, Craft…?” “Well. First… I revealed to your caretakers of my existence.” Cryo’s eyes shot up! “What!? They know about you!?” “Please understand creator. The situation was dire, and I knew they would need my help to try and find you!” Cryo gave a sigh and shook his head. “That’s… Ugh…” “Now now, creator. Their reaction was rather positive at best.” “Positive?” “Yes… They were amazed that you made me. We began to try to pool resources in trying to find an alternative way to perhaps find you.” “Well. Alright then. That’s at least… good.” Cryo looked at the time on the radio. “Hmm… I should probably start getting prepared for school. I still need a jacket.”

Cryo faced his radio again. “Umm… Can you continue your story craft? I would like to change into some cloths for school.” “Yes. Very well creator. Adjusting volume to extend voice range.” “Umm… Thank you.” Cryo began to head towards his closet and began to open it and take a look. Craft continued.

“When we realized what type of ship it was, we believed that maybe… I could be… uploaded into the ship itself and perhaps take control of it and try to send it back home to us.” “Wait? Take control of the ship?!” “Correct. One thing in particular about the kidnapping is the use of military grade ships. Mick should not have access to virtually any after the first incident. Yet… Somehow… He had quite a few at his disposal to not only take you hostage, but also perform a light bombing run of the runway to prevent any ships from tailing him. However, it seems that Gerald finally had a breakthrough with the investigation thanks to me of course. “Huh. Gerald?” “Correct. It seems that Mick and his group is involved in a larger conspiracy. Me and him were able to quickly gain access to a wealth of information on his old computer here at Research Base Omega. He tried to erase everything after the first attempt. But… I was able to find it all. Emails. Names and individuals involved, possible locations. And most importantly… military stock information.” “Military stock? You mean…”

“That’s right. Id tags and numbers on ships. The conspiracy runs deep within their group. There are some politicians who are involved. They funded and helped with gaining the hardware and ships. It was here that I combed over information with the military stock that allowed me to pinpoint which ship they were using to transport you. And… well…” Cryo immediately felt uneasy about the fact that Craft paused the conversation here… “Craft… Please don’t tell me you…” “Y… Yes creator… I’m… I’m so sorry…” “You… caused the ship to crash… Please tell me that was NOT your original intention.” “Please Creator! I swear! It was NEVER my intention!” Cryo thought for a moment at this.

“…Craft is telling the truth… I know it. He wouldn’t act out in such an aggressive and rather irrational manner to crash an entire ship with me still on it. He wouldn’t willingly put my life in such danger just to disable an aircraft. But… that does raise the question…” Cryo thought to himself. He turned back to his radio again. He picked out a lime green jacket with a couple pockets on the front of it from his closet and began to step back towards his radio. He untied his bandanna around his neck and placed it on his bed. He then went stepped a few feet in front of his radio and looked at it.

“What went wrong Craft?” “There… seemed to be someone else attempting to hack into the ship…” Cryo’s eyes shot up! “Wait! What!? Someone else tried to take control of the ship!?” “Yes…” Cryo gave out another sigh.” “Do… Do you know who it was?” “No… But one thing was for sure… They couldn’t have wanted to take control of it for good purposes…” Cryo’s eyes narrowed and he felt a knot forming in his stomach a bit. “…What do you mean… Craft?” “This… other party… it was… bizarre.” “Bizarre…” “Correct… It’s codebreaking techniques on the ship were… different… I can’t explain it… But… It was trying to take the ship much higher in the planets atmosphere. Almost… close to outer space…” Cryo’s eyes shot up again!

“WAIT… WHA… OUTER SPACE! ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” “Yes… I… was basically in a tug of war match with this unknown entity for a bit of time… I… was able to eventually completely expel him from the system and lock him from interfacing anymore… but…” “But it was too late by then… By the time you’ve finished… the aircraft probably hit that rock formation. It… tore apart while flying… and… sigh… ejected me into the town below at high speed.” “Ye… Yes… I’m… I’m truly sorry creator… I really am… When I saw on the security camera on the ship with the image of you being ejected… I… I… I thought you’d be lost…” Cryo nodded his head and tapped his radio on top a few times.

“It’s alright Craft. None of this is your fault. You at least were able to pilot the ship away from the town as it began to break down. Truthfully Craft. You probably nonetheless saved my life and thousands of others within the town.” “Wait… Really?” “Yes. While the outcome was… not exactly ideal, if you hadn’t had hacked into the ship or prevented the other party from taking control… I might not be here right now… And not just me…” There was a short moment of static from the radio. “You’re… You’re a hero, Craft. Despite the setbacks… you’re a hero. Thank you.” “Yo… Your welcome, creator. I… always happy to serve your needs and wishes.”

Cryo smiled at the radio and put on his green jacket. He then took his bandanna on his bed and wrapped it around his neck again. “Well, Craft. I have to get ready for school. Arianna is probably wondering why its taking me so long to get dressed. I… I better get going. I still need to eat breakfast before school. I won’t be able to focus without food in my belly.” “Very well. I look forward to when you return.” “I’ll see you later, Craft.” “Have a pleasant day at school, creator.” Cryo began to walk forward towards the steps when he remembered something.

“Oh, Craft. Could you not make it obvious while I’m here that your sentient as well. Despite the people at home accepting you, you probably don’t want everyone here knowing there’s a sentient AI in my radio… One of them might destroy the radio out of fear of… um… a robotic uprising or whatever…?” “Understood. Will engage with you when situations are ideal, creator. Actually creator. There’s one more thing I should inform you about as well.” “What is it?” “Do you by chance, have a computer? Your mother and the other caretakers back at home would like to set up video calls on the CompCall app.” “Oh. Really?” “Yes.” “Umm… well…” Cryo looked around his bedroom, but saw that there wasn’t one available to him. “I… don’t think I actually… have one in here. I’m… going to need to get one, from somewhere…” “Well… Alright then, creator. I’ll have to inform them of this.” “Will it be hard for you to contact them? Your… not at home right now.” “It will be really simple for me. I’m connected here and to the devices back home. I should have no trouble informing them.” “Well. Alright then. See you later, Craft.” “Goodbye, creator.” Cryo continued up the staircase, into the kitchen.

Ch 3

Breakfast and Bus

Cryo entered the kitchen and found the family already eating breakfast together. They turned his head to face him. “There you are Cryo. I was wondering where you were. What kept you?” asked Arianna. “Oh… Umm… I… couldn’t figure out what to wear.” “Well. Alright then. Here. Come sit down at the table with us.” Cryo could see the family finally got a new seat at the table for him to sit and eat with them. It a rather plain wooden seat with a cushion with a water pattern. It was also wider and raised closer to the table. Cryo smiled and pulled his seat out, and set himself down on it. He saw a plain white bowl on the table, and saw his cereal had already been poured in, but with no milk. He also saw a cup next to his bowl with some orange juice in it. Cryo searched for the milk on the table. He saw the milk bottle in the center of it, and quickly opened it up and poured his milk on it. It soon was filled with milk and cereal. He smacked his chops a few times and began to eat happily. Seth watched Cryo as he ate his cereal.

“How’s your cereal, big brother?” he said. Cryo paused for a minute. “Big… brother?” he thought. He looked at Seth and smiled at him. “Oh. My cereal tastes good. This is my favorite cereal back home you know.” “Yea… Its mine too, big bro!” “Oh… Umm… That’s good Seth.” He continued to eat for a bit. “So… What grade are you in at school, big brother?” “Umm… 5th grade currently.” “That’s cool! I’m taking kindergarten right now!” “Umm… That’s nice, Seth. I do remember when I was in kindergarten.” “Really?” “That’s right.” “What do you remember big brother?” “Well… I remember my first day was… really hard and difficult for me to cope with at first…” “What! Really, big brother!?” “That’s right…” “But… WHY?” “Well… I was… bullied quite a bit on my first day…” Seth gave out a gasp. “You were bullied!?” “Unfortunately, that’s right Seth.” “But… Why would other bully you!”

“Well… You have to understand Seth. I’m not like others like you and your parents. I’m not a human. I’m a dragon. That… didn’t rub off that well with the others in class…” “But dragons are so cool! I don’t understand!” “Being a dragon in an all human setting wasn’t exactly ideal at the time. I don’t think the other kids could accept having someone so different from them in the same class setting. But… it wasn’t all bad…” “Why, big brother?” “Well… Because one of the kids decided to break off from the others and… help me through that.” “Who?” “Cameron. He’s actually Ty’s son. Ty’s one of the two humans who raised me at Research Base Omega. Back when my mother was… well… in a deep, deep sleep. Cameron gave me something I absolutely needed at the time.” “What big brother?” “A friend. He helped me through many years of school life after. However… after an… incident, at Research Base Omega, the other kids… realized that they might have been far to hard on me. Now, I’m friends with many of them and pretty well liked within school.” “What was the incident, big brother.” “Well… That’s probably a story for another time. We both have to get ready to attend school today. And the story is… a rather long one.” “Ahh… Ok…” They continued to eat together.

Soon their bellies were filled, and 2 school buses arrived to pick up Cryo and Seth. One, heading to Winterfell middle school. The other heading to Winterfell elementary school.” Cryo and Seth walked out the door, with backpacks with them, containing all their much needed supplies for the trip. “Alright you two boys. Have a good day!” “Thanks Mom!” said Seth. “Alright. See you later Arianna!” Seth quickly boarded the elongated yellow hover bus.

Cryo slowly and nervously wandered over to his. He saw a huge amount of kids staring at him as he approached… “This… feels a bit worrying…” he thought. He remembered the conversation he had with Seth earlier. He stopped in front of the door to the bus and waited for a few seconds. Soon, the bus’s doors opened and he saw the bus driver, wearing a thick blue coat, black pants, and wearing a bus cap. “Ahh… Cryo! Come on in! Everyone has been dying to see you for themselves!” “Really now…?” Cryo said. He became even more nervous at this comment. “I… hope I’m not… stepping into this thing to get made fun of again… I… haven’t had that feeling for a long time. And… Cameron is not here,” Cryo thought. “You coming, son?” the bus driver asked. “Oh! Uhh… Yea! I’m coming up!” Cryo replied.

He began to slowly make his way up the steps and into the bus… The bus’s frame on the inside was all grey metal alloys. The seats were blue and extended all the way to the back of the bus. He immediately realized every single person on the bus was immediately staring at him. His heart began to sink quickly…” “Oh no…” he thought. “Well. Find yourself a seat, Cryo.” said the bus driver. “Umm… Yea… Ok then…” Cryo replied. He quickly darted his head around to find a seat by itself. He saw one… all the way to the right of the bus. He slowly walked his way to the seat, and looked back at everyone else. Every single one of them was still staring at him in silence. Cryo gulped and climbed himself into his seat and sat down. His heart was beating faster then a base drum… “Alright. “Let’s get everyone to school now,” said the bus driver.

Ch 4

Riding and Requests

The bus began to start up and move towards its destination. Cryo sat in his seat as everyone was still staring at him. He felt like at any point, something really nasty would happen to him. “I really wish I had my stress ball and puzzle twist cube right now..” Cryo thought. Then, a voice began to speak near the back of the bus.

“Well… Looks like the freak has finally shown himself…” someone said in the back, in a black leather jacket, black hair, shaggy brown hair, and green eyes. “Oh no…” Cryo thought. But to his surprise, one of the other teens, wearing red jacket, blue pants, had brown hair blue eyes, and darker skin, immediately got up and threw a punch at that jokers head, knocking him out of his seat! “OW! What in the…” he said. “Don’t talk to that dragon that way you reject! You better show him some respect, Tanner!” “Come off it, Miles!” He got up and looked like the fight would escalate further, when the bus driver stepped in. “Hey you two! Cut that out! No fighting is allowed on the bus or school grounds!” They looked at each other a went back to their seats. Cryo looked behind, and could see that it seemed that everyone on the bus seemed to be casting a rather angry gaze on the teen who he believed his name was, Tanner. “This… isn’t what I expected to happen on my first day of school here…” thought Cryo. He took in a deep breath in and out… One of the other kids on the bus, began to lean over towards, Cryo’s seat, making Cryo nervous…

“Hel… Hello… Your name is… Cryo, correct?” said kid in a green and blue winter jacket and wearing a rounded snow cap. He had blonde hair, brown eyes, white skin, and blue pants. “Umm… Ye… Yea… I’m Cryo… Cryo the dragon…” The kids on the bus stared intently at the conversation… “Ok… This feels… incredibly awkward…” Cryo thought. “My name is… Warren. I heard… you… fix things, correct?” “Umm… Yea… I… I can fix things…” “What… type of things exactly? I heard… you repaired the communications tower and a van by yourself…” “Oh! Umm… I’m… well antiquated with many forms of technology. Household appliances, vehicles, sound systems, tv’s, and many other type of devices.” “Could you… perhaps try to repair this?…” Warren took his backpack in his hands and pulled out what appeared to be a broken Ignition gaming console. Cryo took a look at it for a few seconds. “Umm… Yea. I… have a lot of experience with ignition gaming consoles.”

A lady behind Cryo with red hair, red splotches mixed with white skin, green eyes, and wearing a vivid red coat and blue jeans in the seat behind Cryo tapped on Cryo’s shoulder. He turned his head to face her. “Do you think you could also repair my… Cylindrical music player? I have it at home,” she asked. “Um… Yea. Probably. I know how their inner core systems work well enough…” Suddenly, many of the kids began to lean around Cryo’s seat! The next thing Cryo heard, is each and every kid on the bus making requests over and over to the young dragon to repair different sets of items and devices that had broken! He was quickly becoming overwhelmed with the requests.

“EVERYONE PLEASE! Give me some space here!” he shouted at them. The bus began to become silent, and they began to back away from his seat. Cryo took in a couple of deep breaths. “Alright… Here’s what I can do everyone… Bring your devices and items you want repaired to my house after school. I’ll take care of your repairs and fix your items up. You’ll just need to leave the name of the items, the issues with the items, and your name on whatever container you use to bring it to me in. Also… I might need certain passwords and log in permissions in the event I need to get data from the server. If you do all of this, I promise to repair your items when I have time. Ok?” He heard the approval of all the kids on the bus. Another kid in the back, in white strikeball cap, black hair, brown eyes, and a white jacket and pants asked one last question to Cryo. “How much will it cost?” he asked.

Cryo was about to say he’d do it for free, but then remembered something… “I… need a computer. I’m sure the people in town would be willing to give me one, but… taking advantage of them like this is wrong and selfish… Maybe… maybe I could instead buy one if I charge a bit for repairs. I’ll just need to tell Eli when I want to go to the electronics’ shop to buy one… Yea! But what should I set my price to? Hmm…” Cryo thought for a few seconds.

“Umm… I’ll charge just $20 per every item repaired. Does that sound fair, everyone?” Each and every kid smiled and nodded. This was a ridiculously good deal compared to sending it to a company for repairs, which costs HUNDREDS typically. “Alright everyone… I’ll look forward to… uh… fixing your items later on today and during the week.” Cryo could hear many of the bus’s bystanders thanking the young dragon for this favor for them. Cryo smiled and began to relax in his seat again. “Maybe school here won’t be so bad! Looks like I’m going back to work!” Cryo thought to himself with a smile on his face. Soon enough, the bus arrived at Winterfell middle school. “Alright We’re here everyone! Have a good day at school!” said the bus driver.

Ch 5

School System

Cryo stepped off the bus and looked at the sprawling school in his view. The school seemed to be a large facility, which seemed to have different complex’s connected to one another. The walls were a stony brown color and the entrance from the bus area seemed to show a large, glass windows and doors, with metal hinges and frames. “Hmm… Big place… Defiantly bigger then the school back home. Well… Lets go inside, I suppose. He trotted towards the doors and began to head inside the facility, with his backpack slung over his shoulder.

The inside of the facility showed a large row of red lockers all throughout the hallways. The walls were a smooth light tan color and seemed to have a bit of a bumpy texture. He saw a many different classrooms dotted around the halls, with their doors open, seemingly welcoming students in.

“Hmm… This place is quite large. I wonder where I should start…” “Excuse me, young dragon.” “Huh?” He looked around and saw what seemed to be a rather tall man in a navy blue business suit and tie. He also had very short black hair, and green eyes. “Please come over here, young dragon.” “Umm… Alright then.” He trotted himself over and stood in front of the man. “Cryo is your name, wasn’t it?” the man asked. “Yes. I’m Cryo, Mr…” “Harold. Call me Mr. Harold, please. I’m the principle of this fine school. I must say. It’s quite an honor to have such a interesting and clearly gifted student taking school here.” “Oh. Thank you, Mr. Harold.” “In any case, could you please follow me?” “Follow you?” “That’s right. I’ll be escourting you to class today so you can get a better idea of our school system and where the classes your enrolled in are located.” “Oh! That’s actually going to be helpful, considering how big this school is. Thank you, Mr. Harold.” Cryo smiled and Mr. Harold smiled back at him.

“Alright. Follow me. The first thing we’ll be doing is taking you to your locker in the school.” “My… locker?” “That’s right. Every student at this facility has a personal locker for them to store the books and supplies in while they’re here. It’s much easier then taking all your books and items to each class.” “Well. Alright then.” Mr. Harold motioned Cryo to come forward with him and they began to head down the hall way towards Cryo’s locker.

After walking for a bit, he they stopped at a row of lockers on the second floor. Mr. Harold tapped on a locker with his palm a few times. “This is your locker, Cryo. Number 103.” He looked at it, and nodded. He could see a combination lock on the front of the locker. “Do you know how to use a combination lock?” Mr. Harold asked. “Yes I do. I’ve actually made my own before.” “Really? Well then. Why don’t you try with this one. Here is the combination to your locker.” Mr. Harold gave Cryo a piece of paper with three separate digits on it. “Alright… Let’s see… 32 if the first number…” Cryo spun the combination lock 3 times counterclockwise, stopping at 32 after the third rotation. “Next is 17…” Cryo spun it clockwise to the number 17. “And finally… 63.” He spun it clockwise again to 63 and pulled on the handle on the locker. The locker opened and Cryo could see there was nothing currently in it. “Very well done, Cryo. I trust you won’t need help in the future with opening it?” “No. I’ll be fine. Thank you Mr. Harold.” Mr. Harold smiled and nodded at Cryo.

“Good. Now. If I remember reading from your school plan form from your school back home, your first class with us here should be… Beginner’s algebra correct?” “Umm… hang on. I have my school schedule in the pocket of my coat.” Cryo opened the zipper on his coat pocket and pulled out a school form. He looked at it, and nodded. “Yes. Algebra is my first class, in room 247.” “Ahh. Good. Follow me and I’ll take you straight there.” “Alright. Thank you.” They both began to head down the halls to Cryo’s first class of the day.

Ch 6

Truth’s to Tanner

So the day passed at school as Cryo went to each of his classes. Cryo was testing a small robotic toy with wheels, small grabbers, and sleek head with a small visor within his robotics class. It drove its small wheels across the board, as Cryo put commands into a computer to do a couple tricks. “And after setting this code into the system, I can make it head towards the set of flags on the board. And… with a few more commands…” Cryo began to set up a few more things within the robotics program that was being used in the robotics lab. The grabbers began to pick up each of the flags on the course and place it in a basket behind a goal line. “And presto! Our friend, “Eon,” will go across the map and pick up the flags, and bring them back to home base.” Cryo said with a smile as he turned back forward to face everyone. Everyone in class, including the teacher, was impressed how Cryo was able to work with him so efficiently.

“Very well done Cryo! You’re quite an operator with Eon there. Is this your first time doing this?” Cryo look at his teacher and shook his head. “No, actually… I had this same robot toy at home when I was about… 4 years old I think…” “Really?” “Yea. It was bought for my birthday, and some of the engineers back home taught me how to make it do cool things! But… that was… quite the learning process… It took about… another 2 years before I got good enough to be able to program my own tricks. And believe me… It was very difficult to learn, even with some of the best engineers back home. It took a lot of practice. But in the end, it was fun playing with and programming Eon on the floor of my room!” “I see. Well class. It seems we have a junior robotics engineer here.” He heard everyone in the room clap their hands.

Suddenly, the bell began to ring all over the school. “Oh! Would you look at the time, class… It’s time for lunch!” Everyone began to stand up around the room.” “Alright everyone… I’ll see you at about 10:30 tomorrow. Please practice with your personal Eon Robot in the mean time. Goodbye everyone!” Each of the classmates began to give their goodbyes to the teacher and then left. Cryo got up out of his seat and began to head out. He knew the principle was outside to help Cryo find the cafeteria. He had lunch money for his own lunch that day from his caretakers. Before he left though… the teacher of the class turned to him. “I’m looking forward to seeing you during the contest at the end of the semester. I can’t wait to see what type of things you can pull with Eon,” said the teacher. “Yea. Thanks Mr. Procter! I’ll see you tomorrow!” “Goodbye Cryo!” Cryo left out the door and sure enough, found Mr. Harold waiting outside to escort him to the lunchroom.

“Was robotics fun today, Cryo?” “Oh yes! I haven’t used a Eon Operating Buddy in quite a while. I’ll need to pull mine out when I eventually get home to mom and the others.” “You had one at home?” “Yes I did. It was a gift on my 4th birthday.” “Well… I can guess you’ve had some experience with him, right? “Yes. Enough of it I suppose.” “Well… Let’s get going. I’m sure your hungry after your classes today, right?” “Yea. I defiantly am. I really am ready to eat. Let’s go!” They walked through the school and to the lunch room.

The lunchroom was pretty large! The room had white tile walls and there were smooth, black, stony looking tables everywhere, with kids already sitting down and eating together. He saw there seemed to be an area in the back, where he saw food behind a large glass container being set for the kids to take. There seemed to be a bit of a line of kids waiting to take and grab their orders and pay for them, with a clerk with a cash register waiting for them on the left side. There also seemed to be a couple different dishes being made today.

“Well… Do you need help with getting food, Cryo?” “No. I’ll be fine. Thank you though.” “Alright. Just head to the front and pick out what you want. If you need any help, ask the aids around here. He nodded and the principle began to leave the area. He then stopped for a moment and turned back at Cryo. “I’ll meet you by your locker at 12:30, ok?” “Yes. Thank you. I’ll see you soon, Mr. Harold.” He waved to Cryo and soon left. “Well… Let’s see what they have for food today…” Cryo thought. He began to step forward, when 3 kids nearby got out of their seats and began to make their way towards Cryo in front of him. He recognized one of them from someone on the bus before…” They began to block the way in front of him towards where the food was…

“Umm… Could you please move… Tanner, I believe your name was?” “Sorry Freak! You wanna pass here, your going to have to pay the toll!” he replied back. “…Are you seriously going to try this?” Cryo asked. “Don’t pay, don’t get by us!” Cryo gave a sigh and shook his head.” “Oh no… I can’t get past you. Whatever can I do to get passed and get me some nice food in my belly?” “Are you mocking me?” Cryo immediately extended his wings out which surprised them. He quickly made a leap in the air and flew over them, towards where the food was, The three kids looked behind with angry looks on their faces. “Oops… Did you forget? I’m a dragon… I can fly right over you…” Cryo mocked them as he continued stepping forward. “Alright, boy. Your asking for a REAL thumping now!” He could hear the footsteps of the group coming up from behind him as he stepped forward. He gave a sigh and knew what was coming up next.

“Alright… 3… 2… 1… and…” Cryo thought. Tanner immediately threw a punch at the back of Cryo’s head he immediately rolled to the left as the three kids began to stumble forward while everyone watched. He then blew a very small stream of ice at the three kids feet, keeping their feet stuck in place to the ground! “AHH WHAT IN THE… LET… LET GO OF US YOU… YOU” he said. “Quiet… All three of you… Your going to stand there and your going to listen to everything I’m about to say,” Cryo replied. The entire lunchroom looked on in shock at the scene, even the aids, yet they couldn’t bring themselves to get involved in the situation. Cryo then sat himself in front of the three kids as they looked at him.

“Now… Do any of you 3 know how I ended up in this town? Be truthful… How much do you know? Or… do you not know anything?” Cryo said. “You fell from the sky! Your like… an ALIEN!” said Tanner. “Your only half right. It’s true I’m not native to this world, but its NOT how I ended up in his town. I was KIDNAPPED and I ended up here…” Cryo could hear a couple gasps from the kids in the lunchroom. Tanner looked at him in a bit of disbelief.

“Ki…Kidnapped?” “That’s right. Kidnapped. Stolen from my home.” “From like… the government?” “That could be applied to when I was young, but that’s not the case here. I was kidnapped by a CORRUPT military traitor!” Cryo heard even more gasps from the lunchroom. “A… traitor?!” “That’s right. Do you have any idea what they were going to do to me?” The lunchroom become eerily quiet and there was quite a bit of tension throughout the entire room.

“That monster… His name is Mick. Mick Mitchells. He was originally a commander of a group of military personal at MY home and also was head of the weapons development team. He didn’t want me just because I was a dragon. No. He wanted me because he saw opportunity in me!” “Opp… Opportunity?” “That’s right. It turns out being REALLY good with technology makes you a target. And Mick… He wanted me just for that. He wanted ME to become his slave! Building war machines! Weapons of mass Destruction! Horrors of technology that the WHOLE WORLD would have to endure!” Everyone in the lunchroom seemed to be really getting on edge at this whole conversation. Even Tanner and his friends didn’t know what to think at this point.

“You have no idea what this one man is capable of! This isn’t his first attempt to take me captive! He threatened to BLOW UP a military hospital WITHIN OUR HOME FACILITY if I didn’t work with him once!” The whole cafeteria gasped at this. “He used the explosive payload inside the building to BLACKMAIL me and my mother to surrender to them! That’s right. They DIDN’T just kidnap me! They kidnapped my mother! ALL FOR THE SAME REASON! WEAPONS TECHNOLOGY! The whole cafeteria was becoming angry, thinking about this truly corrupt individual who has clearly caused this little dragon a whole lot of pain.

“I had to NOT ONLY escape their ship… I HAD TO SURIVIVE A WHOLE MONTH IN GEYSER FOREST WITH MY MOTHER BEFORE I GOT RESCUED! That’s right! A WHOLE MONTH! You wouldn’t have to believe ALL THE THINGS I HAD TO DO to survive THAT LONG with virtually NO SUPPLIES!

There was a long silence everywhere in the lunch room now… “They have tried at least 3 TIMES TO TAKE ME CAPTIVE! This time, they literally FLEW A SMALL FLEET OF SHIPS OVER HOME, CAUGHT ME IN A NET WHILE I WAS FLYING, STUCK ME WITH A TRANQUILIZER DART, BOMBED THE RUNWAY SO NO SHIPS COULD POSSIBLY FOLLOW THEM, TIED MY LIMBS BEHIND MY BACK, AND THEN STUCK ME IN A SMALL PEN TO BE TRANSPORTED TO WHO KNOWS WHERE! Everyone began to look at Cryo in horror, unable to comprehend what he’s been through… Cryo continued…

“I… ended up in this town, after being JETTISONED OUT OF THEIR ESCAPE CRAFT AFTER AN ACCIDENT WITH IT! And you know what? The truth is, I don’t even know HOW SAFE I AM being here! You know that?! Tell me… How safe am I really…?! How do I know Mick isn’t somewhere in the town, planning HIS next insane plan to take me?! Huh?! And its not just that?! Do you even realize how worried I am about the people taking care of me now?! Not just them! Mick could target ANYONE in town that helped me! ANYONE! Do you even realize how BAD I’d feel LURING A PSYCOPATH TO THEM! ALL BECAUSE HE WANTS ME TO BUILD WEAPONS OF WAR!”

Cryo looked at the 3 bullies faces, who seemed absolutely dumbfounded at this turn of events. He began to approach near them. “Now then…” Cryo lifted his arm up and slammed it on the ground, shattering the ice and freeing their legs! “I’ll tell all of you what… Why don’t I give you what you want? Go ahead! Beat me up! Beat up the poor little dragon who’s being HUNTED by a madman! Go ahead! I won’t stop you at all! You can explain to my caretakers, the people back home, EVEN THE MAYOR OF THIS TOWN, why I ended up in the hospital! Go ahead!” Cryo pointed to his cheek a few times. “Slug me! Right across the face right here! Go ahead! I’m waiting! When your done, I want to tell me EXACTLY how you felt for beating up ANYONE with this going on in their lives!”

Everyone in the lunchroom turned toward the 3 kids. Each and every person had a very angry grimace on their faces. Tanner and his friends turned their head back to Cryo. He wasn’t showing any fear. “I… I…” Tanner said “Well! What are you waiting for?! Isn’t this what you wanted?!” Cryo said. Tanner then began to hang his head low, and quickly ran out of the lunchroom with his friends. Everyone turned their heads towards Cryo. He knew he might have made a bit too much of a scene here. He gave out a sigh and continued towards where the food was. “Everyone… Just leave me alone right now please… I… I need some time…” He got in line with the other kids. The kids seemed to be staring at him still, but he didn’t even care at this point. After a bit, he quickly selected food from the cafeteria and sat down in a seat, and began eating. The kids got back to eating, but gave concerned eyes at the little dragon as they watch him slowly eat in his seat.

Ch 7

Back to the Bus

So the school day passed as Cryo went about his studies for the day. Many of the kids within the school watched him as he went about, but never spoke to him. Some wanted to talk to him to try to give him comfort, but they couldn’t bring themselves to do it, as they remembered that he just wanted to be left alone for the time being.

Cryo was in his final class of the day, Earth science. He was writing notes in a notebook at his desk. His desk was larger and wider to fit around Cryo’s larger form. All the classrooms today had a desk and seat specifically for Cryo. The teacher was going over rock and rock types. “…And so. As I have explained, the three type of rocks that exist on Cyriss, igneous, sediment, and metamorphic, come from different types of backgrounds, Whether its igneous rocks that form from melted rock inside our world, sedimentary rocks that are formed from various forms of matter like sand, silt, dead plants, and animal bones, and metamorphic rocks, which are formed from the deep pressures and heat coming from the underground of our planet near the core. Now… Does anyone have any questions?”

Cryo thought for a moment. He then quickly raised his hands. “Ahh! You have a question, Cryo?” “Umm… Yes, Mrs. Sedia. I was wondering… about… Cyantran.” “Cyantran, Cryo?” “That’s right. Umm… I was wondering about… what type of rocks or metals go into making cyantrinian metals?” “Ahh! Yes. Well you see, Cryo, Cyantran is made with the rocks Zin, Snowdrift, and Frozolar. Each of these rocks are metamorphic and can commonly be found in climates that are very cold year round.” “Really?” “That’s correct, Cryo. The strange thing about these stones is indeed that it seems these types are created by cold climates after they are released from the insides of the high pressure areas near the core of Cyriss.” “Really? That’s… quite interesting actually.” “Yes. It’s a rather strange quirk with some mineral types of cyriss that seem to for some reason have a strange chemical reaction when exposed to cold or extreme heat and pressure for long periods of time.” “I see… Well… Thank you for the info, Mrs. Sedia.” “Yes. We’ll be learning a bit more about these type of rock interactions later this semester.” “Great! I’m looking forward to learn more about Cyantran, Mrs. Sedia! I… do have a bit of… umm… interest in what it does…” Suddenly, the bell rang, which signaled the end of school for the day!”

“Oh! Ok class! It’s time for everyone to go home! Now remember to do your homework and rest easy and take your time to read the book and answer questions in the book at the end of the chapter. Also, we have lab on Fridays, so remember to ready yourself for some experimentation within our class. Now… Have a good day, everyone! Class is dismissed!” Each and every kid began to head out of their seats and head out to grab their items from their lockers and then head for the bus home. Cryo began to head out with his supplies, when the teacher came over to him. He looked at her.

“Cryo… I know your a bit concerned about cyantran… Yes… I know what happened with that particular… incident with said metals.” Cryo looked at her and gave a sigh… “Well… Being bound and gagged with cyantran wires and being put in a cyantrinian cell certainly isn’t fun…” “Yes… If you… need any information or want to talk for a bit after class, me and many of the teachers and faculty in the school are more then willing to help you through these rough times for you…” “Th… Thank you Mrs. Sedia…” “Would you… like to talk now?” “Umm… No thank you. I… really need to get home before the bus leaves… I suppose I could probably fly home if needed… But… I think I’d rather take the bus. I’m tired anyway… I’m probably going to take a small nap when I get home anyway…” “Alright, Cryo. Have a good afternoon. Stay safe and keep yourself well rested. I hope to see you for the rest of the semester.” “Thank you. Umm… Goodbye now, Mrs. Sedia.” Cryo slowly left the classroom and into the halls.

The principle was waiting for Cryo again.” “There you are, Cryo. You took a little bit to leave class this time,” he said. “Sorry about that. The teacher… wanted to talk with me a bit after class.” “Was there… something wrong?” “Oh! Umm… No. Nothing was wrong…” “Well ok. Will you need help getting to your locker, Cryo?” “No. I’ve walked with you several times today. I think I got a general idea where it is located within the school now.” “Well good. Would you like me to walk around with you tomorrow, or do you think you’ll be able to handle things by yourself?” Cryo thought for a moment… “I’ll be perfectly fine walking by myself, Mr. Harold.” “Are you sure? I heard of an… incident in the lunchroom today…” Cryo gave a sigh… “I’m in trouble for that, I’m guessing?” “N…No. The aids clearly saw Tanner was the one who instigated it. And… the nurse checked him and his friends to see if there was any injuries on the area where your froze their feet to the ground… Absolutely none at all. Not even frostbite… They’re perfectly fine. And they’re going to be in detention for awhile after that…” Cryo nodded his head. “Well… Hopefully he won’t bother me in the future.” “Yes… So… Will you be alright?” “Yes… I promise you… I’ll be fine. Now if you excuse me… I need to get to my locker and catch my bus before it leaves without me.” “Very well. Have a pleasant afternoon at home, Cryo.” Cryo began to head out towards his locker in the school. He turned back to Mr. Harold one more time. Cryo saw him waving at him, and he waved back, and then quickly continued forward.

As Cryo walked down the halls of the school, he noticed again everyone staring at him as he walked towards his locker. He could see concern in their eyes as the young dragon passed them in the halls. “Seems my little… “Outburst,” earlier has drawn a bit too much attention to myself. But… I’m not going to deal with bullies this semester. Hopefully Tanner won’t bother me again…” He quickly headed to his locker and began to turn the combination lock. A teen next to him who was also messing around his locker took immediate notice, and turned toward him.

“Hey… Cryo, right? Do you… need any help with your locker?” Cryo turned his head to face him. He saw that it seemed to be the kid from earlier who punched Tanner in the head on the bus. He then turned back and continued to turn the lock. “No… Miles… I believe your name is, right?” “Yes. My name is Miles. Miles Williams.” Cryo opened his locker. He then took his backpack from inside of it and began to place several books from inside into his backpack. He began to make his way towards the bus, with Miles following him behind. “Are you… ok?,” Miles asked. Cryo turned to face him and gave a sigh… “Y…yes. I’m perfectly ok. I just have a lot on my mind as of late,” Cryo said back. He continued forward. But Miles stuck close to him as he walked. “Are you sure? Its… really awful that someone, ANYONE would do this to you. I’m… really sorry to hear about what your facing right now…” “R…Really Miles. I’m fine. I just need a bit of time to think of things right now… I’m… sure I’ll be back home at Research Base Omega before I know it. Out of Mick’s clutches and back home with Mom and the others. I… just need to wait for until they have the chance to pick me up and take me back home…” “Cryo… I know your not feeling all too well right now… I know what it looks like when someone is scared.” “I… I… Sigh…” As they continued to walk forward, Cryo noticed a few more teens had begun to follow him down the hall. Some of them he recognized from the bus earlier. Others he had seen in some of his classes for the day.

“So… Where… in the country is Research base Omega?” asked another kid. Cryo turned his head towards him, and saw that he was the same kid who was the first to ask Cryo for an item to be repaired. “Umm… Yea… Warren, right…? Its… located in Midnook Bay, close to the mountains…” Cryo replied. “Oh… What… What was it like back home?” “It was… nice… I was… living with mom in a rather large apartment within the complex of the facility…”

“You had an apartment?” asked another teen. Cryo turned his head, and saw the young women who asked for a repair second on a bus. “Oh… Christina, right? Well… technically… I guess… the base owns it. But… me and my mom live in it… Not just me… Many of the bystanders at home live there, including… umm… my second family and…” “Second family?” she asked “Oh! Yea! Umm…” Cryo replied. “Why do you have a second family?” “Well… umm… Right before I was born, my mother… kind of… well… she saved an entire town from a storm and tidal wave that would have destroyed the entire town…” “Wait! Stopped a storm and a tidal wave!?” “That’s… That’s right… She… had been taken in at the time by my second family, and she saved them and hundreds of other lives… But… she… was left in a comatose state for about… 6 years…” “6 years!” asked another teen.

He looked to the right of him, and saw a boy he recognized from class, wearing a blue jacket, blue jeans, blonde, curly hair, white skin, and blue eyes. “Umm… Yea Winston, was it?” “Yeah! My god! I actually heard the story on the news about storm and tidal wave that just disappeared out of nowhere over Southpoint! The military investigated the area, and its said something exotic was taken away and escaped! Was that you, Cryo!?” “Umm… I think that’s a story I’d rather not tell… I’m… sorry about that.” Winston nodded and looked back to him. “That’s awful to be without your mom for 6 years!” “Well… like I said… I was… adopted and raised by my… umm second family for the first year of my life… Before I was… um… relocated to Research Base Omega.” “Who were they?” “Well… I had my… adopted mother, Suzy, my adopted father, Greg, and my big brother, Noble.” “Big brother? Is he a dragon, like you?” “Oh! Umm… No… He’s a human, but he’s part of the family that adopted me. So… I guess it still counts as a big brother… right?” Winston smiled and nodded at him. “Yeah! I get it! Is… your mother still asleep?” “No, Thankfully. She’s awake now and lives with me in the apartment at home. They should be waiting for me at home right now and are probably worried about me… I should… give them another phone call at some point… I’m… hoping to get a computer with the money I’ll be getting from working on repairs so I might be able to do video communications calls. I’m sure mom and the others want to see me directly on video.” “Yea. Don’t worry buddy. I’m sure you’ll see them soon.” “Yea… Th… Thanks Winston.”

As they continued to walk down the halls, more and more of the kids from school piled up and followed close behind Cryo. Many of the kids asked Cryo questions about his life, his home, his skills in tech, and many other things. Eventually, they would join Cryo on the bus, which then began to drive the students back to their homes. Cryo felt comforted to know many of the kids in school wanted to support the young dragon through the tough times he was facing.

“Hey Cryo. I’m curious…. You said in the lunchroom that you were… trapped in a forest being hunted for about a month by that… traitor, Mick. Could you… tell us more about that?” asked another kid from class, with dark skin, short black hair, brown eyes, and wearing a black winter coat and brown casual pants. “Oh… You… want to know about my first kidnapping… Markus I believe your name is?” “Yeah! I really want to hear had you managed to get out of their escape craft and survive in a forest for a month!” “Yea! I want to hear that story too!” said Winston. “Yea! Me too!” said Warren. “Well…. It’s… a pretty long story. I… won’t have time to tell the whole thing unfortunately. There’s… not enough time before I get home.” Cryo replied back. “That’s alright. Give us a start today and tell us the next time.” “Well. Alright then… It started back about… 2 years ago, when…”

So Cryo rode the bus and told a bit of his story while he rode. Everyone on the bus listened intently as he told it. Strangely, even Tanner seemed to be listening in the back… But soon enough, Cryo arrived back at his home and had to cut off his story there.”

“Oh… This is my stop, everyone. Sorry. I… have to continue off tomorrow.” “We we’re just getting to the good part… I can’t believe they strapped you and your mother down to medical beds like a mental patients! How the heck did you wiggle your way out of that!?” asked Warren. “Welp! You’ll have to wait until next time! Alright! Goodbye everyone! Remember to bring your broken items into the house with a list of the discrepancies and your name on the box. I’m looking forward to repairing them later! And please don’t forget to pay after I’m done…”” Cryo said. “Goodbye Cryo! Have a good day at home!” Everyone on the bus said back to the little dragon.

Cryo stepped off the bus and took in a breath of chilled air. He could see many of his new friends waving towards him as his bus drove off. He then saw Seth’s bus coming forward soon after. Seth stepped off his bus and came out into the cold snow outside. He was smiling as he did. “Well Seth… How was school today?” asked Cryo. “It was awesome! Everyone is so jealous I’ve got a dragon for a big brother?” “Umm… Ok then.” Cryo looked towards the bus and saw many of the young kids waving and smiling at him. He smiled and waved back at them. He could hear a couple giggles form the kids as he did. “Well… Come on, “little brother.” I’m sure Eli and Arianna are waiting inside. “Alright! Let’s go, bro!” They both headed toward the door and as they approached, the door to the house opened with the both Eli and Arianna standing in the door. “Hello you 2 boys. How was school today?” “It was fine, Arianna.” Cryo said. “It was super fun!” said Seth. “Good! I’m glad to hear you both had a good time today!” They both smiled and stepped into the room. Arianna shut the door to the house.

Ch 8

Northern nap

“Now… Do you boys want to do something now that your home?” asked Eli “I want to play with my big brother!” said Seth. Cryo gave a yawn and turned toward Seth. “I’m… sorry Eli. But… I really need a nap right now…” Cryo said. “Huh? It’s your naptime!?” “Yea… I really need a bit of sleep right now. I know you really would like to play fetch with me right now, Seth. But… can you give me some time to sleep. Please?” “Alright big bro. I know you probably will be cranky if you don’t have your daily nap…” “Ye… Yea… Thank you Seth.” “Would you like for me to tuck you in, Cryo?” asked Arianna. Cryo thought for a moment. “Yea. You can, Arianna.” “Alright. Let’s get you downstairs for a nice long nap. They went through the living room, then the kitchen, and then opened the door to Cryo’s room and headed down the staircase.

They stepped into the basement, where all of Cryo’s items were. Arianna turned toward Cryo. “Would you like for me to get some pajama’s for you to sleep in or would you like to sleep the way you are now?” “I think I’d like to wear some pajama’s, Arianna. Those were really comfy when I slept last night.” “Alright. Hang on. Let’s get that winter coat off of you first.” Cryo nodded and lifted his arms forward. Arianna lifted the coat over his head and placed it in a laundry hamper within the room. She then headed over to Cryo’s wardrobe.

She opened the bottom drawer and pulled out a dark blue pair of regular pajama pants and shirt. “Will this work for you right now, Cryo?” Cryo nodded his head. “Alright. Come over here to your bed, Cryo. Let’s get you all snuggled for your nap.” Arianna went to the side of Cryo’s bed, kneeled down, and patted her hand on the ground a few times. Cryo nodded and slowly trotted his way over and sat down in front of her. She lifted the pajama’s over Cryo’s head and then helped Cryo pull his arms out of the long sleaves. She then lifted his bandanna around his neck out of the inside of the pajamas. He sniffed it a bit and began to relax at the smell. She then held the pajama pants forward in her hands. “Alright. Step in, Cryo.” Cryo carefully stepped into the pants and Arianna pulled them up, and then buttoned them around his tail. “This feels incredibly comfy. I don’t know why I never tried pajama pants before… Then again… They never made any for me…” Cryo said. “Alright. Let’s get you into bed.” She picked up Cryo and pulled the covers for his bed down, and then placed him in it. She pulled the covers up, and Cryo gave a comforting sigh, as the mass of fabrics enveloped him. Arianna went towards the steps and turned the lights off to Cryo’s room. Arianna then began to head back to Cryo’s bed, and sat in a chair next to it. Arianna leaned back a bit. “Would you like maybe… a naptime story, or naptunes.” she asked. “Naptunes is fine, Arianna.” “Alright. Hang on a second. She was about to flick the switches for it, when naptunes seemed to turn on by itself! She heard the soft music reverberating itself around the room. “Huh… I didn’t even turn it on.” “Oh… Umm… Don’t worry about that Arianna. I should be fine now. Umm… See you when I wake up, Arianna…” Cryo said. “Alright. Have a nice, long nap, Cryo. She kissed Cryo on the forehead and began to slowly walk upstairs from Cryo’s room, trying to make the least amount of noise possible. The music continued to reverberate in Cryo’s ears and soon he began to fall to the dark… He then remembered something about his last dream… “I’m…going to be trained in my… next set of dreams by… Wave.” Cryo gave one last yawn. “S… See you in a bit, grandma…” His hazy mind soon feel to the dark, and feel into a deep, deep sleep.

Ch 9

Beginner Belt

Cryo’s eyes began to slowly open up. He gave out a yawn as his eyes began to focus on his surroundings. He saw he seemed to be… in one of the rooms of the dojo. It looked to be some type of bedroom within the facility. The bed was strangely a soft, blue, spongy mass that kind of looked a bit like a fungal growth. It strangely smelled a bit good, like a purified spring water, similar to his own bandanna. He tilted his eyes down, and saw that his own bandanna was glowing a bit strangely. He also saw he seemed to be in his winter whiteout transformation. “Hmm… Just as I suspected. I’m back here. And I’m transformed. Strange looking bed… Do all dragons sleep on… whatever this is? It kind of looks like the same blue substance at the dragon alter back when my other family members performed that strange ritual on me… I… haven’t seen new abilities pop up. At least not yet… At least concerning their elements. Hmm… Let’s look around,” Cryo thought. He looked around the room.

He saw that this room had a few interesting details. It had a ferrin dragon statue within it, with jeweled blue eyes and and made up of light grey stone. To the left, was a painting on the wall of what seemed to be a adult Ferrin dragon training younger ferrin dragons to defend themselves. To the right of the room, seemed to be the exit to the room, which looked to be a sliding door connected to the upper right corner of it. Closer to Cryo on the right wall seemed to be a box filled with a few… strange looking toys and items… “Hmm… Interesting place. I wonder where Grandma…” Suddenly, he could hear the sound of the door sliding to the right, and he saw his Wave step inside the room.

“Ahh! Welcome back, Cryo! Are you ready for your training for the time being?” asked Wave. Cryo picked himself up and nodded with a smile. “Yea! I can’t wait to see what I can do while I’m transformed!” “Very good. Before we begin… why don’t we get you into something… fitting for your time with us.” “Fitting?” She smiled at him and began to head out of the room. She picked up something from outside the room, and began to carry it inside.

“Here you go, Cryo. Wear this little trinket here.” She handed the item to Cryo. Cryo looked at it, and saw it seemed to be a martial arts uniform! Except… it was for dragons…” “Huh? Isn’t this karate cloths? But… I thought dragons didn’t make cloths?” Cryo asked. “Remember this is in your head, Cryo. Besides… I actually like the thought and I think you’ll look quite the part since your going to be training here. I understand that… I believe in human culture… the color of the belt of a fighter is what distinguishes them from a starter, to a martial arts master. I thought we’d… follow that little tradition here. Cryo looked at the belt of the gear, and saw it seemed to have a white belt. “Well… the white belt is the “beginner,” belt for martial arts…” “Yes. However, that belt will work a bit… differently here.” “Differently?” “That’s right. As you progress through these lessons, that belt will begin to change color.” “Change color?” That’s right. Not in the traditional way a human fighter will “advance through the ranks.” Instead, as you become better, the belt will change to a light blue color. As your training progresses and I see improvement for you, the belt will change to a darker and darker and darker blue color. When it reaches a very dark blue color, your training within your ice and water based abilities will be complete. Cryo nodded and smiled at her. “Well. Alright then.” “Now… Why don’t you put those on and meet me in the main training room. We’ll begin your training when your ready.” “Ok, Grandma.” Wave left the room and shut the door. Cryo took a look at his new gear again. “Well… Let’s try this on,” he thought.

He went back towards his “bed,” and sat down on it. He then began to carefully put on the uniform, making sure his wings could slip out the back. He then tied the belt around his waist. He saw it glow for a few seconds, along with his bandanna. He looked toward a mirror, connected on the wall nearby. He saw the silky white fabrics around his body. He felt around the material around his sleave. It felt a bit different then what he usually wears. “Hmm… This fabric seems… pretty strong… Like Greg’s method, yet… maybe a bit more stronger. Feels… otherworldly, somehow. I can’t explain it. But it does feel really nice on me.” He nodded his head and began to get up. “Alright. Grandma’s waiting for me. I better not keep her waiting. There’s only so much time before I’ll wake up…” He headed for the doors, slid it open, and stepped out.

As he stepped into the room, he saw what appeared to be the inside of the dojo itself, covered in a field of ice and snow. “There we go, Cryo. How do those cloths, feel?” “Umm… How do they feel?” “Yes… I made it myself. Its my first attempt at creating such an item. Possibly the first time any dragon has tried to make such items. “Oh! Umm… It feels nice. Feels like its similar to Greg’s own methods of making cloths, yet… seems to be… well… stronger, at least in terms of durability. “Yes… I used some of my own dragon scales to make that. I… had to think outside the box a bit to… well… attempt to create something similar to your caretaker’s own methods. Also… I had to observe your caretakers back at home on how to mend and weave such items. It… took a bit of time to get to an acceptable level.” “Well… the materials defiantly feel a bit different. It feels like the materials are… much much more flexible around my body. It also feels like its… constantly adjusting its material as I move around in it. It’s… hard to explain… What’s it made out of?”

“Well… From the world I’m located on, its made up of a plant I believe is called… Wick? It also has a bit of insect silk, a compound similar to your “fabric softener,” from this world, a flower known as a rose, and most importantly, a group of materials called elemental circulators.” “Elemental… circulators?” “That’s right, my little grandson.” “What is that? I’ve never heard of these before.” “These are special types of minerals that were found on this planet not long after civilization… well… restarted here on this planet. They seem to be minerals and rocks and such that can better contain elemental energies. Its used within certain types of armor systems to better control and manipulate elemental energy and abilities.” “Really?” “That’s right.” “So… With these cloths on, I’ll… be able to have better mastery over my elements?” “That’s correct, my grandson. However… As you can expect, you won’t always have these items on you. Therefore, we are going to start your training with the special qualities active. When you start getting the hang of it, we’ll start trying to manipulate said abilities without the assistance of these elemental circulators within the cloths.” “So… I’ll have to take this off?” “No you won’t. All I have to do to disable them is…”

Wave lifted her large paw towards Cryo, and then wrapped a karate headband across his head. As she did, Cryo felt like he could feel a bit of power leaving his body. She soon got done and smiled at him. “Oh… I see. This headband “shuts down,” the circulators?” “That’s right. Now then…” She unwrapped the headband off Cryo’s head and he began to feel a bit of power flowing into him again.” “Let’s begin your training, my precious grandson.”

Ch 10

Winter Workout

So the both of them headed to the center of the snow covered floor of the dojo, as winter flurries fall around them. “Alright, my grandson… We’ll start with helping control your abilities in your winter whiteout metamorphosis.” “Well. Alright then. What should I do first?” “Let’s start by using a basic ability.” She snapped her fingers and something began to rumble under the snow to the side of the arena. Suddenly, something emerged from the ground! Cryo stepped back a bit in surprise! Soon, the object landed on the ground and then began to stay still. Cryo looked at it, and saw it seemed to be some sort of black dojo dummy, which looked similar to a large scurryer (like a rat) , or maybe… a black striped crawler (similar to a skunk, with white fur and several black stipes streaked across the back), standing on 2 legs rather then crawling on all 4s. It seemed quite strange the choice of dummy being used for this, and Cryo wondered what it could be representing… It just stood there, doing nothing…

“Now… Let me go over the basics your winter whiteout metamorphosis. First thing to know, is that in this form, as you can guess, your more ice based traits and abilities are greatly enhanced. In the deep blizzards of the north, the cold and frost is your ally. Your silent and swift, and can travel great distances in the snow with your wings not being affected by strong, chilled winds. This makes this excellent to either surprise opponents in freezing conditions or to escape if things go sideways.” “That makes sense.” “Now… The first thing you’ll learn, is the Flash Freeze technique.” “Flash… Freeze?” “That’s right. Take a look…

Wave stepped forward in front of the dummy. She held bot her palms forward at it. Suddenly, energy began to form in in the palms of her hand. And then, WHOOSH. Both hands let began to shoot out a beam of ice energy, freezing it completely solid! Cryo looked amazed as he watched! “Whoa! Thats like my Snow Stream breath! Except, its generated by my hands instead.” “That’s right. The difference in this case is that since its generated from your hands instead of your mouth, you can freeze things more efficiently and at longer ranges. However… this is a bit harder to pull off then the Snow Stream, takes a bit more energy, requires a good degree of focus, and can be a bit harder to aim, as you’ll need to keep your hands centered on your targets. The recoil will try to send you hands up, so you’ll not only need to aim with both paws, you’ll also need to control the recoil while using this technique. Not to mention you can generate it from both hands at the same time. Now… Why don’t you try it?”

Two more dojo dummies came up out of the ground, a bit of ways apart from each other. “Now. Stand inside the circle right here Cryo.” A circle of blue energy came out of snow, and she pointed straight to it. Cryo nodded his head and began to head over into it. As Cryo placed himself inside of it, it began to light up a bit. He sat down and waited for Wave’s next command.

“Alright. Looks like your in position Cryo. Now. To use Flash Freeze, you’ll need to tap into your inner element and focus the energy into your hands. Keep concentrating into it for a bit. At the beginner level, you might find yourself needing to concentrate a bit longer, as your mind might get distracted by what’s going on around you. However, As you practice here, you should find yourself taking less and less time to focus your elemental energy.” “I’m guessing I’ll have to hold them forward on the targets as well?” “Actually, no Cryo. You don’t have to have your paws already aimed at your foes. It’s better that you focus into your paws while your on the field and moving and unleashing the attack at the best possible moment, when your enemy least expects it. Holding still to concentrate will make you an easier target. We will work on this aspect a little bit later. But right now… Its best that we do it while your still so its easier for you.” “Well… Alright then.” “Alright. Try it, Cryo.”

Cryo looked at both the dojo dummies and took in a deep breath. He began to cocentrate into his hands, and he could feel them beginning to tingle a bit. He then could see both his paws lighting up! He smiled and began to aim them at the dummies. “Good! Good, Cryo! Now… Push the energy out of your palms forward, and freeze both of the dummies.” “Alright… Here goes!” He pushed the energy forward from his paws, and they began to become more concentrated in the paws. Suddenly, a beam of ice shot out of both hands, freezing both dummies! “Yes! I did it! That was… pretty simple actually…” He looked at his belt, and saw it become a very slightly bit more in color. He smiled at his success. Wave nodded at him. “Yes. But… remember Cryo… We haven’t tried with this on your head yet.” Cryo looked back and saw the headband in Wave’s paw. He nodded to her. “Oh yea… I forgot this gear enhances my traits…” “Yes. Why don’t we try it on this time… See how you do there.” “Ok.”

Cryo headed over to Wave, and sat down in front of her. She smiled at him, and wrapped the martial arts headband around Cryo’s head. Cryo could immediately feel the power wane from his body. “Alright… Try again, Cryo. Stand in the circle again, and then try to freeze both the dummies again with flash freeze from both hands.” “Alright.”

Cryo headed over to the circle, as the ice shattered around the two dummies. Cryo looked at them again, and took a couple deep breaths in. “Alright. Try again, Cryo.” Cryo nodded, and began to concentrate into his hands again. He began to notice that it seemed to be taking a bit more time to get a feel for it. “Try to clear your head, Cryo. Distractions will make the process take longer. This can be particularly hard to do in the field of battle, where you’ll also have to keep your enemies attacks in mind. But as you get better, the process will be much shorter and easier. With a bit of training and discipline, you can use this very quickly in a fight.” Cryo looked toward her and nodded. He slowly closed his eyes and began to block out everything. He felt his hands tingle again. “Alright… Now!” Cryo thought. He opened his eyes held both his palms forward and unleashed the flash freeze! But he realized quickly, he had only froze just one of the dojo dummies. “Huh?” Cryo thought. “You only unleashed it out of one paw, Cryo.” “Oh…” “Don’t worry about it, Cryo. You’ve done well so far. You’re at least getting the basics of this attack down. Also… you did very well to keep your aim on the target, despite the recoil! Here. Let’s keep trying for a bit. You’ll be able to pull it off if we continue to practice here. Now. Let’s try a few more times.”

Time passed a bit as Cryo continued to pull off a flash freeze with both palms at the same time. But every time he tried, he would always shoot it just out of one palm, but not the other. He began to feel a bit unhappy after awhile “Ugh… Again… This is becoming a bit discouraging…” Wave came over and place her paw on Cryo’s shoulder and began to rub it for a bit. Cryo looked at her, and she smiled at him.

“Don’t worry, my little grandson. I think I know exactly what your doing wrong.” “R… Really?” “That’s right.” “Well… What is it, Grandma?” “Your putting to much focus in one hand, not in both.” “I’m… putting to much focus in one hand?” “That’s right. This is a very common mistake for beginners. When your concentrating into your palms, there needs to be a equal distribution of elemental power between them. Otherwise, the attack will only come out of 1 hand, as that’s where the focused energy had been mostly channeled into.” “Well… How do you recommend it… umm… balance each other out?” “That’s actually relatively easy, my grandson. Just focus less into your palms. “Focus… less?” “That’s right. You see… The attack is quite powerful and useful to freeze crowds of enemies or focus your freezing power on one specific target, but for beginners, channeling the energy between both can be difficult to manage. But… you don’t have to focus so much of your elemental energy into both hands. The more you channel the stronger and more useful it gets. But it also takes more focus and discipline. Therefore… channel less energy into your palms. Unleash it a bit earlier. The effect might be weaker, but it’ll be easier to manage until your able to better manage control yourself. Now… Let’s try again.”

Wave stepped back and nodded her head. Cryo nodded his head in return and smile. He took in a deep breath in, then out… “Now… Like before Cryo. Close your eyes, and focus just a little bit into your palms. Not too much… Just a bit. We’ll practice this and you’ll be able to focus better. But for now… Just take it easy. No need overdo it.” Cryo smiled and slowly closed his eyes. He began to feel his hands tingle a tiny bit. He began to block out the sounds out of his head. He slowly opened his eyes, with his paws tingling a bit. He quickly held his paws forward and… WHOOSH! Two beams of ice energy began to shoot from his hands and hit both the dummies! “Yes! Good job Cryo! Now keep the beams shooting from your hands until both dummies are completly frozen solid!” Cryo nodded slightly and continued to shoot. He began to feel the energy wane from his paws though. “Keep concentrating, Cryo. Your doing well! Keep going!” He began to put all his focus into his palms, and continued shooting the flash freeze out of them. The dummies continued to get coated in a layer of ice! Soon enough, they were both completely frozen! “Yes! Well done, Cryo. Well done!” Cryo smiled and began to move back towards Wave. He looked down at his belt again, and saw it had become a little bit more of a light blue color. He looked back at Wave and smiled again. Wave patted his back a few times.

“This is a good starting point… We’ll continue practicing this. As you get better, it’ll become easier to focus and you’ll be able to channel your inner energies better.” “Yea! I can’t wait to see what it can do with this!” “Yes… One more thing. Whatever situation your in, you should consider what would be the best option to get through it. The flash freeze is nice, but if you need freeze something quickly, then using the snow stream breath might actually be better, especially if the target is closing the distance on you quickly or you have little time to react to it. Now then, Cryo… I think you’ve been here long enough… I think you’ve had your fill for the time being. Its time to wake up.” “W… Wake up? Already?” “That’s right… You can’t stay asleep at home forever. Everyone would get worried about you.” Cryo thought for a moment. He then smiled and nodded at her. “Yea. Your right. I can’t stay asleep, training forever.” “Yes. Now then. Why don’t you head back to your room in the dojo and lay down on your bed. You’ll wake up back at home. Ok?” “Alright. See you later tonight, Grandma.” “See you soon, my little grandson.” Cryo headed towards where his room was before in the dojo, and slid the door open. He stepped into his room, and looked at the strange mass of blue that seemed to be his “bed,” here. He nodded his head and then began to lay down on it. He slowly closed his eyes, and then suddenly, everything flashed to white!”

Ch 11

Awake Again

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and gave a yawn. He saw he was back in his room in the basement. He was about to move, when he saw a familiar white fluffball snuggling next to him in the bed.” “Lilly? What are you doing in my bed?” The little Wolfy leaned its head up and began to wag her tail. She stood up and began to lick Cryo’s face. “Easy there. Easy, Lilly.” Lilly stopped licking and began to sit on his bed. She began to wag her tail with a smile. “Oh. You came to check on me and saw I was sleeping, so you wanted to snuggle and take a nap with me?” Lilly began to snuggle against him again. “Well… I suppose that’s alright honestly. You were pretty warm, and I know I like being warm. Anyway. I probably need to go upstairs now. Seth’s waiting for me to play with him.” Lilly licked him one more time, and then jumped off the bed, and then began to head up the steps out of the room. Cryo smiled and began to lean up and push the covers of his bed down. He then stood up on his bed, and then walked towards the side, then jumped down. “Ahh… That was a good nap. I feel well rested now,” he thought. “Good afternoon, Creator. How was your nap?” Cryo looked towards his radio and smiled. “Oh! It was nice, Craft. I feel nice and rested now.” “That’s good, creator. How was school today?”

“It was fine. I… think I’ve made many friends today.” “Really?” “Yea. I’m also going to be repairing tech again for the kids in school. They should start coming over with their broken items for me to repair. I should have enough parts to fix them, thanks to the junkyard sending me them.” “That’s exciting! You’ll probably gain a very positive reputation at school with you repairing everyone’s items for free.” “Umm… Actually… I’m not doing it for free this time…” “Really?” “Yea… I decided that I was going to charge $20 to have items repaired. I… I want to buy a computer with the money I earn, to be able to have video calls with everyone back home.” “Ahh. I see. Well… I’d say your price is fair. Depending on the amount of broken items to be serviced, it shouldn’t take too terribly long to earn the funding for a laptop.” “Yea. Anyway. I probably need to change out of these pajamas, now that I’m awake. I’m sure Seth is waiting still to play with me. I need to let him no I’m awake.”

“Actually, creator. I don’t think its really necessary to change out of those pajamas.” “Really? Why Craft?” “Your not going anywhere else today, right?” “Well… No… I don’t think so.” “Then I don’t think you’ll need to change right now. While I can’t see you right now, as there are no camera’s I can peer into the room with, I can imagine that they feel relatively warm and comfy on you. It might be a waste to simply take them off to be cleaned, considering you’ve only worn them for about… 3 and a half hours I believe.” “Its been 3 and a half hours since I started my nap?” “Yes. It’s currently 5:45 P.M.” “Ahh… I probably should have looked at the time.” “Yes. Anyway… My point is, if your not going anywhere else today, then its probably perfectly fine to wear those the rest of the night. I think I heard that your also wearing pajama pants now, correct?” “Yea. It… does feel really nice on me. I’m surprised Greg never tried to make these for me before.” “Yes. Though one thing I should probably say, creator. If you need to take a break at any point today, make sure you…” “Oh! Don’t worry Craft. I’ll won’t… erm… yea. Anyway… I’ll take your advice Craft, and wear these then. I’ll see you before bed tonight.” “Good. Have a pleasant afternoon creator.” “You too Craft.” Cryo began to head towards the steps and climb up towards the kitchen.

He stepped into the kitchen, and saw that Arianna was preparing dinner for everyone. “Oh! Hello, Cryo. How was your nap?” said Arianna. “It was nice. I feel rested enough for the rest of the day,” Cryo replied back. “That’s good. Dinner should be ready in about an hour and a half. I’m making Que Chez chillin.” “Que… Chez… Chicken?” “That’s right. Have you ever had Intal food before?” Cryo scratched under his chin a few times.” “Umm… I don’t think I have, actually…” “Well then. Your in for a treat tonight! This recipe has been handed down for many generations in my family. My parents were cooks for a nice Intal restaurant, and taught me several different dishes as I grew up.” Cryo gave a smile and then nodded. “Well. I’m looking forward to trying a different culture food tonight.” Arianna smiled and nodded at Cryo. Cryo began to head towards the front room to see if Seth was in there. He was not inside though. Instead, he found Eli watching tv on the couch. He noticed Cryo was up and smiled at him.

“Oh! I didn’t know you were awake. How was your nap, Cryo?” asked Eli “Umm… It was nice Eli. Hey… You know where Seth is?” asked Cryo. “Seth I believe took a nap in his room.” “He… took a nap?” “Yea. I was surprised as well. He’s usually so energetic. I have to wonder if it had something to do with the fact that you also wanted to take a nap.” “Hmm… Maybe. Well… I suppose I should wait for him then. I did promise I’d play with him.” “Alright. Why don’t you sit on the couch with me. You can watch tv with me while waiting for him.” “Well… Alright then. What are you watching?” “I’m watching a nature documentary, detailing some of the interesting wildlife and species in the vast oceans of Cyriss.” “Really? Sounds interesting. Alright then.” Cryo headed over to the couch and sat down.

They watched the tv for a bit, but not too long, someone else stepped into the room. Cryo turned his head to see, and saw Seth, smiling at him. “There you are, big brother!” “Oh. Hi Seth. How was your nap?” “It felt nice… I can see why you take naps during the day.” “Well… I’m ready to play, Seth.” “Yea! Come to my room, big brother!” “Your room?” “Yea! Let’s play in there!” “Well… Is that alright?” Eli turned his head and patted Cryo on the back. “I don’t think you’ll cause any problems being in Seth’s room. Go right ahead, Cryo,” Eli said “Well… Alright then.” Cryo stepped up from the couch and began to head over to Seth. Seth nodded his head and gave a big smile, and the both of them headed to his room. “Hmm… I don’t think I’ve ever been in Seth’s room once since I’ve been living here… I was… originally forbidden to wander to that part of the house… I wonder what its like?” Cryo thought.

Ch 12

Bandits and a Bandanna

They stepped through some of the hallways in the house. The passed the garage door, and headed to where the bedrooms in were located in the house. Cryo stood in front of a door with what appeared to be a Steedly shoe (Steedlys are similar to a horse, but bigger, has two tails, a wider snout, and a bit longer legs and body) on the door. “Huh… That’s… interesting,” Cryo thought. “Well. Come on, big brother! Let’s go inside!” Seth opened the door to his room. Cryo stepped inside and looked around the room.

Cryo could immediately tell the room was based on the concept of “western,” mythos of Earth. The walls had a wallpaper of a sombreros littered throughout it, and the floor was brown carpet. Cryo turned his head to the left of the room, and could see Seth’s bed. It was smaller then his bed, and the blankets on top of it had a cowboy with a desert background. Next to his bed was a small table next to his bed with a small and rather regular brown lamp with a white top. There was also a radio/clock with in the shape of a pedestal with a lasso on top. In the front of the room, was a couple windows and small black tv, on a wooden cabinet with two doors on it. There were two small and rather comfy looking brown sofas in front of the tv. To the right of the room, seemed to be a closet with 2 large wooden sliding doors, a large wooden brown dresser, and what appeared to be a small play pen in the far right corner of the room. Seth patted Cryo on his back a few times.

“Do you like my room, big brother?” Cryo turned his head and smiled at him. “Interesting room, I’ll say. I haven’t seen a western mythos movie in a long time. I still never figured out why this type of stuff is considered “western.” “I’m… not really sure either, big brother… Maybe… its because it came from left side of the world?” “Maybe. Why wasn’t I allowed in here originally?” “Mommy was worried you might rip my bedsheets with your claws or chew on the pillows and toys.” “I see… Hmm…”

Cryo took a look at his talons for a second. He saw that they were rather short and not too sharp right then. “Good thing my claws were trimmed at the vet, recently. I would be worried about breaking Seth’s personal items. Though… I honestly think I do a better job doing it myself. Hmm… I should probably think about getting supplies from the store to manage my claws myself with the money I should make from repairing items. Speaking of which, I’m going to have to tell Eli and Arianna about my “new job.” I should tell them right before bed tonight, when they tuck me in, so they don’t mistake them for the weekly junkyard delivery,” Cryo thought. He looked back to Seth.

“Well… I guess… I’m ready to play fetch, Seth.” “Big brother! We’re not here to play fetch!” “Really? Then… what are we playing? “We’re playing Cowboys and bandits!” “Cowboys and… bandits?” “That’s right!” “Umm… Ok then. How do we play, Seth?” “Well… One person gets to be the brave, strong, heroic cowboy while the other gets to play the evil bandit, who steals everything!” Cryo scratched his chin a bit. “Oh! I get it. This is a make believe game where we take on roles.” “Yea! I get to be the sheriff!” Cryo gave a smirk and a nod. “I guess that makes me the nasty bandit.” “Yea! You get to run around with a posse committing crimes!” “My… Posse?” “Yea! They’re over there!” Seth pointed in the back of the room, which Cryo began to turn his head and look over there. He saw a couple of plush toys in cowboy gear. Cryo chuckled a bit. “He’s really taking this game to heart. I imagine I’m going to be the villain every time. But… that’s fine. Its probably more fun to be a bandit in this game then to play fetch,” Cryo thought. “Well… Anyway… Let’s play! Now… I know you have a bandanna already on, big brother. Why don’t you wrap it around your face to hide your identity, like a real bandit! I’m going to get my lasso from my closet!” “Well… Alright then.”

Cryo began to untie his bandanna from around his neck, and looked at it. He felt around the material a bit. “Ahh… The material of this thing is amazing! To think a flo Lilly was used to create this. And I love how it always smells like a purified spring. The smells even stronger after it gets cleaned! Of course… I know its far more special then that. Though… I haven’t really noticed how it affects me or my abilities yet though, to be honest. But… I’m sure I’ll figure out what cool things it can do in time.” He began to wrap it around his face like a bandit would wear it. But as he tied it on, he felt a bit… strange… He felt… like something was enveloping his entire body… Like… he was covered head to toe in fabrics, that felt like the bandanna… But Cryo quickly dismissed it. He now watched Seth as he rummaged through his closet. Not long, Cryo saw him pull out a lasso.

“Alright big brother! I got my lasso to tie you up when I catch you! You ready to play!” “Hahaha. Yea. I’m ready to be a bandit, Seth.” Seth looked back and began to look around. But… he couldn’t see Cryo anywhere in the room. “Big brother? Are you hiding in your secret hideout already?” “Huh? What do you mean Seth. I’m right here.” “Huh?” Seth looked around the room again, but could not see Cryo anywhere. “Are you playing tricks on me big bro? I should have expected a bandit to try to confuse the sheriff.” “Seth! I’m right here in front of you!” “Where, big bro?” “Right!… Wait a minute…”

Cryo turned his head towards his body, and saw… it was not there…” “What in the…?!” “Umm… Big bro… You… alright? Where are you?” “Umm…” Cryo turned his head to his back. He could not see his back either. Or his paws, his tail. It had all disappeared “What in the world is…” Cryo said. As he was about to continue he turned his head towards the closet. To a large square mirror attached to the side of the closet. He looked at it, and saw… there was no reflection. “Big Bro?” “Seth… I can’t see myself in the mirror…” “Your… in front of the mirror?” “Yes…” Seth gave out a gasp! “Big Brother! Did you become a ghost!?” Cryo’s eyes shot up! He began touch around his body, seeing if his hand would pass through. But he felt his scales as he tried to feel around himself. But strangely, his scales felt just like his bandanna… Cryo began to realize what happened to him!

“Seth… I… think I’m invisible!” “Your… invisible big brother?” “Yea! Come over towards the mirror with your hand outstretched!” “Umm… Ok…” Seth began to hold his hand forward and began to approach the mirror he stepped forth slowly. Suddenly he felt something hold his hand, which surprised Seth! But then he realized it really was Cryo! But his hand felt… very silky…” “Big… Big Bro?” “Yes! It’s me!” “Whoa…” Cryo let go of Seth’s hand and Seth stepped back.” “Big Bro! Did you know you could become invisible!?” “N…No! This… This never happened to me before! But… But how do I change back! I don’t want to be invisible forever!” “Well… What were you doing before?” “I… I was…” Cryo thought for a moment. “I… put my bandanna around my face, like a bandit would. Then… Then I, felt a bit strange…” “Well… Maybe try taking it off of you, big bro.” “W…Well… Alright then. Worth a shot I suppose.” He began to reach behind his head and felt around until he could feel where the bandanna was tied around. He then quickly untied it and took it off. Almost immediately as he did, he the strange feeling went immediately away. He looked at his paw, and saw it was fading back into view. After a few moments he was fully visible.”

“Big bro! Your not a ghost anymore!” “Ye… Yea Seth…” “So… It was your bandanna that did that, big bro?” “Ye… Yea… It seems so…” “Try putting it around your face again. See if you go invisible.” “Al… Alright…” Cryo tied it around his face again, and sure enough, he felt the strange feeling again. He watched his paw, and saw it fade into eventually not being visible at all.” “Whoa… When you put your bandanna on like a bandit… you… become a ghost?” “I… guess so… It’s never made me invisible before.” “Maybe… it has to be wrapped around your face rather then around your neck like it usually is to go invisible. “Y…Yea… You might be right, Seth.” “C… Can I try it big bro.” “Umm… Sure Seth. Hang on.” He began to untie it again and as he took it off, he became visible again. He looked at his paws a bit. “This is so strange… Does this power come from the flo Lilly? Hmm…” He handed it over to Seth.

He gave a smile and began to tie it around his face. But as he finished, he looked at himself. He… still could see himself… “Hey. Big bro. Can you see me?” “Yea… I can still see you Seth…” “Ahh… For real!?” “Yes…” “Hmm… Let me try again…” He untied it around his face and then retied it again. But he was still visible. “Can you see me big bro?” “Yes. I can still see you…” “Aww… I want to be invisible! Why doesn’t it work for me!?” Cryo thought for a moment and smiled at Seth.

“Well… Truth is, Seth… That bandanna is… special.” “Special?” “Ye… Yes. This bandanna was made by… my first family who adopted me when my mom fell ill. When I was reunited with them at Firebase Omega.” “Re…Reunited?” “That’s right. I… probably shouldn’t tell you this, but… at one point, I was… separated from them.” “Se… Separated?” Yes… I… think you already know… being a dragon… I attract a lot of attention to myself… On my first birthday… I was taken from them…” “T… Taken?!” “Yes. I was taken by the military… who were interested in me. I was an undiscovered species, a mythological one at that. And… I think you can expect… that causes quite a bit of problems…” Seth was silent for a moment. “Yes… That day was probably the worst day of my life. And… I remembered it for a long time. In fact… I hated my birthday for the longest time. It was… just a reminder of what I lost. But… Despite that… it was not all bad.”

“It… wasn’t?” “No. They took me to my new home at Research base Omega. While life was… pretty bad at the beginning, they eventually… realized my potential and became a second family to me.” “They… did? But… they kidnapped you!” “Yes. Your right, Seth. But… They never intended any harm to me. They wanted research me. To know me. It took them a while, but… they began to realize that I wasn’t all to different from them. They… they raised me from there. And… on my 7th birthday… I was finally reunited with them. They invited them to live at the research base to look after me and mom. It was… truly the happiest day of my entire life. Now… I realize my birthday wasn’t such a bad day. This bandanna was created by all 3 of them, to celebrate being reunited. And the material of this bandanna, is special too.”

“It… is?” “That’s right. Do you know about how my cloths are made in town now?” “Umm… I think… your dragon scales a somehow used to make them?” “That’s a bit right. The thing is… this bandanna has a very special and rare item in it, something none of my other cloths has.” “W…What is it?” “It’s a Flo Lily.” “A… Flo Lily?” Yes. This is an incredibly rare plant, which is very hard to manage and transport. Yet… Greg, my adopted father, found the key to transporting it.” “What… What was it big bro?” “A dragon scale.” “A… dragon scale?” “Yes. It grew on a dragon scale in the water at the pond where my birthday was held. It was there since the incident on my first birthday. And… he used it to help create this. This gift is the best gift I’ve ever had. Its a sign that wishes and dreams can come true, and to never give up hope.”

“That’s… really awesome, big bro!” “Yea. It’s why I always keep this on me, even when I sleep. This item is very special to me.” “Yea!” Cryo nodded his head, and looked at Seth. “Well… I think that’s enough of story time, don’t you think? We still need to play Cowboys and bandits, right?” “Yea! Let’s play!” “Yea… I’ll have to keep my bandanna around my neck so the game stays “fair.” It wouldn’t be a fair game if the bandit can’t be seen.” “Alright.” So the two began to play the game as the day passed by.

Ch 13

Before Bed

After about an hour of play Arianna came into the room to check on them. She saw that Seth was sitting in his seat and watching a kids western movie on his tv with the lasso in his hands. She looked towards the right of the room, and saw Cryo in the play pen in the corner. She chuckled a bit and stepped in. “Hello, sheriff. Did you catch a bandit tonight?” “Yeah! He was a tough one, but now he’s right where he needs to be!” “Really now?” “That’s right. Don’t worry, Momma. He’ll be ready to join back with society before dinner. “Really now. Why don’t I check on him.” She walked over to the play pen, and saw Cryo seemed to be working on something for school. “Well, Cryo… I see Sheriff Seth managed to catch you…” “Yep. Serving hard time, now.” “What are you doing in “jail,” right now?” “I’m working on my home… Uhh…” He looked toward Seth, then back at Arianna. “Umm… I mean… as part of my plea deal with Sheriff Seth, I’m doing paperwork for him. After I have completed the paperwork, I am to be commissioned into the town as a deputy. I’ll be his riding horse as we hunt down and arrest the rest of my posse.” She looked towards Seth, and then back to him. She began to whisper to Cryo. “Is that really alright if he rides you?…” “Don’t worry. I’m pretty strong. My legs are good enough to hold his weight. I exercise enough during the day and night with walks. Let Sheriff Seth have his fun. I’ll be ready for dinner when its time.” She smiled at Cryo and began to leave the room. “Alright, you two boys. Have fun. Be careful with the detainee, Seth. Try to be gentle when your ready to ride him, ok?” “Yes, Mama.” “Alright. Have fun you 2.” She left the room, and closed the door. Seth turned towards Cryo. “Hey. You got the paperwork done yet?” “Just about…” Cryo wrote a few more things on it. “There… Paperworks done, sheriff.” “Really? Let me see…”

Cryo lifted the papers to outside and gave them to Seth. He looked at them and smiled. “Well… This looks like really complicated work you’re doing… but… I suppose its about time your let out of your cell. Ready to hunt down the members of your posse?” “Yep! I’m ready Sheriff!” “Good! Hang on. Let me unlock the cell. Seth pretended to take out a key and “unlock,” the play pen. “Alright. Come on out!” “Yes Sheriff!” Cryo jumped up and began to climb out of the play pen and jumped onto the floor. “Now then. Let’s get you in a proper saddle and harness, my faithful new steed.” “Yes sheriff.” Seth headed to his closet again, and began to rummage a bit. After a while, he pulled out a small saddle and harness. “Here it is!” he walked over to Cryo and patted him on the head a few times. “Now… Are you ready to finally turn away from a life of crime and become something better, Big bro!?” “Absolutely, Sheriff!” “Great. Now… Hold still while I fit you into this.” Seth began to carefully strap the saddle and harness on Cryo and soon he jumped on Cryo’s back and began to ride him. “Now! Let’s go my faithful steed! Let’s catch those other bandits!” “Alright! Hang on Sheriff!” Cryo began to carry Seth around the room on his back for a while. Then, dinner came. Seth took the saddle and harness off of Cryo and they both headed to the table to eat for the time being.

After dinner, Cryo played with Seth a little bit more, but then, Arianna came into the room. “Hey you two. It’s time for bed!” Cryo, who was back in a saddle and harness, and Seth, who was riding Cryo, looked towards her. “Aww… Already!?” said Seth. “Yes, Seth. Your faithful steed has to get some rest for tomorrow. You need to as well. You both are going to school tomorrow.” “Hey… We’ll play again some other time, Seth. Come on. You mom is right. Your faithful steed needs to sleep for school.” “Aww… Ok… Goodnight big brother…” “Goodnight Seth.” Arianna removed the saddle and harness from Cryo. “Why don’t you wait by your bed, Cryo, and I’ll tuck you in for tonight. Just let me take care of Seth first.” “Ok. See you downstairs.” Cryo began to head out of the room and then through the kitchen then down the steps to his room in the basement. He smiled and gave a yawn. “Ahh… I hear you creator. How was playing with Seth?” “Oh! It was pretty fun. We played Cowboy’s and bandits.” “Cowboys and Bandits? I’m not familiar with that game…” “Oh. Well… It’s a game of pretend. Seth was the sheriff. I was the bandit. “Ahh… You were the villain, I imagine. “Yea… At the beginning though. Then I became Seth’s riding Steedly.” “Really? Was that alright?” “Oh don’t worry about it Craft. My legs are pretty strong. I run around a lot at home and take walks during the year. You know that already. Carrying Seth is not as hard as you think. He had a lot of fun.” “That’s good to hear. What about you? Did you have fun.” Cryo thought for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded. “Yeah. That was quite fun!”

Cryo then heard footsteps come from the steps. He turned his head around, and then saw Arianna step into the room. “Alright, Cryo. Let’s get you in bed for tonight.” “Yea… Thanks… I’m really tired.” She smiled at Cryo and patted his head a few times. She then pulled back the covers of the bed, lifted Cryo up, and tucked him in. The radio immediately turned on naptunes again…” “Huh… The radio turned on by itself again…” Arianna said. “Oh! Umm… Don’t mind that, Arianna. I… Already added some upgrade to the radio. It… uh… knows when I’m going to sleep.” “Really? How?” “Umm… Its… a bit too complicated to explain.” Arianna began to turn off the lights to the room and began to head up. But before she did, Cryo realized he needed to tell her something!

“Oh! Arianna! Before you go, I have something I need to tell you!” She turned back towards Cryo. “What is it, Cryo?” “Umm… I… am going to start getting items to repair from the kids at school. They want me to help repair their items.” “Really?” “Yes. I agreed to work on them.” “Is that alright with you?” “Of course! I used to do this back home!” “Well… Ok… Are you doing it for free?” “No. I’m just charging $20 an item. I… want to buy a few things on my own when I have enough money.” “Well… Alright, Cryo. I’ll tell Eli. Anyway Goodnight, Cryo.” “Goodnight Arianna.” She slowly headed up the steps. The sound of naptunes began to work its magic on Cryo’s hazy mind, and soon, he fell asleep.

Ch 14

Water Wakeup

Cryo’s eyes opened slowly. He realized he was back in the dojo, within his room. He gave a yawn, and lifted himself up from the strange blue mass. “Well… I’m back here again… I wonder what were going to do today? Maybe working on the flash freeze a bit more?” Cryo then looked at himself, and saw immediately he wasn’t wearing his training outfit. In fact, he wasn’t in his winter whiteout transformation! He was in his Sea Serphant transformation instead.” “Huh… I’m… in this form again. Are we going to work with this form today?” Cryo thought. Suddenly, he heard the door to his room slide open. He saw Wave step in, transformed as well!”

“Hello my little grandson. How are you this evening?” she asked. “I’m fine, grandma. Am I going to be working with this transformation today?” “That’s right.” “Well… I guess that’s why I’m not in my normal gear then, huh.” “Actually… your training outfit is right here.” She pointed to the outfit, hanging up next to a mirror. He took a closer look at it, and saw it seemed to look a bit… different… He saw that it seemed to have rather long cuts in its arms, and it looked like it was a similar design to a white wetsuit! “Huh… My training outfit looks… different, Grandma.” “That’s right. The elemental condensers within the outfit help it adapt to environments outside of where it normally operates. In this case, it’ll be helpful within water. The slits in the arms are made so that your fins across your arms can come out on them, and the outfit is very smooth and will fit a bit tight around you when exposed to water. This will allow you to better practice your underwater skills and your maneuverability while wearing it. Now… Why don’t we get this on you, ok, my little grandson?” “Well… Alright then…” Wave picked it up from the hanger and walked over to Cryo. “Now then… This might feel a bit tight around you, but it shouldn’t cause any difficulty while we train with this transformation today. Let’s get this fitted on you.” “Wave carefully maneuvered the outfit onto Cryo. She was defiantly right about it fitting on tight. Yet… it still felt pretty comfy around his body. Soon, Wave tied the dragon belt around Cryo’s body, its very light blue glistening in the light of the dojo. “Let me take the headband for now, Cryo. We’ll work with this on a bit later. “She took the handband, which was still hanging up, and then placed in what looked like a waterproof bag attached to her side. “Now then… why don’t we head into the training room?” Cryo nodded and they both headed out the door to Cryo’s room and into the main training area.

They both stepped into the room, and saw there was a very large pool of water across the dojo. It looked pretty deep, but the water was very clear and light blue, like there wasn’t a single impurity within it. “The Sea Serpant dragon transformation, as you can guess, enhances your water based abilities and recombines your anatomy to be much more agile and effective when submerged in bigger and deeper bodies of water. The water itself becomes a useful and effective tool against enemies on land and those brave or foolish enough to chase you into the water. Its best use for hit and run tactics. Use the water and the flow to surprise enemies and then swim away to plan your next move. Now… before we begin… Why don’t you put this mask on?” Wave headed over to a wall, and grabbed a strange device from the wall. She brought it back over to Cryo. Cryo took a look at it.

It looked like some type of breathing device, that fit around somethings mouth. It had a round filter in the center of the mask. “This is a Underwater Oxygen rebreather. This will allow you to breath underwater.” “Umm… How? Don’t you need to have a container on your back filled with air?” “No. This special little device converts the oxygen molecules in water into breathable air. As you probably already know, despite being water dragons, we can’t breath underwater, even in this transformation. You need to be able to breath air, and this will make it so we don’t have to constantly come up for air. It’ll even allow us to talk to each other while underwater, as it doubles as a communications device between each other. It’s quite a nifty little device. Dragons have been trying to make something like this for years. Never really could get it right though… Here. I’ll show you how to put it on correctly.”

Wave began to lift the oxygen mask towards her mouth. She pressed a button on the left side of it, and it began to immediately attach itself to her mouth and around the back of her head. She looked back at Cryo and spoke, though the mask made her words sound a bit more distorted. “Now you try it.” “Cryo nodded his head, and began to bring the mask close to his mouth. He pressed the button on the left side of it, and it began to fit around his mouth. Soon, it had fully attached to his mouth, and he noticed immediately the sound of him breathing was a bit louder with it on. “Good. Why don’t we jump into the water now, and we can begin your training.” Cryo nodded and the both immediately and jumped into the water, sinking into the depths below.

Ch 15

Water Workout

They began to swim down the water pretty quickly for a bit, Cryo liking the workout while he swam. Then then Wave stopped swimming and began to face Cryo. Cryo stopped in front of her. “Alright Cryo. This should be deep enough. We are going to work on using Sea Screech.” “Sea… Screech?” That’s right. Before we can begin, we need to change the mode of the oxygen rebreather.” “Ok. How do we do that. Here… Observe me, Cryo…”

She pointed to the side of her face, where Cryo could see a very small twisting knob on the side of the mask. She twisted it just a bit, and the mask began to change! The filter in the center seemed to spread itself out and the mask seemed to be opening itself and covering around he snout a bit more. “This knob on the side of your mask will engage the breathalizer mode. This will allow you to shoot attacks out of your mouth without damaging the mask. This should be done only when your engaging in a fight against someone else. It can be a bit harder to breath when the filter is extended out like this. Now. You try it.”

Cryo nodded his head and began to feel around the the mask, until he could feel the switch to engage the breathalyzer mode of the mask. He began to twist it carefully with his talons. Soon, like Wave’s mask, Cryo’s mask began to extend its filter out and open up around Cryo’s face. Soon, it stopped. Cryo thought this was a pretty nifty trick with the technology. Though… he did indeed find himself taking his breaths a bit deeper with this mode engaged.

“Excellent. Now we’re ready to begin.” Wave pointed towards and empty space of water in front of her, and Cryo thought he could see something swimming towards them. After a bit, it seemed to be a small group of dojo dummies, but outfitted with what looked like diving gear. Upon closer inspection, it was the same type of dummy used to train him to use Flash Freeze.

“Now. Watch this, my little grandson…” She took in a big breath of air, and then… WHOOSH. She let a pulse of water which began to speed through the water! It quickly blasted the 3 dummies away, which left Cryo quite impressed!”

“Did you like that, my little grandson?” Wave asked. “Yea! That looked pretty strong, Grandma!” replied back, with a big smile on his face. Wave knew he was quite excited to try it himself. “This attack is a very fast and pinpoint accurate. This attack will blast enemies with a rather large undersea pulse of water generated by your mouth. This can also be manipulated to either be larger to attack in a more wider spread, or more focused for tougher targets who might be giving you trouble. Now then. Why don’t you try it?”

A couple more dojo dummies came into view. Cryo saw them stop a little ways away.” “Now then… To use Sea Screech, channel your inner energies into you throat.” “My… throat?” “That’s right. The sea screech is a sound wave attack that pushes back water at high speed.” Cryo thought for a moment… Then he remembered something. He looked towards Wave.

“Umm… grandma?” “Yes Cryo? Is something wrong?” “Is it alright… if I try this with the headband on first?” “Really? Why?” “I… have a hunch… I think its best to try to test this first with it on.” “Well… Alright Cryo…” She pulled the headband from the bag, and gave it to Cryo. He quickly moved it onto his head, and he could feel a bit of his power ebb away from him. “Alright Cryo… Give it a shot.” Cryo nodded his head and looked forward. He stared down the dojo dummies for a bit, and then gave a smile under his mask. He began to take in a deep breath, and a HUGE pulse of water came blasting out of his mouth! Wave was immediately shocked, and saw the dojo dummies get blasted to the far reaches of the water!

“C…Cryo! That was… That blast was on the level of a dragon master! H… How were you able to do it like that on your first try!?” Cryo turned towards Wave and nodded. “This isn’t… actually the first time I’ve done this…” “R… Really? But… What other time did you use this technique?” “It was… not long after I hatched from my egg…” “Wait… Really?” “Ye… Yeah. If… I remember correctly I… did it when I wanted something to chew on.” “I… I don’t understand Cryo…”

“Well… A more accurate story is… as you know, not long after I was born, Mom… fell into hibernation. I hatched not long after. Greg and the others took me into their vehicle, and moved mom into a small pen attached to the back of the car, where I was originally situated in. They began trying to find a way to get passed the military blockade in town. They… wanted to steal one of the military officers transportation to get passed the blockade. And… well… I kind of attracted them to me.” “Hmm… I… Don’t remember that. Then again, I was able to tap into Oversoul… But… It was only after you and the others began to head on the road out of there.” “Yeah… Anyway… the military officers began to head towards the car.., But… my gums really started to hurt in my mouth. Real… badly… And I was becoming real cranky. Next thing I know, I’m blasting a sonic screech out of my maw! It was loud and powerful enough to knock down and knock out all the military guards in the blast! It also allowed my family to obtain a vehicle to escape with us in tow. It was also the first time they gave me a pacifier.”

“That’s… a bit… odd, Cryo.” “Why, Grandma?” “The thing is Cryo… There was never any dragon that has been known to use a variation of this move outside of the water.” “Wait… Really?” “Yes. In fact, if what your saying is true, you used a variation of this move, outside of its own element! This… This is rather fascinating, my little grandson. You might be the first dragon who’s ever done this. Hmm…” “Well… That’s cool, I guess.” “Yes… Well… Seeing as you seemed to have mastery of this move, perhaps we should try a different one then. After we’re done today… I might have a talk with the others about what you told me. This is not normal, Cryo. This… This might be something more then that… But… That’s for later. She removed the headband from around Cryo’s head, and he felt the condesors in his training gear return to its former power. He looked at his belt, and it had turned to a vivid blue color. He turned back to Wave with a smile. “Now then Cryo… We’re going to try an attack… that is a bit more advanced…”

Ch 16

Sea Slicer

“Wave pointed again and Cryo saw another dojo dummy come into view to his side. This one seemed to be quite large and bulky though… Cryo looked back at Wave, and stroked his head a bit. “This next attack we’re going to learn is called, Sea Slicer.” “Sea… Slicer?” “That’s right… This might be a bit difficult for you to master, Cryo.” “Why Grandma?” “This one requires… a very fine degree of control… This attack is quite dangerous. If you put too much emphasis with this attack, you could really cause severe bodily damage to your opponents. And… And… End them… I don’t think you want to really end another’s life using this. Control is the key. Controlling the amount of energy used and focused is necessary to not shred another to ribbons. This attack should be used VERY sparingly, and only against opponents who are really giving you a hard time and leaving you with little other options. Understand?”

Cryo’s heart sank a little. He then gulped, and nodded his head very slowly. “Now then… Watch carefully…” Wave positioned herself a bit of ways away from the dummy. She then began to held her hands spread out above her. She then quickly thrust them across the front of her, and two blades of water in the shape of an X came out and shot forward very quickly. It soon connected with the dojo dummy and shot him back a bit. Tide began to swim forward and grabbed the dojo dummy and began to drag it over to Cryo. “Alright… Take a close look at the damages to this dummy, Cryo.” Cryo slowly nodded, and began to look at the dummy. He saw the gash of the attack in the dummy out of its replica diving suit. A gash in the shape of an X… Cryo gulped, and he could clearly see the power of the blades… “Now Cryo… See what it looks like under the diving suit. This is what you should be aiming for when using this attack.” Wave began to carefully lift the fake metal diving suit from the dummy. Then… she pointed to its stomach. Cryo saw the gash in its frame… but the gash was incredibly thin on the framework of the wood. “This attack should be used ONLY to open up enemy underwater armor and cause very light damage to their body. They’ll be forced to go up to the surface to get air. If your really clever, you could potentially use this to your advantage to capture a strong enemy. While they are heading towards the surface, you could surprise and prevent them from escaping you by using an attack we’ll probably learn a bit later, as you train with me, called Bubble Bind. We’ll practice this in the future.” “W… Well… Ok…” Cryo said rather nervously. “Now… Its your turn, Cryo.” She pointed towards another dojo dummy heading towards Cryo. It stopped a bit of ways away from him.

“Alright Cryo. Try to summon Sea Slicer. To use this, focus your elemental energy into your webbed paws. Your claws inside your webbed feet will begin to extend outward again. When they have fully come out, this is where things get tricky…” Cryo felt nervous about what she might say next. “From this point… you need to focus on the target. But… Try to think… positively… Stay calm… The less calm and collected you are the more likely that the attack will cause grave harm and possibly death. Do anything you can to try to calm yourself and restrain any form of grievance you have with whoever your fighting. Remember that things may not be so simple as good and evil… There could be other factors at play that could be influencing them and their actions. Keep your emotions in check so you don’t deliver a fatal blow to them. Neither of us want that. Now… Try it.”

Cryo slowly nodded and gulped. He began to spread his paws out. He then began to focus his energy in his talons, and then he saw the claws in his webbed feet extend out…” “Alright, Cryo… Careful… Careful…” Cryo thought to himself. He took in a deep breath, and then swiped forward fast! Two blades of water in an X began to fan out and hit the dummy and pushed him back! Cryo took in a deep breath and tried to relax. “Alright Cryo… You can at least Conjure the attack pretty well… Now… Let’s see the damages on the training dummy…”

She swam over and grabbed the dojo dummy and began to swim it back over to Cryo. She began to carefully remove the fake diving suit, which had a rather large gash in it. After taking it off… Cryo saw a gash under the armor, a bit deeper then when Wave shot hers at the dummy. “This is not a bad start, my young grandson. The gash here is a bit deep… But it shouldn’t be deep enough to cause permanent damage to its body. But… Now… comes the REAL difficult test.” Cryo gulped… as he knew what would happen next. Wave pulled out the headband, and began to wrap it around Cryo’s head. Cryo’s heart sank as he felt the power leave him. “Now… Try this with the headband on.” “O…Ok grandma.”

Another large dummy came into view… Cryo took in a deep breath, and prepared himself. He spread his arms out, and then quickly thrust his hands down! The blades quickly moved forward very quickly towards the dummy! Cryo watched nervously in anticipation. Soon, the blades connected to the dummy! Cryo’s eyes shot up, as the attack completely sliced through the entire dummy splitting it apart! “Oh…” Cryo said, as he looked as the pieces began to dissipate.

“Cryo… Your not focusing enough… Remember. Try to think positive. Keep any grievances or worry away. That causes more focus in the more dangerous aspects of this attack.” “Wha… what do suppose I do!? I’m… I’m scared that someone will end up like this if I do this to them!” “It’s actually quite simple Cryo. Close your eyes slowly as you channel your energies into your claws. Think of something that makes you happy. Calmed. Draw your focus away from the battle a bit, and then when your ready, open up your eyes, aim, and swipe. The key here is to try and think of something that causes your negative feelings and emotions to not get in the way of your thoughts. Think peacefully. That’s all you need to do. Now. Try again. Don’t think about what could happen if something goes wrong. Think about someone or something you really love.” “Al… Alright then…”

Cryo took in another deep breath as another dummy came into view. He slowly closed his eyes, and then began to slowly hold his arms out. Wave’s words echoed in his head… “Think of someone or something that makes you happy. Cryo nodded and began to think about… Tide. He remembers how happy he was when she first woke up. He remembers the care he’s been given from her since he woke up. He begins to slowly smile. “Good, Cryo. Good. Keep those memories going. When your ready… attack.” Cryo continued to think for a bit about Tide. He began to take some deep breaths in and out. In and out. In and out. He began to focus into his claws again, which slowly began to extend out of his webbed feet. He slowly opened his eyes and gave a smile and then… swiped both his arms down! The blades of water once again shot out quickly, and quickly connected to the dummy! But this time, the dummy was sent back a bit! Cryo gave a nod and a small smile. He began to calmly swim to the dummy and grabbed it and took it over to Wave.

“Now… This is a better reaction out of you, Cryo. Now… Let’s see how much damage it did.” She began to remove the fake diving gear, and surprisingly, there was the smallest gash she’d ever seen on the dummies wooden body! “Well done Cryo! Well done! This is perfect! But… You’ll need a bit more training with this. We’ll keep practicing so we might be able to lower the amount of time needed to achieve this result consistently. In the rush of a battle, every moment needed to focus counts.” Cryo smiled at her, and Wave began to rub Cryo’s head a bit… He looked at his belt, which turned a bit darker in color again.

“Well… Mourning has come, my little grandson. It’s about time you woke up!” “Aww… Already?! We we’re getting to the really good stuff!” “Now now, Cryo. We’ll train more the next time you go to sleep, ok?” “Sigh… Yes grandma.” “Alright. Let’s go back to the surface of the water and get you back to your room.” Cryo nodded and they both began to head up the water. They emerged from the water and then flapped their wings to fly back to the floor of the dojo. They both shook their bodies as water began to fly all over the place. Wave then grabbed a towel hanging from on a rack near Cryo’s room. She gestured Cryo over and Cryo nodded. He slowly trotted over and sat in front of Wave. She smiled and began to rub him all over with the towal. Soon, he was relativly dry, and she slid the door open to his room. “Have a good mourning, Cryo. Have a good day back with the others.” Cryo nodded and smiled at Wave. “See you soon, grandma. Don’t get too lonely without me.” Cryo stepped into his room and shut the door. He began to head towards the blue mass again, and began to lay down on it. He slowly closed his eyes, and everything flashed to white.”

Ch 17

How’s Home?

Cryo slowly opened his eyes. He saw he was back in his room at the house. He heard the alarm for his clock blaring across the room. He saw Arianna was in the room again, trying to nudge him awake. “Oh! Good mourning, Arianna.” She stepped back and smiled at Cryo. Cryo’s alarm then turned itself off. “Good mourning, Cryo. It’s Friday today. The last day of school for the week.” “Oh! I didn’t even see the week pass by! Well… Ok then.” Cryo pulled the covers from his bed back and then began to stand up on the bed. He quickly jumped from the bed and onto the soft carpet below. He looked at Arianna, and smiled at her. “You want some help getting ready?” “Oh. I should be good Arianna. I just need to get a coat, and then I’ll be ready.” “Ok. We’re having breakfast upstairs. Come up whenever your ready, and don’t go back to bed. Ok.” “Ok. I’ll come up soon.” She nodded and stepped upstairs. Cryo began to head towards the laundry hamper in his room and then began to take off his pajamas. He then tossed both the shirt and pants in. “There we go. Now… Let’s pick out a coat for today.” “He headed towards his closet, and began to search for something to wear, before he heard a familiar voice behind him.

“Good morning creator. How are you today?” Cryo turned back at his radio and smiled. “Oh! I’m fine Craft. You doing good?” “Of course creator. As long as your happy. I’m happy.” “That’s good.” Cryo then took out a dark blue plain coat with a couple of zip up pockets and some blue gloves and socks. He brought the items over to his radio. He sat himself down and began to put the items on, taking his bandanna off and putting it on the bed for when he had all his other items on. “It’s nice to have you here Craft. I defiantly like being able to talk to someone from back home. Speaking of which… how is everyone doing back at home?” “They’re doing relatively fine. They really miss you. Everyone does really.” “Oh… I… I see…” “Don’t worry creator. They’re doing everything they can at home to repair the runway and restock on airships. But… They believe they won’t be able to pick you up until after the school semester is over…” “Ahh. I… see…” “Yes… I told them that your taking a job to repair items like at home, to get a computer to have video calls on the CompCall app. They’re very much looking forward for when you’ll be able to talk to them again.” “Ye… Yea… I… suppose I should at least try to call them at some point on a phone.” “You might want to again. At the very least, hearing your voice might be good enough until you can get a nice stable computer. I’m actually quite excited myself to be able to upload myself into more then just a simple radio. I would like to see your form with the computers camera. I find it hard to… communicate a bit with just your voice to acknowledge your ok and stable. “Oh… I’m… sorry to hear that. I… I understand…” “Yes. Anyway… Have a pleasant day at school, creator.” “S… See you Craft…”

Cryo finally got dressed in is cloths and then slipped back on his bandanna. Cryo quickly went through his day from breakfast, to going to school, and then heading back home for the day. After he got home, he decided to do his homework for the day. It didn’t take him long to complete it. But not long after though, he began to see many of his classmates come to his door, with many pieces of broken technology in their hands and money to pay for fixing said items. Cryo knew it was time for work. He decided that before taking a nap and maybe playing with Seth tonight, he’d start repairing items for the kids at school. Every item repaired meant he’d be closer to buying a computer. He and his caretakers helped Cryo take the many items down one by one and placed them on his work bench.

“Do… You think you’ll need any help with… working with these Cryo? Do you need anything?” asked Eli. Cryo turned to Eli and shook his head. “No. But thank you though. I should be able to get a decent amount of this stuff fixed before I head out for the day. Though… Since this is in town… I might to need to use the phone a few times, to let everyone know I’m… well… completed the repair for said item.” “Ok. Well… Whenever your ready to make calls Cryo, just come upstairs.” “Ok. See you soon, Eli. Tell Seth that I’m going to probably be late for playtime today.” “Ok. Enjoy working, Cryo.” Cryo nodded, and Eli left the room. Cryo turned towards his radio, which he moved into the room while they were moving the technology in. “Alright, Craft. Time for my first day at work. Can you turn on some calming soft rock music to help me ease into it?” “Of course creator. It’s nice to finally work with you again. Turning on new generation rock radio, Creator. Please enjoy.” Soft rock began to play over the radio, but Cryo realized something. “Umm… Could you turn down your volume a bit in here, Craft. We’re in the basement, remember? Sounds echo’s around bit more down here.” “Understood. Lowering volume to acceptable levels to accommodate caretakers in home establishment.” “Thank you Craft.” The volume lowered quite a bit, and Cryo nodded, as he took a look at his first item to repair. He gave a smirk. “Let’s get started.”

Ch 18

Trauma Trip

Cryo took the first item, which was in a cardboard container. He looked at the top of it, and saw the notes for the item and the issues with it taped to the top. It seems the first item to repair today, was a ZPS gaming console. He recognized the name on the label of who it was immediately. “Ahh. This is Warren’s Ignition gaming console. He was the first one to ask me to repair his device anyway. It makes sense to do his item first,” Cryo said. He began to open the box, and then took out the ignition and placed it on the table. He then took out a piece of paper in the box, containing information that would help Cryo know how to fix the problem.

“Hmm… Warren’s handwriting is a little sloppy. But… I can definantly still read this. Now… Notes here say… fell on the floor, while opened up. Broken upper screen. Hmm… While it seems to be the main issue, I should probably check the other parts inside as well. People dropping items is all too common, and its better I make sure its fully operational before giving it back to him.”

Cryo began to get to work, slowly removing and carefully taking apart the the ignition, to see if there was any other problems within the system. He then removed the broken screen and then began to search for replacement screens in his spare parts cabinet. Thankfully, his cabinet had labels were spare parts were. He quickly took out a screen and then placed it to the side. He then began to observe the other parts. After a little bit, he found a few other problems.

“Just as I thought. Inner battery has been damaged a bit as well. “It’ll probably going to turn off occasionally during gameplay if I don’t do something about that. Main Cpu is… damaged as well… Hmm… That… complicates the situation quite a bit. Looks like I’m going to need alter and modify the cpu with the parts I already have to make sure it doesn’t mess up while playing. I don’t have the time or the items at my disposal to make one of my own… Well… Let’s get started.”

Cryo began to gather more spare parts from his drawers, to fix the rest of the problems. He took out a spare battery, and the parts needed to create a modified version of the original cpu. He brought it over to his work bench, and nodded. He began to fix and modify the cpu on the device. He worked for a bit, when his mind began to drift…

“Its… been a while since I’ve had a chance to do stuff like this… About a month I believe… I never expected to end up getting kidnapped again… That’s for sure… Ugh…” He began to get a bit nervous as he worked. He took in a couple of deep breaths and continued. He then began to think about the ones responsible…

“Mick… Ugh… Mick… Can’t he just leave me alone… Hasn’t he done enough to me and mom already? I still remember everything he’s done to us. Even before I arrived at Research Base Omega.” He gave a sigh, and continued to work. “He’s the reason I’ve hated my birthday for so long. I still remember what he did to Greg and Suzy. What he tried to do to Noble. Even then, he still was willing to do anything to take me. Ugh… He’s truly a monster. To think he’d literally try to hurt someone like Noble, just to make him reveal where I was. He’s truly willing to do anything if it means I’ll be right in his grasp. Sigh…”

A bit of time passed, and the modified cpu was close to ready. He began to fix in the final necessary parts. But he continued to think about that man… The man who has caused him so much trouble.

“To think… He wants me and mom, so badly… Not because we’re aliens or dragons. Not because they could become famous or well known for a discovery. Not even because he wants to hold us for ransom. No. He wants us for our technology. To build… Ugh… I can’t even imagine what type of terrors he’d have us build. The thought… It scares me… a whole lot… I… I remember learning in school of the human superweapon… The weapon that… caused so much disaster back on earth. That bomb… Would he have made us recreate it? It… Even hearing about the history in that in school is… truly scary. They have been completely outlawed to create since then. In fact… every and all information about how to create the superweapon was completely destroyed. The only reminder of it, is in the history books. But… If he really wanted me to create that… what… what would he do with… Gulp… I… I don’t even want to think about it…” Cryo soon finished with the modified cpu and nodded. “Alright. Let’s put all the necessary parts together.”

Cryo began to put back the entire system together, attaching each of the new parts. The new screen, battery, and the modified cpu. Soon it was back together and he smiled and nodded. “Now to test this…” He turned on the power to the ignition, and began to mess around with it for a bit. He played a bit of capsule creatures for about 30 minutes. Soon, he concluded that the repairs were successful, and that he had done a very good job. “Alright! That’s our first repair completed!” Cryo said. “Good job, Creator. Your client will be pleased. That one I understand took a bit more work, didn’t it?” Cryo turned to his radio and smiled at it. “If it takes more work, then its even more satisfying to see it in working order. Right Craft?” “Absolutely creator. Well done. Let’s get on to your next project.”

Cryo nodded and began to box up the ignition again. He took the next cardboard box, which was a bit smaller then the last one. “Hmm Looks like we have Sydney’s item. A cylindrical music player. Well… Let’s take it out.” Cryo took out the music player, and saw that the sound speakers were out of it and dangling to the sides of it. “Well… I can see a problem already… But…” Cryo took the notes of the problems from inside the cardboard box. “Notes say… Speakers broken. Of course… Hit with a ball by little brother. Yep… That makes sense. Probably dropped on the floor as well. With that in mind, I probably have multiple things to fix with this. Welp. Let’s get started.”

He began to take it apart and observe it. “Hmm… Speakers are worse off then I thought. So many broken parts inside. But… easy enough to fix. I have spare speakers right in my cabinets. They should be in good quality order. Then I’ll need to replace some of the wires connected to both speakers. Hmm… Anything else wrong with these?” He began to look at the other parts of the machine. “Looks like the power source has a wire that’s broken as well. Easy enough to replace. Hmm… I don’t see anything else wrong with this device otherwise. Well… Let’s get to work.”

Cryo began to repair the device, when his mind drifted again. He began to think about the attempts to kidnap him before… “Mick has tried to kidnap me 3 separate times now. The first is when we were… on that ocean trip when I was 6 years old. Ugh… Talk about a lousy way to ruin what was supposed to be a fun day out on the water. I was looking forward to it as well. Thankfully… no one was hurt… Well… Except me of course… How long was I swimming on the water while trying to avoid them while they were firing nume darts at me? I don’t know, but I remember how scary it was… Ugh… I didn’t think I was going to make it either. No matter what I did, they always seemed to know where I was, even when I dove underwater to try and confuse them. Though… I can probably guess he had access to my tracking chip at the time, so it makes sense that he’d be able to continually chase me. I become desperate as I began to tire out, and I decided to try to make it to shore to try to lose them in the nearby forest… But… right as I got to shore, they… They finally hit me… with one of those darts…” Cryo gulped and shook his head. He continued with a nervous look on his face.

“When they shot me… I… didn’t understand what was going on. The pain of the wound… wasn’t as much as I thought… But… That wasn’t the intention… They followed me on shore, and not long after… I began to grow… numb… It wasn’t much at first. But then… The feeling began to become worse and worse and worse. I felt a bit dizzy, and then… I couldn’t move my back legs. I was terrified! I… I thought I was dying! I began to dig my front paws into the dirt to pull myself forward, but eventually, even they began to stop working. And then… then… I couldn’t move. Everything felt still… I could only turn my head slowly as I saw them approach me. My heart sank. I thought this was it. I thought I was done for… But then… I… I don’t exactly know how… but… I thought… I thought I could hear… moms voice. She was… calling to me… She told me to… push out my fears, and unleash my fury… I… didn’t understand at first what she meant. But… as I laid there. I… closed my eyes, and felt, something within me. Something… trying to escape my body. Something strong. And… I felt like… I had to let it out. I… I pushed the feeling out of me… and then… I felt a pulse of energy come out of my entire body. Next thing I knew, everything around me was beginning to freeze! They ran! All of them! Ran scared from what was going on! And then… I… I felt cold… Like… something frigid was forming near me. Then… I felt… frozen…”

Cryo took in a couple of deep breaths and continued. Soon, he had put the cylindrical music player together and tested it out for a bit by playing some music. After a bit, he was satisfied with the results. “Alright then. Looks like this is in perfect working condition.” Cryo said. “Excellent job, creator. Your earning your pay today!” Craft replied back. “Heh… Thanks Craft. Now… Let’s get to our next item.” He began to box the item up, but began to think again.

“That experience was terrifying… I later learned what had happened later on. I had to take a sick day after, but… I was eventually back on my feet again. But… I don’t know how I managed to do that. Even to this day, I still don’t know how I froze the entire area and created a pillar of ice around myself to protect myself. Maybe… Maybe this is something to ask Grandma, when I take a nap later. She’s a Ferrin dragon, like me, so maybe she could tell me what happened…

Ch 19

Fixing Files

Cryo nodded his head and grabbed the next cardboard container. He looked at the label on top. “Hmm… A labtop computer. Interesting…. Looks like its a Zen portable laptop. From… Aran. Hmm… Let’s open it up.” Cryo opened up the box, and took out the labtop. It seemed fine to him. “Interesting… I wonder what the problem is?” He pulled out the research notes, then gave a rather long sigh… “I see now… Someone decided to download a group of… rather unneeded files and got a nasty computer virus. Welp… Looks like I’m going to be doing some programming and data retrieval. I know how to do this thankfully. This almost never came up at home… But for good reason, since its a well established military research center. The kids were more… responsible more or less and knew better then to… well… yea. Let’s get started.”

Cryo booted up the computer and began entering its data center. He was about to get started, when his radio began to speak up. “Excuse me. Creator?” “Oh! Is there something you want, Craft?” “I… overheard you say that the ailment to your clients technology was a computer virus. Is there any chance I could assist with this one?” “You want to help me?” “Quite! Can you give me your clients computer id number in order to upload myself to it, and assist?” “Well… Ok then. Hang on while I look at his computer number.”

Cryo looked through the computers data center for the computers id tag. “Ahh! Id tag is XC12201.” “Thank you. Beginning remote uplink to clients computer.” Cryo waited a few moments, then the mouse began to move by itself! “Is that you moving the mouse, Craft?” “Yes! I must say. I’m very happy to see you on the computers camera. It’s been awhile since I’ve had a chance to look at you.” Cryo chuckled a bit and smiled. “Well… I can imagine its more fun seeing me in real life then looking at a digital image. So… Where should we begin?” “Hold on a second, creator… We seem to already have an intruder trying to invade the system. I’m attempting to track him…” “Wait… Track them? What are you planning to do to to the hacker? Or hackers? ” “Relax… I already infiltrated their own pcs. I’m just gathering a bit of evidence and link it to the authorities nearby of their operation. I know its not right to… overdo things on a matters like this. I must say… they’ve… committed quite a bit of data theft.” “Really now…?” “Yes. Anyway… Ah… Done… Data gathered and authorities informed. Now locking perpetrators from all future interface with this laptop. Police should arrive in an estimated… 7 minutes.” “Well… Guess we’re cybersecurity today…” “Quite. Now then. I’m beginning data retrieval.”

The screen began to light up, and it looked like files we’re being downloaded back onto the computer. “Files will be returned and all undesired computer programs will be deleted permanently. Estimated time… an hour and 30 minutes.” “Well… Alright then. That was easy. Thank you, Craft.” “Your welcome creator.” “Just make sure when your done to completely remove yourself from this laptop. I don’t want Aran to think his computer is still… broken with you messing around with it.” “Understood. All my programming structures will be removed after data retrieval and repair is complete.” “Good. Alright… Might as well work on something else while I’m waiting…”

Ch 20

More memories

Cryo took out the next cardboard box, which was a bigger then anything else he repaired so far. “Hmm… Huh… This is from Miles. I remember him. He… gave quite a punch to Tanner. Heh… I guess I should have expected him to rely on me since he was… willing to deck a bully before things could get rough. Hmm… This item is from pretty big. Wonder what’s inside. Cryo looked at the label, and saw that the item inside was apparently a Deepsight 3d television.” “Hmm Interesting. A 3d tv… This should be interesting. I never got to repair a 3d tv before. This is going to take me some extra work. I’m going to need to draw a blueprint for the parts in the tv as I take it apart, as I’ll need to know what its supposed to look like on the inside and out when I put it back together. Well… This is going to be a fun learning experience today!” Cryo got a little excited at the thought of learning a new piece of technology. “Well… Let’s take it out.”

Cryo began to carefully lift out the tv from the box and placed it gently down on the table. He saw immediately that there was a crack on the bottom of the tv, and the screen was damaged. “Looks like this was dropped. Wonder how?” Cryo took out the notes in the box. “Hmm… Tv fell off its stand, in which the stand is normally off the ground… I’ve heard of these tv’s before, which don’t actually have a stand, but instead are connected directly to the wall. Never found them appealing though. One thing I learned from earth science while in school. Gravity always wins… Always…” Cryo nodded and then began to head out of his “repair,” room and back into his room. He walked to his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly began to head back and placed both items on his desk.”

“Alright… Let’s do this one step at a time…” Cryo began to slowly take apart the tv. Each part he’d take off, he’d draw in detail what part it was and where it was connected. As he continued to do so, his mind began drifting again. He began to think about the second time he was kidnapped…”

“Ugh… The second time Mick made an attempt at me was… 100 times worse. This time, he not only attacked our home directly… he actually threatened to blow up a whole building filled with innocent people, to take not only me captive, but mom as well. To think they’d go after her as well… Forced me and mom into surrendering to them. Strapped us to medical restraint beds, then escaped into a medical jumpship. Ugh… That was a… harrowing experience. Then he stuck those stupid collars on us, which blocked the gps chips inside us. Ugh… I still hate those things. Feel heavy and rigid around my neck. Thankfully… I was… able to think of a plan to escape and down their aircraft… But… That was rough… I didn’t know what to do next.

“Then… I decided to see if I could contact home on the radio. I had to sneak through the ship, all the while hoping they’d not find out I’m out. I can’t even imagine what could have happened to us if they saw me, even once… I managed to make the call… And it turns out that they did get my distress call. But… I didn’t think they did to be honest. I was forced to take out the back of the hanger doors and go out on foot with mom. They chased us for who knows how long… Then mom got tired… And then we had to jump off a cliff… Mom was still weak after being asleep for more then 6 years. She ended up falling into the water below, and I had to drag her out… Ugh… But that bought us some time at the very least. I dug a hole after and dragged my mom into it. Then I knocked down some trees to cover it. Then they came down the cliff, and headed towards us. I still can’t believe they failed to find us under there… I thought we were goners for sure right as I saw their flashlight on their weapons shining over the trees. But we… Lucked out. Lucked out completely. They just walked right past us, think we had felled these trees for a source of food. It’s lucky that one of the trees I knocked down contained Cannerie fruit, or I’m sure they would have discovered us. Ugh.. I don’t even know how I managed to sleep that night.

After a while, Cryo had successfully taken apart the tv, and made a detailed blueprint on the paper to help when he put it back together. He smiled and nodded. He then began to look at the individual parts. “Well… Screen is clearly broken… Looks like some of the inner workings of the tv have been damaged quite a bit… Must have been raised pretty high. Looks like I’m going to have to do something similar for this tv like I did with the ignition gaming console. I’ll have to modify and change some of the tv’s parts and inner workings to make it work correctly. Let’s study the blueprint again.” He began to comb over the blue print a few times. He closed his eyes, and he began to imagine in his head the parts needed to make it work and work well. After a while, he opened his eyes and nodded. He began to write on another piece of paper the new blueprint for the tv. After a while, he was done. He smiled as he got finished and checked it again. He nodded and cracked his knuckles. “Alright… I think I have a good idea of how to make this. Let’s get started.”

Cryo gathered a large number of different parts from his drawer and began the process of assembling and bringing the parts together. As he worked on his new project, his mind began to drift more…

“We were lost in the forest for almost a whole month after that. Forced to fend for ourselves out in the wilds. Its incredibly lucky I watched the show Will in the Wilds, back at home. I would never have been able to survive out there without so much of the info I learned from it. Needing filtered water to not get sick off of waterborne diseases, ideas and materials I could use to make shelters and important survival gear for me and mom, making fires, all of these survival skills I learned from it. All while being hunted by them, as they continued to sweep their ships over the forest canopy every day… We wouldn’t have lasted very long at all if I didn’t watch that show… It’s funny to think of really…

Some time passed again. He finally assembled the new tv setup and began to quickly install it into the tv. After a while of repairs, he got finished! He began to get a little excited at the opportunity to test the results of his repair. “Alright. Let’s turn this on.” He plugged the tv into a socket within the room. He pressed the on switch on the remote, and it turned on. “Alright. Let’s fiddle with this a bit…” After a while… it looked to be working perfectly, and Cryo was satisfied!” “There we go! Good as new!” Cryo said. “Very well done on the tv upgrades, creator!” Craft said from the tv. “TV… upgrades?” Cryo asked. “Oh quite yes. Your new modeling structure for the tv has increased the frame rates to 100. Up from 60 before!” Cryo’s eyes shot up!” “W…Wait… Really?” “That’s right. Your client is going to be very pleased from you exemplary work! Very well done!” “Well… Ok then…” Cryo began to think about this. “I… didn’t intend to upgrade the tv to be honest… But… I guess its fine. As long as my client is happy with the results. Though… I’m not sure a tv that can have 100 frames per second has ever been built before. Oh well… Hopefully he’ll like his free upgrade. No need to charge extra for it, as it was never intended in the first place.” Cryo began to box up the tv again. He began to think as he did, back to the last couple weeks of that kidnapping attempt.

“Those last few weeks were rough… They finally found us again after… I don’t know… maybe 16 days? They used thermal vision to track our body heat. Despite being ice and water based dragons, our internal body heat is still noticeable on thermal. Thankfully I realized they were behind us. They could have easily hit us with a dart and taken us captive right there if I hadn’t. We ran for a while, but… Mom was becoming… tired again. I was grasping straws, trying to figure out some way to get away… and then…” Cryo gulped and shook his head. “Then we tripped into the muddy divot into the ground. Right as I realized what happened, I could hear them very close. I began to panic… I… thought I’d be in for the fight of my life. And with mom, with how weak she was… I was terrified! But I… I was ready… I was ready to tussle with some of the darkest hearts in this world… the last chance we would get to escape… but as it turned out… we… lucked out again… He finally finished boxing up the tv. He nodded in success. But he continued to think.

“He… He… walked right past us… He and the others again… walked right past us. I was shocked… He somehow didn’t see us, even with thermal vision. And then it hit me. Like a strikeball… The mud… We were covered in mud when we rolled into the divot. It hid us from there thermal vision. It… it saved us… And… me and mom continued on… For a long time. Day after day, we’d continue walking ahead, taking breaks every now and then to dodge ships combing over us and for mom to get rest. We would fish for food every day and cover ourselves with mud every day and night. When night fell across the forest, we’d make a fire and cook whatever we caught for the day. Some days had a lush bounty of food at our disposal. Others… well… had much less… Eventually… me and mom would… try to lift each others spirits by telling stories by the warm fire… It was… fun… to be honest… those nights. Even when we weren’t able to catch that much that day, the stories by the fire at least made the night worth it. After that… I’d build a shelter with whatever was available to me in the area, and then we’d turn in for the night and sleep. It was a bit hard sometimes, being soaked in mud… Not to mention the thought of them taking us from surprise in the middle of the night, but… but it worked out in the end. We’d finally be rescued. After so long… we finally were able to return home… That… That was a truly happy day for me, after being separated from everyone and being gone so long from home. Sigh… After a long journey, we were finally… home at last.

Cryo began to give out a yawn and rubbed his eyes a bit. “Creator. I am finished with your clients computer. It’s ready to be shipped out to your client. Disconnecting AI from computer unit.” “Ahh! Thank you, Craft. I’ll get on it immediately.” Cryo began to place the clients computer and his other items that came with it back into his computer bag. Right as he was finished, Cryo yawned again.

“Creator? You seem to be becoming fatigued from the long work day. Do you need a nap, or are you able to repair one more item?” Cryo looked at his radio. “Well… let me look at the items. Maybe I’ll be able to repair one more item, if its something small.” “Very well, creator. If you need any assistance, or advice, remember that I am here for you.” “Haha. Thanks Craft. I know I can count on you. Now. Let me see…” “He began to rummage around the stack of boxes. He then found one that seemed to be a Z phone in a case. “Hmm… a z phone, huh? Shouldn’t be too complicated to repair. Let’s take a look…” Cryo began to open the case, and took out the z phone. He looked at the screen, which seemed to have been smashed in for some reason…” “Well… Screen damage clearly. But… As always… check notes. Check everything…” Cryo took the notes from the case. “Hmm… Notes say… Screen damaged… Already confirmed… Hmm… Won’t turn on. Well… If its not turning on, there’s something else clearly wrong with it…” He began to carefully take the phone apart, to look at the inner workings. “Hmm… Wires around the battery are severed, A couple of chips are loose and out of place. Not too hard a fix. I have more then enough energy within me to fix this. Let’s get started.”

Cryo began to get the replacement parts needed for the z phone and placed them next to it. He began to fix the broken device. But his mind drifted again one last time, to his most recent kidnapping.

“Sigh… Mick really doesn’t know when to give up. Even after being considered a high level criminal, a traitor to is country, and a terrorist, he still chases me. If what Craft said is true, there is a massive conspiracy circling around all the attempts to kidnap me and mom. I have to wonder how much its infiltrated the government. Considering Craft said he has a list of names and evidence supporting the claims, their entire group might collapse at this point. But… I shouldn’t get my hopes up on this. This attempt is the third time. They aren’t going to be stopped so easily. I know it. They should never be underestimated. Not after everything I’ve seen them do. They’ll do anything to take me. That’s how I ended up… in this town…” He continued to work on the device as his mind began to think more into the recent attempt.

“To think Mick and the others would have the nerve to not only fly a small fleet over military airspace at home, they also were bold enough to blow up the runway. Thank goodness no one was injured, but… this alone is really frightening to think about. He literally caught me in a net while flying over and stuck me with a tranquilizer dart. Thank goodness it wasn’t a nume dart like the first time. But nonetheless… I was asleep for who knows how long. When I woke up though… jeez… what a rotten situation to end up in… My front limbs were tied behind my back with cyantran wires. My lower limbs were also tied. I was in a cell made of cyantran metals, with one of those stupid collars around my neck… Jeez… Talk about one heck of a wake up call, and it wasn’t long after my first nap of the day…” Cryo gave a sigh as he began to finish up fixing it.

“Now… This needs a small “kick.”” Cryo began to dab a bit of his talon in his mouth. He began to tap around the battery a bit. A few sparks came out as the phone powered on for a second. Then it quickly shut back down. “Alright… Let’s put this back together and test this for a bit…” Cryo quickly put the device back together and messed with the apps. After about 10 minutes of testing all the apps, he was satisfied with a job well done! “There we go… Ahh… I… defiantly think I’m done for the day…” “Excellent job, creator. Now, its time for some well deserved rest. I’ll be ready for you whenever your tucked into bed.” “Thank you Craft. Just let me box this up now.” He began to quickly box up the Z phone, when he began to think again… About what happened after he woke up…

“I don’t know how long I was in the ship… trying desperately to cut the cyantran wires with my talons. One things for sure… my wrists hurt a whole lot… Scratched them up quite a bit… And then… Jeez… I DEFINANTLY didn’t expect the ship to LITERALLY fall apart, jettisoning me from the ship, to the hard ground below. And then… I… ended up in this town. I… don’t blame Craft for what happened. There was nothing he couldn’t do when the ship hit that rock formation… Especially considering what else was involved with that. But… that whole situation… brought a whole new list of issues… Including… Ugh… I really hope that the other hackers… weren’t them… That’s… something for another time perhaps. But… When I fell from the ship… I found someone to take me in what is probably my most desperate hour. They… got me medical attention. They gave me a home away from home. They… have taken care of me, even thought I’m not their own son. And not just them… Nearly everyone in town has been supporting me since I’ve been here. While the “introduction,” into the town was not all that fun, considering… well… no one could understand who or what I really was… But… now… now they all see and know about me. And now… Now I’m… I’m happy where I am. Its a home away from home. I’m going to miss this town after I finally go home. But maybe… maybe the people back home will allow me to chance to visit one day. But… one thing I should keep in mind right now. An important detail…

Cryo finally finished with the boxing the device and began to stretched his arms up and yawned. “Mick is still out there somewhere. I don’t think he’s exactly out of the picture, yet. If… If he makes another attempt… I’ll… I’ll have to be ready… I need to be really careful what I do from here on out. I should probably stay out of sight of others until Mick’s… taken care of…” Cryo nodded and headed out towards his room.

He realized Arianna was stepping down the stairs as he exited the room. “Oh! Cryo! Are you done with your work for the day?” “Yea… I’m… I’m pretty tired now.” “Well… Its actually bedtime for you, Cryo.” “Huh… It is?” Cryo looked at the clock, and realized Arianna was right! “Whoops… Looks like I was so engrossed with work, I… lost track of time… I hope Seth is not mad at me.” “Oh! No he isn’t. When I told him you have a job now, he said “Big bro is growing up real fast. Hehe.”” “Ahh. Well… I’ll try to take off tomorrow to play with him.”

“Actually, Cryo… The mayor called us tonight.” “She… did?” “Yes. She asked a favor from us.” “What favor?” “She asked if she could have you over at her house on Saturdays.” “Oh! Really?” “That’s right. I… I said yes. Is… Is that alright, Cryo?” Cryo thought for a moment, but gave a nod. “Yes Arianna. That’s fine with me.” “That’s wonderful, Cryo. You’ll be brought to their house by 8:00 tomorrow mourning. Please have yourself woken up by then, ok?” “Ok. Thanks Arianna.” Cryo thought for a moment.” “Looks like my “play dates,” with Sara are going to be on Saturday. I know how lonely she feels. 1 day a week of playing “house,” shouldn’t really be that bad… Thankfully, I finished up my homework before I started working on repairs for today.” He smiled and began to head towards his closet, when Arianna actually tapped Cryo on the shoulder a few times. “Do you think I could give you a nice bath before bed? You have several grease spots on you.” “Well… Yea… Your probably right Arianna. I guess I shouldn’t risk getting oil on my pajamas.” “Good. Why don’t you come up with me, and I’ll clean you up before bedtime.” Cryo nodded and began to head upstairs with Arianna.

So Cryo took a nice bath in the washroom. After his bath, Cryo supplied Cryo with a new dragon toothbrush and toothpaste. Apparently, the vet had finally got the necessary ingredients and materials needed to make the same toothpaste, floss, and Listerine he uses at home, and wanted Cryo to start brushing his teeth again. Also… she supplied Cryo with a new set of dragon talon clippers and file similar to what he had at home to take care of his own talons like he used to back home, rather then be taken to her each time. Cryo was happy to have items to help his hygiene and manage himself better. So… Cryo would brush his teeth, feeling good that his breath might smell a bit better as he went about his day and night. Afterwards, Arianna put on some snow white dragon pajama’s on Cryo. She then tucked him into bed and kissed him on the forehead. Craft soon turned on naptunes, and Cryo’s mind soon began to fade into the dark, as the musical spell took over his ears…

Ch 21

Frigid Fury

Cryo’s eyes slowly opened up. He gave out a big yawn. He saw he was back in the dojo. But it seemed a bit… colder this time inside. Cryo looked around the room, and saw the walls were a bit more… iced over this time. “Hmm… The dojo seems pretty frigid today. Interesting… I have to wonder what Wave has in mind for me today…” Cryo looked at himself, and could immediately tell he was in his winter whiteout form.

Cryo was about to pick himself up from the bed, when he saw that his usual dojo “bed,” was red instead of blue this time. He touched it, and it felt like energy was coming off of it. “This is… interesting… I didn’t know… whatever this actually is could change color… I wonder what this stuff actually is? I… feel like my body is absorbing something from it. What could it be though? Elemental energies perhaps? Hmm… Interesting, I suppose…”

Cryo lifted himself up from his bed, and went to where his training outfit was usually situated. He saw that it seemed to look a bit… different again. It seemed to be a vivid Cyan color, a glowing a bit…

“Wow… What happened to my training outfit?” Cryo wondered. He headed over to it, and touched it a bit. It felt like energy was coming off it as well. “Hmm… Interesting. This feels like the same energy that was coming from the “bed.” Well… Let’s put it on.” Cryo grabbed it from the hanger, and then put it on. He carefully maneuvered his wings out the back. He then tied his belt around his waist. It glowed for a few seconds, along with Cryo’s bandanna.

“Strange… I feel a bit… tingly with this on. But… I feel like its pumping energy into me. Similar… to when I was on the alter of awakening. Interesting…” Cryo heard the door to the room sliding open. He turned himself, and saw Wave stepping into the room.

“Welcome, my grandson! I see your already in your training outfit. We’re… going to try something very special and very powerful today, Cryo.” “Sounds great! I must say. The… changes to the dojo kind of fit the mood quite a bit. With it all being iced over like this…” Wave smiled at Cryo and patted his head. “Yes… While this is only a representation of what the dojo is like in your head, it nonetheless could tap into the incredible power of dragons and their magic.” “Yea… Speaking of which… I… noticed that while we’ve been training… we seem to be acting like this is real, despite being a dream realm. Like with the underwater breathing device we used in the water the last time.” “Yes. This is for a purpose, Cryo. While it might seem redundant, this is also part of your training.” “Really?” “That’s right. Some of what we’re using will be important in the future. Its best that we perform these actions like its real, so that you’ll be ready to use the devices and actions in the future.” “Ahh! That makes perfect sense actually, now that you say it.” “Yes. Anyway, why don’t we head to the training room.” She motioned Cryo to come with her into the room. He nodded, and they both headed in.

Like with Cryo’s room, the entire dojo was completely frozen over. The walls had a sheet of ice covering them, and it seemed like a blizzard was forming inside of it. Cryo was glad he wasn’t feeling the chilling winds of the cold, thanks to his transformation. “Alright, Cryo… Today’s lesson is one of the two most advanced and powerful ferrin dragon abilities.” “Really? Which one?” “Our first lesson, will be Frozen Fortress.” “Frozen… Fortress?” “That’s right. This is a very advanced dragon ability. This is incredibly difficult to master and use. But when used correctly, it could very well save your life in a very tough spot.” “Really?” “That’s right. Now. Observe. Stand close to me.”

Suddenly, a very large group of dojo dummies came out of the ground in a surrounding formation! Cryo realized immediately that whatever Wave was going to perform, it was going to be… quite huge. “Now then… Watch carefully…” Wave began to curl up and focus. Not long after, she began to glow a bit brightly, as power seemed to be forming around her. Cryo knew something large and powerful was about to be unleashed. And then suddenly… She quickly spread herself out, and a large pulse of ice energy began to extend out of her! It then began to quickly freeze all the dojo dummies surrounding them. And then… a dome of ice began to form around them. Cryo looked upon the field of battle, a recognized what happened immediately. Wave smiled and looked at him.

“Well… What do you think?” “It’s… incredible to see, grandma! But…” “But… what Cryo? Is something wrong?” “I’ve… I’ve seen this happen before…” “Re…Really?” “Ye… yea, grandma.” “But… when?” “Umm… You… know about my kidnappings… right?” Wave looked at Cryo with concern and gave a sigh. She began to rub his back.

“I’ve… I’ve done this technique before, Grandma…” “Huh… Really?” “Yes…” “When, Cryo?” “It… It was the first time Mick made an attempt to take me. When I went on an ocean trip with my caretakers at home. Mick’s goons… stuck me with a paralyzing dart. Backed me into a corner, and almost took me. But… then… Then I… I heard mom… She… told me to let out my fears, and then… unleash my fury. I… I followed her insturctions, and the next thing I knew… well… I unleashed this attack…” “That’s… interesting, Cryo. I know your mother knows oversoul, like us… but… its strange she would be able to contact you in that moment.” “What do you mean?”

“My daughter, was… forced into hibernation to save the lives of hundreds, including yours. The thing is… that when a dragon uses an attack with this much power, it actually cuts the psychic link with the oversoul ability temporarily.” “Really?” “Yes… That’s why I’m not familiar with you using this ability. I do remember having my connection with you severed in that pressing moment… But… to be honest… I… I thought you had been… lost… All of us did.” “You… and the others… thought I was… gone?” “Yes… I think you can guess… a dragon who suddenly has a oversoul link severed…” “May have had its life lost in that dark, desperate moment…” “That’s right… When me and your other family members finally felt your… life force again… You have no idea how happy we were. But none of us understood why we lost the link in that particular instance. With what you’ve told me now… hmm… This is interesting…” “Ye… Yeah…” “Well… Why don’t you try it yourself then. Let’s see if you can pull it off by yourself again… Considering you’ve performed this on your own before… with my daughters help apparently, why don’t we try this without your headband on. I’m not sure what my daughter had told you to help you perform this move the first time, but I suppose… do it again in the same way as last time.” “O… Ok grandma…”

Wave began to dissipate the dome of ice around them. A new set of dojo dummies came out of the ground, surrounding them. Wave quickly tied the headband around Cryo’s head, which he could immediately feel the extra power fade away. “Alright… Whenever your ready, Cryo. Cryo nodded his head and looked around the dojo… He began to think again. “Mom said… push out my fears… What does she mean by that… Hmm…” Cryo began to think for a moment.

“This… This ability is a defensive one… When it happened the first time, it was in a moment of desperation. Maybe… Maybe if I think of things that scare me… it’ll trigger a stronger attack, as my primal instincts are tapping into my freezing power to use to protect myself. That’s why she said… push out my fears. Use my fear to power the attack and unleash it to protect myself or others in serious danger,” Cryo thought. Cryo nodded and closed his eyes. He began to think… about some of the more traumatic moments in his life…

The multiple kidnappings he’s been subjected to… his fear of getting others in danger due to being a target, his fear that the ones after him will get their way, and do terrible things to him and others. Cryo began to grip his paws tightly, curl up a bit, and he began to breath very slowly. He began to cringe as he felt a primal rage begin to fill inside his body. Wave began to see Cryo’s body glow very brightly… She began to raise her eyes in astonishment! She knew… this was going to be very powerful!

Cryo then suddenly spread his arms out, and WHOOSH! A massive pulse of ice energy began to extend all the way across the entirety of the dojo! All the dummies around were sent into deep freeze hibernation, and the entire dojo’s walls were frozen in a massive block of ice! And then… A pillar of ice began to form around Cryo and Wave. As it did, branches of icy spikes began to branch out and bend in all directions!” Cryo began to pant just a bit. But he quickly composed himself and smiled.

“Cryo… That… That was…” She looked all around the room in astonishment. “Whatever Tide told you to do on that fateful day… It really did save your life… I’m… I’m curious myself what she must have told you when you unleashed this that one fateful day.” “She… She told me to… push out my fears. She… She must of known… using your fears powers up the attack. Its the key.” “I… I see… Cryo… I… I never realized…” Wave stepped forward a patted Cryo on the back. “You have plenty of things to be afraid of, Cryo. But… You were able to use them in such a way to your advantage. I’m very proud of you. You’ve done very well on this night. But unfortunately the sun has come again, and if I remember today, you have an important playdate at the mayors house. Don’t you?” “Oh…” Cryo’s face became a little red a bit. “Oh don’t worry about that, Cyro. I think you might find your day ahead to be not as bad as you believe.” “Really? Why do you say that, grandma.” “Oh… I have a feeling something special is waiting for you with your “special caretaker’s,” estate. Just relax and try to have a least a bit of fun. Remember who your doing it for.” “Sigh… Yes, Grandma…” “Good. Now then… have a good morning, Cryo.” “Ok. See you soon, Grandma.” She nodded and began to wave toward Cryo. Cryo nodded and waved back at her and then stepped back into his room. He began to lay on top of his “bed,” and soon everything flashed to white!”

Ch 22

Before Babysitting

Cryo’s eyes slowly opened up a bit… He heard his alarm blaring over his radio. His eyes began to focus on the familiar setting of his room. He gave out a small yawn. He began to pull back the covers of his bed and stepped off of it. He turned towards his radio “Craft. I’m awake. You can turn off the alarm.” “Turning off mourning alarm. Good mourning, Creator.” “How are you today, Craft?” “I’m doing very well. Hearing your audio cue always gets my circuits going.” Cryo chuckled a bit at the comment. “So, Creator. I heard your going to the mayor’s house on weekends now. I find that to be quite a curiosity. Have you been there before, perhaps?” “Umm… Yes, actually. I was there on the first day before I went to school.” “Really? Fascinating. I tracked and uploaded myself to your radio, by 9:48 p.m.. Interesting you managed to go to a well defined establishment within the town. Was it city hall?” “No, Craft. It was an actual house.” “Really. Is the mayor… wealthy?” “Umm… I believe so, Craft… Truth be told, its hard to really tell, since I never… well… really had an actual interaction with funding and money, since… I’m a dragon and can’t really go into public to buy things. At least not normally.” “Ahh! I see then! Well… Can you describe the house for me? I should be able to give an accurate estimate of the property value and can tell you if their a wealthy part of the community. “Well… Ok then. you see…”

Cryo began to describe what he saw on the inside and outside of the house on that day. Craft seemingly took notes in his system as Cryo told him. “And finally… there was like… 13 workers at the house who seemed to work on the house and work with the family.” “Very good, Creator. Now calculating cost of living expenses…” Craft began to pause for a moment, with a short moment of static over the radio. “Estimated living expenses and housing expenses: $6,327,780.” Cryo scratched his chin a few times. “So… is that wealthy, Craft?” “Quite a bit actually. Very wealthy indeed. The mayor is clearly very successful, along with the father. No surprise considering the nature of their work. You must of had quite a fun time over there! What did you do that day?” “Oh! Umm… Uh…” Cryo began to sweat a bit and looked away for a second. “Is something wrong creator?” “Umm… I’m… sorry Craft. I… think I’ll keep the details to myself.” “Wait? Really? Creator… That’s not like you to withhold details. Did something happen over there?” “Umm… Nothing happened, Craft. Really…” “Then why don’t you want to tell me?” “Umm… Uh…”

Cryo began to try to think of an excuse to say, when he began to hear someone coming down from the staircase! He breathed a slight sigh of relief and turned around slowly… He then saw Eli stepping into the room. “Oh! Your already awake! Right on time! Good mourning, Cryo.” Cryo smiled at him and nodded. “Good mourning, Eli.” “You remember what’s happening today, right?” “Yes Eli. I’m going over to the mayors house for the weekend.” “Ahh, good. You remembered. Well… You should probably get ready to go then. It’s 7:32 right now, and I’m supposed to take you by 8:00. So… You need to get ready to go.” “Alright then.” “Do you need any help getting ready?” “Umm… No. I think I’ll be fine.” “You sure?” “Well… Actually… Now that I think about it… could you pick out a sweater for me? Its going to be quite cold out, and I need to brush my fangs. I’ll place my pajama’s in the laundry hamper when I’m done in the washroom down here.” “Why of course. I’ll pick something nice for you while you work on your dental hygiene.” “Thank you, Eli. Alright… I’ll see you in a bit.” “Alright. Don’t take too long.”

Cryo headed for his washroom and stepped in. He looked at the inside, and saw the walls were a plain white tile. To the front, was a large shower, with glass sliding doors. To the left, was something for human occupants… To the right was a couple of plain white fuzzy towels hanging on the door of the shower. Further closer to the door to the room, was a mirror on the left. Under the mirror, was a white sink on top of a large cabinet, with a standard nozzle. Next to the sink, was a chair large enough for Cryo to sit on when brushing his teeth and grooming and managing himself. He saw the Listerine, toothpaste and his dragon toothbrush resting on top of the sink. He smiled and began to pull himself up onto the chair. He grabbed his toothbrush and toothpaste. He smiled and began to squeeze the contents onto his toothbrush. He then began to open his maw, slowly move the brush inside his mouth, and then brushed his teeth.

As Cryo brushed his teeth, he began to wonder what plans Sara had for him today… “I wonder what Sara will want to do with me over the weekend? I know I’ll… probably have to wear training pants again… But… It honestly wasn’t that bad the last time. I mean… being treated like a hatchling at my age is… probably not… ideal… But she really didn’t try anything too outlandish with me. I’m at least glad for that. I do like Sara. She… just wants to be a loving mother to me. I… I respect that. I suppose I’ll just have to try my best to keep her happy. Its the least I can do for her. I… I know all too well what it feels like to be alone.”

Cryo had just finished brushing his teeth, and began to swish it around his mouth a bit. Then, he spit it out with a nice big “PTEW!” He then turned on the faucet, and pulled his head forward and began to sip the water coming out of it. He then spit again, and began to wipe his face with a towel. He then screwed off the top to his Listerine bottle, and began to sip a tiny bit of it out. He began to swish it around his mouth. Soon Cryo spit out the Listerine, and then he smiled. Cryo was about to leave his washroom, when he took a look at his talons. He saw that they were quite sharp and a bit long… “I… defiantly think I should manage this before I go… I don’t want to accidently scratch her while over there.” Cryo nodded his head and began to take his dragon talon clippers and file. He began to clip each of his talons down to be much shorter. He then began to file them to even the edge and making them much less sharp. As Cryo did, he began to think about something his grandma said last night.

“Hmm… grandma and… perhaps other members of my family are… going to probably watch me while I’m being… babied… That’s… going to be a little embarrassing, but… grandma at least… doesn’t seem to think its all that bad a thing either… But… she said… Something special is waiting for me… What did she mean by that? Is she… teasing me about something that Sara has in mind? Or… Maybe… Maybe there really is something I might like when I’m taken there to… play “house,” with Sara. I… I guess I won’t know until I get there… Sigh… Just relax Cryo. Just relax… Remember… Last time was not that bad at all. Calm down…”

Soon his talons were filed and he looked at them. He presses his paw against the tip a few times. He felt they were short enough and not too sharp. He smiled and nodded. He then changed out of his pajama’s and then headed out of the washroom, carrying the pajama’s on his arm. Eli was sitting on Cryo’s bed, with a plain dark red fuzzy sweater in his hands. “There you are, Cryo. I have your sweater right here. Come over so I can help you into it.” “Alright. I’m coming, Eli.” Cryo trotted over and then jumped up on his bed and sat down. He held his head and hands forward smiled at Eli. Eli smiled back and then began to lift the sweater over his head. Soon he carefully managed to slip Cryo’s wings out the back slits and his head out the front. Cryo felt comfy in the sweater. “Alright Cryo… Ready to go to the mayor’s for the weekend?” “Yea. I’m ready to go, Eli.” “Good. Let’s head to the car. I’m sure the mayor and her family is just dying to see you again.” “Yea. I’m sure Eli.” Cryo paused for a moment. “Especially Sara…” he thought… They began to head up the stairs and towards the car on the driveway outside. Cryo jumped into the back, and Eli sat in the front with Arianna. “Alright. Let’s shove off everyone,” said Arianna. They vehicle began to lift up its hover jets, and began to hover across the snow covered ground. Then began to head towards the mayor’s mansion.

Ch 22

Capsule Creatures and the Crew

Cryo watched the world outside his window as they began to drive to the mayors house. The town seemed to be bustling a bit today. He smiled as he took on the sights. Soon enough, he arrived at the front door of the mayor’s mansion. Cryo took in a deep breath and nodded. They were quickly allowed through the front gates of the mansion, and Eli quickly drove his car in. They soon arrived at the front door of the mansion.

“Alright, Cryo. I don’t think I need to remind you to behave, right?” asked Arianna. “Haha. Don’t worry Arianna. I won’t cause mischief in the house.” Cryo replied. “Good. Alright. Have a good time!” said Arianna. “Enjoy yourself, Cryo. Don’t forget to tell the mayor thanks before you leave,” said Eli. “Thanks. See you when I come home.” Cryo said. “Goodbye, Cryo!” Both Arianna and Eli shouted. Cryo opened the door to their hover van, and stepped out of the vehicle. He began to approach the house. As he stepped towards the house, the front doors opened and out stepped Wake, Nia, and Sara. “Welcome back, Cryo!” Nia said. She looked nice in her black business attire and very well groomed brown hair. Wake was wearing a black business attire as well. Sara was wearing blue jeans again and a pink shirt with a heart in the center of it. Her hair was braded in a single pony tail. He smiled at them and continued forward. He looked back to Arianna and Eli one more time and saw them wave to him. He waved back and smiled, and then they drove off. Nia motioned Cryo to come into the house. He stepped inside, and closed the door behind him. Cryo turned back to face them and sat down on the carpet.

“How are you doing today, Cryo?” Nia asked. “Oh! I’m doing fine, Nia. I’m ready to play today!” Cryo replied back. “Great!” Nia and Wake leaned down and patted Cryo on the back a few times and rubbed his belly. “Thanks for doing this, Cryo. We know it might be a little… difficult to spend time with our daughter in this fashion…” Wake whispered to Cryo. “Don’t worry. I’ll try to keep Sara happy while she’s… taking care of my special needs today,” Cryo whispered back. “I think you might like what we had prepared for you beforehand Cryo. It might not be exactly what you want, but we hope that it’ll be very comfy and cozy for you while playing with Sara,” Nia whispered. “Really? What did you do?” Cryo asked in a hushed voice. They both smiled at him and nodded. They turned towards Sara.

“Sara, honey. Why don’t you take the baby to his new room! I’m sure he’ll like what he finds in there,” Nia said. “New… Room?” Cryo thought. “Alright Momma! Have a good day a work!” Sara said. “You too honey! Make sure Cryo’s well taken care of! If you need any help at all, don’t hesitate to get one of the workers in the house to help you, or call us if there’s a BIG issue.” “Alright! See you later!” “Bye Sara!” both Wake and Nia said. They both quickly headed towards the garage in the house.

Nia smiled at Cryo and patted him on the head a few times. “How’s my baby boy today?” Sara asked. “Oh! I’m doing fine, Mama!” “That’s good. We have something special for you, my little baby!” “Is it… my new room, Mama?” “Why of course! Your such a smart little boy. I better take you there quickly, before you have a little accident in the house!” “Umm… Yeah mama! I know! I guess I need my training pants, huh?” “That’s right. Now come on.”

She began to pick Cryo up very carefully and cradle him in his arms. She stroked him a few times across the stomach, and began to carry him through the house. Cryo began to get curious at what his “new room” was going to be like… “Huh… Wonder what they decided to do with my… erm… dwelling within the house? I’m guessing since it was probably Sara’s decision on what to make it, it’ll be… maybe a pink room with hearts all over? Not something for a boy like myself. I can’t imagine what else it could be though. Well… That’s a bit gaudy but I guess I can make it work…”

After a bit of walking through the house, they finally made it to a door. The door was cyan, and the words “Cryo’s nursery,” on the door in an arch with deep blue letters. There was a picture of an anchor and an Aqua element creature from the capsule creature’s series of games known as Draghorse on the door, a seahorse type of creature. “Huh… Not what I expected from a nursery dedicated to me… Strange… An anchor and a Draghorse? Huh… What could this correlate to?” Cryo wondered. “Well, little baby. You ready to see your new nursery?” “Umm… Yeah, Mama! I’m… ready to see my new beddy room!” “Well… Let’s step in then!” She slowly opened the doorknob to the room, which had the picture of a old sea vessel carved into its metal, and they entered the room.

Cryo’s eyes shot up by what he saw! He realized that his room did follow a theme. But it wasn’t pink wallpaper and hearts, but it seemed to be a mix of pirate and capsule creature themed! The walls seemed to have been painted to show many different pirate ships sailing on the briny blue, with sailors and different capsule creatures decked out in pirate gear tending to the ships! The lower part of the walls shown a rather scenic underwater expanse, with many aqua element capsule creatures swimming around the entire expanse!

Directly to the left of the room in the corner, was a changing table in the shape of a Blubberbon, a whale looking capsule creature. The changing table was quite large, and was sitting on a large, dark blue cabinet that was painted to look like it was water with waves flowing on it. Cryo realized that it was set up to look like the blubberbon was carrying him through the waves of the ocean, whenever he is getting changed. There were two also rather large drawers sitting side by side to each other on the dresser. The left cabinet had the words “Day and Play,” on the front of it in with a Bright yellow sun on it. The right drawer had the words “Naptime and night,” with a bright glistening moon shining on it.

Further down on the left was a large group of cabinets, which seemed to contain many different types of clothing and such. There was a closet further down with opaque sliding doors with metal hinges, which seemed to have many different outfits, sweaters, and jackets. Some of them even pirate and capsule creature themed!

To the right of the room, was a very large play area for Cryo. There were many different… youngster toys lined all over the floor, and a large toy chest that seemed to also be filled with different toys. There was also a rather large play pen connected to the close right corner of the room with a couple toys inside of it as well. The walls of it were made of soft but VERY study netting and it extended all the way to the ceiling of the room. The entrance was a door that also had netting and a baby proof sliding lock attached to it on both ends. While Cryo knew how to open it, he knew he should never try. He knew he should play along with the game as much as he could. To the far right corner of the room, seemed to be a rather large play set in the likeness of an actual pirate ship, complete with a ramp with rails going up into the ship, a crows deck with a net attached around and then extended all the way to the ceiling so he couldn’t accidently fall down at the top, and a inner room with windows, that seemed to imitate a captains quarters.

The center of the room, seemed to be the napping and tv area. There was a cradle in the very center of the room in the shape of a small pirate ship, and the covers of the bed seemed had the image of a pirate captain and a bunch of capsule creatures in pirate gear. The sheets were a golden yellow as well. The bedding materials looked quite comfy to Cryo. Next to the cradle on the right side, was a small blue wooden cabinet with a single drawer with the picture carved into the wood of a dragons head. On top of the dresser was a radio/clock, that was also a pirate ship sailing on blue water, with the time of day on that part on a black screen with red numbers. On the left side of the cradle, was a rather large baby blue rocking chair. Further down against the wall in the center of the room, was a bit of a larger tv, in the shape of the capsule creature, Bessy, a large bass, and the screen was in the center of its gaping maw. A little bit further away from the tv, was a mid sized sofa, which was cyan and on the back, had a cartoony dragon sitting down with a sword raised up, looking like Cryo on the back. He seemed to be wearing training pants, an eye patch, striped shirt, a pirate doo rag wrapped across the top of his head, a sword holster belt attached to his waist, and chewing on a pacifier. Cryo was surprised quite a bit at the theme of his large room!

“Whoa… This actually seems… like a rather comfy living arrangement! I… certainly didn’t expect this!” Cryo thought. “So. Does my little Cryo like his new room?” “Oh! Yeah Momma! I love pirates and capsule creatures! But… how did you know, Mama?” “Well I knew you liked capsule creatures when I first saw you watched it, and Mama apparently got some advice from your folks back at home!” “H…Home?” “That’s right! Momma asked what you liked when you were tiny, and we made this nice little nursery for you!” “Umm… Ok then. Thank you, Momma!” “Ahh… Come here my little toddler!” She gave Cryo a big hug and Cryo looked around the room again. “Well… I certainly did like pirates when I was younger. A whole lot! That’s for sure. I remember some of the pirate storybooks that were read to me when I was a hatchling. Next thing I knew, I’m chewing on my pacifier, with a holstered plastic sword around my waist, and leading a pirate crew of plush toys back at research base omega. I still like pirates and pirate stories honestly. I wonder if Ty or Gerald has any pictures or videos of me playing pirate captain when I was just a hatchling? I should ask him when I get home. I’m sure mom would get a kick out of it.” He smiled and chuckled a bit, and Sara soon began to cradle Cryo again in her arms. “Alright, Cryo. Let’s get you into some training pants and some nice, comfy cloths.”

Ch 23

Baby Buddy

She carried Cryo to the left side of the room, where the changing table was. She gently set Cryo down on his back on it, and rubbed his belly a bit. The table felt a bit soft, with the material feeling fuzzy and a bit warmer then he thought. “Alright, little baby. Let me just get you strapped in real quick.” Cryo took in a deep breath and nodded. She then took a blue strap attached to the table and clipped it around Cryo’s waist gently. She then pulled the strap from the clip to slightly tighten it around Cryo. “There we go. Try not to wiggle too much while I change you, ok?” “Ok, Momma.” She rubbed Cryo’s head a few times, and then pulled open the “Day and play,” cabinet below the changing table. She pulled out a canister of baby powder and a pair of training pants meant for pets with long tails. She smiled at him and began to powder Cryo’s crotch. “This powder still smells a bit strong, but its better to have this then to get a rash from the training pants,” Cryo thought. She then lifted him up by the legs and began to powder his bottom and around his tail. After a bit, she rubbed Cryo’s head again. “There we go. Your all powdered. Now. Let’s get your training pants on.”

She then began to take the training pants and then began to fit the hole out the back of it around Cryo’s long tail. She then lifted his legs up again and then slid the training pants under his bottom. “There we go, little baby. We’re almost done.” She then lifted the front of the training pants over Cryo’s crotch, and then stuck the flaps to the front, a fastened them to the front of his training pants.

“There we go! All changed! Does that feel a bit better, little baby?” “Umm… Yea! Feels good not having to worry about accidents, Momma.” “That’s a good boy. Now. Why don’t I get some nice cloths on you. I know you like being bundled up all nice and snug!” “Ok, Momma.” She patted his head a few times and unhooked him from the changing table. She picked him up and brought him over to where his cloths were located. She set him down in front of the closet and patted his head a few times. “Alright. Be a good boy and sit right there while I pick something out for you. Ok?” “Yes, Momma.” “Good. Stay right there for a few seconds…”

Sara opened the closet doors and began to rummage through the closet a bit. “Huh… I wonder what Sara will want me to wear?” Cryo thought. He looked at his training pants. He could see it seemed to be white, but it had the classic insignia of a pirate on the front and back. Skull and crossbones in the color black. It was felt cushiony and soft, around Cryos bottom, but felt a bit itchy as well. Despite that, it felt comfortable enough. “Pirate themed training pants. Looks to be custom design. Also looks to be high grade in terms of… well… flexibility and spillage… I’m sure I’m going to need to be changed multiple times today. I suppose this isn’t that bad… It at least feels comfy enough. And… well… I guess I technically don’t need to worry about… having to go outside to… have a break…” He gently scratched his bottom a few times and sat patiently for Sara. Not long after, Sara pulled out what seemed to be an outfit from the closet.

“Who wants to be a little pirate today?” Sara asked. “P…Pirate?” “That’s right. Here. Stay still while I get you all snug.” “Well… Ok then, Momma.” She first lifted a deep blue and black long sleaved striped shirt over Cryo’s head and gently put it on Cryo, careful enough to maneuver his wings out the back. She then pulled Cryo’s bandanna out so it would be outside the shirt. She then took a red rag and then wrapped it around and tied it to the top of his head, covering it completely. She then took a pair of blue baby gloves and socks with a couple frills coming across the top. “Alright… give me your little hand and footsies, my little baby.”

Cryo nodded an he held out his front paw. She gently lifted the glove over his left paw. It felt warm and cozy. She did the same with his other paw. “Alright. I’m going to need to lay you on your back so I can get these on your little footsies. Ok?” “Yes, Mama.” Cryo then laid on his back and smiled at her. She rubbed his belly a few times. She then quickly lifted the small sock on Cryo’s left leg. She did the same with his other leg. They felt very warm, cozy, and fuzzy. She then turned Cryo back around on his belly and he got up. She began to stroke his head a bit. Cryo looked at the gloves and socks more closely. The gloves had the images of a pacifier on top of them, and the socks had the image of an anchor on them. They covered his paws along with his talons. He looked at them. “I don’t typically have my talons covered when I wear gloves and socks, but… this honestly feels really nice on my paws. I also don’t have to worry about accidently scratching Sara either, even though I trimmed my talons beforehand.” Cryo smiled and nodded. Sara patted his head a few times. “There we go. Now we just need to give your Mr. Binks, little baby boy.” Sara reached into her pocket, and pulled out a pacifier with a string attached to it. She then wrapped it around Cryo’s neck. The pacifier hung down from his neck, which he looked at. “Well… This is the same as when I was a hatchling. Not too bad, I suppose.” Cryo thought. “Why don’t you look in the mirror, Captain Cutie!” Sara said. “Well… Alright then.”

Cryo looked towards the mirror near the closet, and saw he really did look like a pirate, with the striped shirt and the pirate doo rag wrapped around his head! “Wow… I actually look like a pirate,” Cryo said. “Yep! Does my little baby want his eye patch as well?” She opened her hand and Cryo saw the black eye patch in her hand. “An eye patch too? Well… I never really got a chance to dress like a pirate at home. Maybe… Yea. Might as well take the eye patch too!” Cryo thought. He nodded to her with a smile. “Yeah, Momma! Give me an eye patch!” “That’s my boy! Now… Hold still while I put this on, captain cutie!” She lifted the eye patch and wrapped it around his head, covering his left eye. He looked in the mirror again. “Now I REALLY look like a pirate.” Cryo thought. He gave a small smile and nodded his head.

“Alright, Captain. Why don’t I take you over to your couch to watch some nice educational television. It’s early in the day, and tykes tv should be playing some really nice programs for you to learn some valuable life skills and lessons! That includes monster truck masters! I’ll sit with you and keep you company while you watch. Breakfast should be ready by 9:30. You better be ready to eat by then, and not make a fuss!” Sara said. “Umm… Alright Momma. Let’s watch some nice tv.” Cryo said.

She picked him up and cradled him into her arms, and she rubbed his belly a bit. Then she strung him over her shoulder and carried him over to the couch. She gently rubbed his back as she went forward, which comforted him. She then sat down on the couch. She pulled his training pants back a bit to check if he needed a change, but he seemed to be good for now. She then placed Cryo on her lap. “Alright. Time for you to learn, Captain Cutie!” She turned on the tv, and turned the channel to tykes tv. Soon enough, the first program came on, which seemed to be Monster truck masters. “Alright, Captain. Here we go,” she said. “Ok momma. I’m ready to lea… Mmph!”

Sara had taken the pacifier around his neck placed it into Cryo’s mouth. Her way of telling Cryo it was “quiet time,” right now. Cryo looked at it, and it seemed to have a a small plush blue dragon attached to the end of it. He chewed and sucked on it a bit and nodded. He began to settle down and watch the show.

Sara then began to maneuver Cryo’s front left paw up and towards her a bit. She then began to slowly and gently take one finger and gently and slowly scratch and stroke Cryo’s arm and palm up and down on it. Occasionally, when she got close of Cryo’s palm, she would stroke his palm a bit more with multiple fingers. Cryo began to relax quite a bit, and gave a comforting sigh… “She… knows the way I like being massaged. I guess the people back home must have told them about this as well. This won’t be so bad. Ahh… How nice and relaxing…” So time passed as Cryo watched the tv and was being comforted by Sara. Soon enough, Cryo heard the door open to the room. He saw a middle aged women step in, with blond hair, green eyes, and wearing a blue dress. “Sara. Its time for breakfast!” Cryo felt his stomach growl, and patted his belly a bit. Sara chuckled at him a bit. “Alright. Thanks, Ms. Oline! You ready to eat, Captain Cutie?!” “Yeah, Momma! I’m ready for some food for my tum tum.” “Great! Let’s take you to our dining room.” So Sara lifted up and cradled Cryo in her arms, and walked down the hallway with Ms. Oline to the dining room.

Ch 24

Big Breakfast

They entered the dining room, and Cryo saw that many plates and silverware had already been placed around the table. Many of the workers in the house were already sitting at the table. They noticed Cryo and Suzy had entered the room. They smiled and waved a them. “Well, well… Looks like young Master Cryo is ready for his food. Aren’t you?” said the butler. Cryo looked over to him, and recognized him figure, short white hair, a black tuxedo, black shoes with white socks, black bow tie, and a fancy white clean undershirt. “Umm… Yea! I’m ready for some nice yum yums, Mr. Miller!” “That’s wonderful, Master Cryo. We hope you’ll enjoy breakfast with us today.” Cryo smacked his chops and sniffed. He could smell the fresh waft of the food all across the dining room from the kitchen. But then he began to think for a minute… “Hmm… I might not get anything but… mushy food, considering that I’m… well… yea. Better then nothing I suppose…” “Alright, little baby! Let’s get you to your high chair, little captain! Looks like your bib is already sitting close to the table.” “Oh! Ok, Momma!”

She began to carry Cryo around to the other side of the table. Cryo saw a blue high chair in the front left corner of the table. She carried him over to it, and patted his head a bit in her hands. Cryo began to observe it more closely

There legs were pretty long and sturdy, and had anchors had been carved into it a went up the entirety of each sides of the legs. The seat was dark blue and there was the symbol of the aqua type from capsule creatures painted into it. There was a small divot where the legs come out to stop Cryo from falling through when he’s sat down and locked in place on it. The backstop had the words, “Feeding time!” on it in white letters on top and had a smiling stormfall looking forward with a bib and training pants around his tail fin below the words. The cushion inside and the backstop behind was separated into 2 half’s. The opening between the two was large enough to fit his tail through the back. The platter to serve food on it was raised to the side right now. “Alright, Captain. Let’s get you all settled in.”

She maneuvered Cryo to be nicely sat down in the seat, with his tail going down off the back of the seat. She then lowered the platter down in front of Cryo, which settled and locked his legs in place. Cryo relaxed his legs down towards the floor and began to look at the platter for the high chair. He saw it had a picture of him, drinking from a bottle on his back. Cryo chuckled a bit at the picture. “Reminds me when I was young in my crib. I did this every mourning,” he thought. He took in a deep breath. “Now let’s get your bib on, young man.”

She began to take the bib sitting on the table and wrapped it around Cryo’s neck, over his bandanna. Cryo looked at it, and saw the picture of him in training pants and a plain white bib, chewing on a pacifier, with a fork and spoon in his hands lifted up. The words, “Dragon’s Hungry. Time to feed!” were above the picture. “Well… I suppose that’s true right now. I AM quite hungry,” Cryo thought. He chuckled again. And settled down and relaxed. He saw many of the servants around the room in their seats. He saw several of them chuckling as well, with a pleasant smile on their faces. “Ahh… They must think I’m cute,” Cryo thought. He waved at them from his seat, and everyone waved back.

“Alright… Breakfast should be ready in just a few more minutes. Cryo. Just relax for a bit.” “Yes, Mr. Miller. Umm… I guess I’m going to have… mushed peas for breakfast?” “Oh heavens sake! No master Cryo. You don’t need such things. I’m pretty sure you have a nice full set of teeth to chew, correct?” “Oh! Uh…” Cryo looked at Susy for a second. She nodded and rubbed his belly a few times. “Umm… Yeah! Your right, Mr. Miller. I’m… at least… old enough for that. Umm… Thank you!” “Yes. Now let me go check with the cook for a second, to see if the food is ready.” He began to stand up with his seat. He began to walk towards the kitchen. But before he did, he went to Cryo’s chair and began to whisper in his ear.

“Thank you so much for doing this for little Sara. You have no idea how much she’s been looking forward to this weekend. I know being treated like this might be a little… much for you. But… we’ll do everything we can to keep you in as much comfort as possible…” “Thanks, Mr. Miller. I’ll keep a close eye on… Momma and keep her happy as best as I can… Don’t worry about me. I can handle a few… accidents every now and then.” Mr. Miller patted Cryo’s shoulder a few times, and he smiled. “Hang on everyone.” He slowly walked to the kitchen as Cryo watched him. Cryo began to patiently wait for the food.

Not long after, several of the cooks in the house began to bring out several plates with food covered up to the table. Mr. Miller began to step out soon after. “Alright everyone. Food is ready. Bon apatite!” he said with a smile. Mr. Miller began to step over to Cryo’s high chair again. “Would you like me to feed Master Cryo, Sara?” “Oh, no! I can feed my baby boy. He needs his momma to comfort him, right?” “Umm… Yea! That’s right, momma! I’d like you to feed me!” “That’s a good boy.” “Well… Let’s start passing food then.” And so, each of them began to pass the plates of food around the table, each one taking a bit as they passed it around. Sara managed both her and Cryo’s plates. Cryo actually saw she had taken quite a bit of food for him. She had several plates of different foods placed on the platter of his high chair by the time they were done passing it around. He saw there was hashed taters, hard boiled chillin eggs, toast, bacon, and of course, a large baby bottle filled with milk. “Huh… I’m surprised you want me to eat so much food, momma. Don’t I have to share a bit more with the others?” “Now, Now, Captain. Your very young. You need food more then anyone else here! You need to be fed quite a bit so you can grow to a big pirate one day.” “Well… alright momma.” “Good. Now then. Time for you first bite!”

She stood up and stuck a fork into one of Cryo’s hard boiled eggs and began to lift it up towards him. She smiled at him. “Alright, Captain Cutie! Open up! Here comes the car!” She began to make car noises. Cryo played along with the game and began to laugh a bit. She quickly thrust the hard boiled egg into his mouth as he laughed. Cryo closed his jaws around the fork and she then slowly pulled it from his mouth. He began to chew on it. He then gave a smile. Sara began to dab his bib around his mouth to clean up his face. “Hmm. Actually… pretty good! Never tried hard boiled eggs before. Mom certainly loves these in the morning. Might have to ask her to make some for me when I get back home,” he thought. “There we go! That’s a good boy! Now. My turn to take a bite!”

She stuck her own fork into a hard boiled egg on the plate and then placed it into her mouth. She then opened her mouth and stuck it in. She smiled as she lifted the fork out and chewed. Cryo smiled and turned towards her. “Was the eggy yummy, Momma?” “Why of course it was, Capitan. Now… Here comes your second bite!” She then took a small piece of bacon and held it in front of him. “Here comes the choo choo train!”

This time, she made train engine noises. Cryo once again played along and laughed at her. She quickly trust the piece of bacon into Cryo’s mouth as he laughed, and he began to chew slowly. He then gulped it down and rubbed his belly in satisfaction. She began to clean his face again as he chewed. “Yum Yum!” he said. “That’s a good boy. Now its my turn!”

She took a piece of bacon and then quickly took a bite out of it and chewed. She smiled as she chewed. She then took another bit of it and chewed the rest of the piece up. “Was you baccy yummy, momma?” “Why of course, Captain.” Now… I bet someone needs a little milky to wash that bacon down, don’t you?” “Umm… Yea, momma! I want some milky…” “Good. That’s my little captain.”

She grabbed Cryo’s bottle from the table and began to maneuver it towards his mouth. “Open up, Captain! Time for some nice milky for the baby!” Cryo nodded and opened his mouth. She smiled and maneuvered it towards his mouth. He closed his fangs around the bottle and began to drink the milk out of it. “This milk tastes very fresh. Almost like what I had back on the mountains,” Cryo thought. He continued to drink for a bit and then released the bottle from his jaws. Sara rubbed his belly again. “I’m done with my milky for now,” Cryo said. “Thats a good boy. Now give me a moment to take a nice sip of my own drink.

She began to take her cup, which seemed to be filled with a red drink. She slowly lifted it up towards her lips, and began to drink VERY slowly out of it. She turned her eyes towards Cryo, who she saw was watching her as she drank. He gave a big smile at her, and she began to chuckle a bit as she drank. She soon put the glass back on the table. “Alright, Captain. Time for your next bite!”

So… time passed as everyone ate. While the meal was a bit slow for Cryo, due to the way he was being fed, he was nonetheless satisfied by the end. He ate all of it. He rubbed his belly a few times and picked at his teeth a bit with his talons covered by the gloves. “There we go! Was your food good, Captain?” “Oh! Yea Momma! It was really yummy!” “That’s a good boy. Now… Come to momma. It’s time to burp you.” “Ok Momma.” She stood up from her seat and then lifted the platter from Cryo’s high chair. She grabbed Cryo and began to gently lift him over her shoulder. She began to gently pat Cryo’s back. Cryo looked at all the others in the room, giving loving smiles at him. He smiled and began to burp a bit, as much as he could manage, to satisfy Susy. After being burped for awhile, Sara finally seemed satisfied with her work. “There we go, Captain Cutie. I think we got enough of that nasty ol gas out you. You feel better?” “Oh! Yea, Momma! Nice to not have a sore tum tum.” “That’s a good boy. Why don’t I take you back to your room, Captain. I’m sure you want to play on your pirate playset, huh?” Cryo thought for a moment at the large pirate ship in his room. He smiled and nodded. “Yea, Momma! I want to be a REAL captain, now!” “That’s my boy. Come on. Let’s head to your nursery!” “I will escort you, Mistress Sara,” said Mr. Miller. “Alright. Let’s go!” Sara said. So they began to head to the nursery. She strung Cryo over her sholder and rubbed his back as they walked. Cryo began to have an idea. “I know she wants me to play on that pirate ship. Perhaps… I’ll play on it just like how I played pirate back at home when I was a hatchling…” he thought. Before they made it into the room, Sara pulled back his training pants again one more time to check him. It seemed that despite the meal, he still didn’t need to be changed yet. She smiled at him and continued down the hall.

Ch 25

Pirate Playset

The three headed down the halls to Cryo’s nusery and opened the door. Sara stepped in, and began to rub Cryo’s head a few times. “We’re back to your nursery, Captain. You ready to play?” Sara asked. “Oh, Yes please! I’m ready for some fun time!” Cryo replied back. “Thats a good boy. Come on. I’ll take you over to your pirate playset, Captain Cutie!” “Yes. Would you like anything else, Mistress Sara? Or do you think you can handle the young master.” asked Mr. Miller. “Umm… Actually… Could you bring my little captain here a bottle of warm milk before naptime?” “Yes of course, Mistress. I’ll have a nice bottle prepped for young master Cryo before he takes his first nap of the day.” “Thank you, Mr. Miller.” “Umm… When is my nappy going to be, Momma?” asked Cryo. “You’ll be taking your first nap at about 12:15 P.M., Captain Cutie. Be a good boy when its time. Ok?” “Ok, momma.” Cryo looked at a radio which read, 10:35 A.M. on it. “Ok… So I have a bit of time to play before my nappy. But… Won’t I miss lunch?” “We’ll eat lunch at about 3:30 P.M. That should be enough time for your nap, Master Cryo. I’m sure you’ll be awake by then.” “Well… Ok then.” “Alright. Have a pleasant afternoon you two. Remember Sara. If you have any difficulty with the young master, please don’t hesitate to get me or Ms. Oline for help. “Oh I know already, Mr. Miller. I know. I don’t think this little mister here won’t be too much trouble, huh?” “Yep! I’ll make sure to be a good little boy and follow mommy’s rules.” Cryo winked at Mr. Miller and smiled. He smiled back and nodded. “Have a good time playing, you two.” Mr. Miller left the room, and closed the door. Sara smiled at Cryo. “Alright. It’s play time, Captain. Let’s get you to your pirate ship!”

She began to take Cryo over to the pirate playset. She went up the ramp towards the deck and placed Cryo down on it. Cryo looked around at the playset. It really did feel like a pirate ship from some of the movies and stories. “So, Captain. Do you like your ship?” “Oh! Yes Momma! I love having my very own pirate ship!” “Yea! But… I think you need a crew as well!” “A Crew?” “Yeah! So… Why don’t you check the captains quarters! You might find some “willing playmates,” for your crew!” “Well… Alright then momma.” She began to lead Cryo towards a door on the playset, and she opened the door to the inside. Cryo stepped through the door and looked around the captains quarters…

He saw that there seemed to be a bunch of plastic gold coins and jewels lining against the sides of the room. His “captains treasure,” he assumed. He saw a small rope coiled above on a plastic hook to the left. He looked towards the center of the room, and saw appeared to be a captains desk with what looked to be fake treasure maps, and more importantly, a belt with a plastic pirate sword holstered to the front of it. He headed over and picked up the belt. He unholstered the plastic sword, and saw it was quite well decorated, with plastic jewels and golden paint. “Well… This seems to be a rather fitting captains sword. The one I had at home was nowhere near as fancy as this one. Even if it is just simple plastic,” he thought. He smiled and began to carefully attach it around his waist, above his training pants… He looked at another object close to his captains table at the center of the room. He saw it appeared to be another cradle, but this one seemed to be a bit more pirate and treasure themed. It looked like a wooden treasure chest with gold linings, casings, jewels on it. The carpet around the cradle was imitating gold doubloons . He saw the bed covers were red and had the image of a gold dragon, with the words, “Feared dragon pirate of the seven seas, Cryo the dragon!” below in gold lettering. The sheets were a nice white. It looked pretty comfy.

“I have… 2 different places to sleep in my room, Mama?” “That’s right. Just in case you want to sleep like a good little pirate captain.” She smiled at him, and he smiled back. He saw a Radio/clock next to the bed. This one however, was quite imaginative. It took the form of a speaky bird (Similar to a parakeet, with green feathers, a long beak, rather large talons, and a blue and white tail and belly feathers), sitting on a perch and facing towards the cradle. It was holding the screen for the clock at the bottom of its talons, which shown a black screen with blue numbers on it. He smiled at the thought of the bird “singing him to sleep,” during naptime.

He looked around and saw that there appeared to be a mid sized and a large treasure chest to the right of the room. He headed over and opened the two of them. The mid sized one to the left of him seemed to be able to be moved around and had more coins and jewels in it. He believed that this was meant to be how he could have “buried treasure,” in his little games. He looked to the larger chest to the right. It seemed to be bolted to the floor. He opened it, and his eyes opened wide. He reached into it, and pulled out a large group of plush capsule creatures, each decked out with pirate gear and training pants. There were many aqua type capsule creatures that looked very cute. But also… there was a bunch of Lightbolt capsule creatures that looked a bit more… menacing to him.

“Wow. A lot of capsule creature plushies in here, momma.” “Those are your playmates, Captain!” “My… Playmates, momma?” “That’s right. I know your favorite type in the capsule creatures games is the aqua type, so we bought a bunch of capsule creature plushies and decked them out in nice pirate gear so they could be your crewmates! But… your enemies are ALSO in that chest! The nasty pirates of the lightbolt type who you own crewmates are vulnerable to! It would only take a clever captain’s wit like yours to outsmart them!” Cryo looked at them again. “Ahh. I see now. That’s why the aqua type ones look adorable and the lightbolt ones look pretty intimidating. The aqua ones are my pirate crew while the lightbolt ones are supposed to be my rivals. That’s… pretty clever actually…” Cryo chuckled a bit. The plushies were very squishy and soft. “I… I never was able to have a capsule creature plush back at home. I didn’t even know these were actually made. I… I think I like these quite a bit. They… They feel pretty nice,” he thought. “Well… Who’s going to be your first mate, Captain?” “My first mate?” “Yeah! Every pirate captain has to have a first mate, right?” “Well…” “Come on captain! You have to promote someone to be you second in command!” “Well… Ok then. Give me a moment to decide, Momma.” She nodded and smiled at him.

“Take your time, Captain. This is a big decision for your pirate crew.” “I know, Momma. I know… Hmm… Who should I…” As he was looking through the plush capsule creatures, his eyes grew wide. Cryo pulled out one plush in particular. He looked at it closely. It was the legendary capsule Creature, Stormfall! It had a red pirate doo rag around its head, had a plastic pacifier in his mouth between its sharp fake white fangs, and wearing a red and white striped shirt around his body and large side fins, and pure white training pants around his tail fin. He looked at it for a bit, turning it over every which way to observe it. Cryo knew who he’d make his first mate…

“I… I chose this one, Mama…” “Oh! Stormfall! Of course! What’s your first mates name?” Cryo thought for a moment. “I’ll name him, Tidal. Tidal the stormfall!” “Well… Congratulations on you promotion, Tidal! Now… I believe its time to go on an adventure, don’t you, Captain?” Cryo looked at his new stormfall plush and then the other plushies sitting across from each other one by one. “Ye… Yeah! Time to have some pirate fun!” “That’s my little captain. Now could you hold on a second before you start, Captain?” “Umm… Why momma?” “She took a phone out of her pocket. “I want to record my little captains first pirate adventure! Ready captain?” Cryo looked towards his “crew.” “Yeah! Let’s play!”

Ch 26

Meeting them Mateys

Cryo took each of his plush “crewmates,” and began to line them up next to each other on the ground. He looked at each of them, then at Sara. He smiled and nodded. “Let’s put on a little play for Sara,” Cryo thought as he sat himself down. He began to scratch under his chin a few times, thinking of a fun story to partake him. Then, he thought of something. He nodded to himself, and then grabbed the plastic sword from his hilt and raised it high! “Avast, me hardy crew! We be going back on the open briny blue!” He lowered his sword back into its holster. “Now me crew. It’s probably been quite a bit since we last sailed. Fear not. I’m still seaworthy me crew. Now… I bet ye all wondering what we be doin on today’s little outing, aren’t ye?” He gently grabbed his stormfall plush, and raised its fin up in the air. “Ahh… Tidal! Ye find yourself asking a question?” Cryo began to raise the pitch of his voice to give the plush a personality. “Oy, Captain! I find myself wondering what we be huntin today!” “Well, first mate… Glad ye asked! We be huntin a bit of treasure left behind in an old rotting temple far to the east of us. The temple is said to be treacherous, with tricks and traps all over yonder! It take a darin pirate to grab ye and take it home…” He grabbed his stormfall plush again and began to manuver it around again. “Oy! That sounds a bit dangerous captain!” he said in his “Tidal,” voice. “Aye, matey. But… We be pirates. We sail on the briny blue and enter treacherous territory, where the only ones watching ye is ye and your crew. Them seas be harsh, with mighty blue waves rockin the ship and other pirates lookin to get an easy score on an unsuspecting crew. This life be dangerous, but it be a life of adventure! Now then. Who’s with me!?” Cryo began to shout Huzzah over and over in different tones and voices, giving a sense of the plush crew agreeing with him. Sara chuckled, clearly enjoying the scene quite a bit. “Alright ye crew. Let’s head towards deck and set sail!” He grabbed all his plush toys and began to head out of the captains quarters of the ship. He then placed him on the ground in front of him and began to scratch his chin a bit. “Now… I suppose I should be assigning roles to all ye salty seadogs… Hmm…”

He looked at Tidal first. “Alright, Tidal. Ye be in the Crow’s nest. Ye be keepin an eye on the far reaches to make sure we don’t be gettin ambushed by some other salty sea dogs, lookin to make a quick buck. Cryo lifted Tidal up again. “Aye, Captain!” Cryo said in “Tidal’s voice.” He began to climb up the pirate play set with his Tidal plush all the way to the top. He placed Tidal on the side of the railing, which was covered by a thick safety net. He quickly climbed back down to the rest of his plush crew.

He looked at his next plush, a Evesea, a cyan capsule creature with 4 legs with webbed paws, a very long fish tail, a long, rounded snout, and a fin going across its back all the way towards its tail. It was also wearing white training pants, a black vest, had a red pirate doo rag wrapped around its head and a red scarf around its neck. Cryo began to think of what to call it and what role it should play within his “little play.” He then smiled and nodded. “Ahh. Vapor. You will be tending to our cannons on the ship. Make sure they are ready to fire in case we be runnin into trouble. Savvy?” Cryo said. He then lifted his “Vapor,” plush and spoke in a very high pitched voice for this plush.” “Aye Aye, Captain!” He placed it next to the cannons on the front side of the play set. He then walked back to his other crewmates and sat down. He looked to his next plush crewmate, and scratched his chin a few times. He recognized the form of a A Skatespy. This white pondskater spider capsule creature plush had a very large head with red eyes, black legs with cyan shaped bubbles attached to the bottom of its feet, and its middle body part seemed to have something opaque around it, kind of like its body is wrapped in clear water. Like with the others, he was wearing white training pants. He also had an eye patch covering one red eye with a skull and crossbones on it, a dark black shirt around his upper body, a blue scarf around his neck, and a black pirate doo rag wrapped around his head. Cryo began to think of a name and role to give him. “Alright. Skipper. Ye be cleanin the ship. That might seem a bit harsh, but ye need to pay your dues for that accident you had in the captains quarters earlier. However. Once ye be through, ye may take a rest and relax on deck. Can I count on ye?” He grabbed it and gave it a deeper voice then the other plusies. “Aye, Captain! I’ll scrub this deck cleaner then a Clensy could every hope to!” “Good. I’ll be checkin your work when ye be done, so don’t ye be slackin. Otherwise… I might have to… put ye in some special pants… You need to keep ye training pants on for that reason alone… We ALL do!” “Oyy! Not rubber pants! Uhh… Right away captain!” Sara chuckled at this quite a bit. Cryo smiled and placed him in the middle of the pirate playset.

Cryo looked at his final plush crewmate. A Deepdra capsule creature. It was sea dark blue 4 legged dragon capsule creature, not unlike him. It had bulging round yellow eyes, a very long snout, webbed feet, a very short tail, long slender body with 3 fins going across its back and down its tail. And like with the others, it was wearing white training pants. It also had a red shirt with a blue vest, a blue doo rag wrapped around his head, a blue bandanna, and an eye patch. Cryo thought for a moment. “Hehe… This guy kind of looks like me right now. I bet Suzy was expecting me to choose you as first mate. Stormfall is still my favorite capsule creature, unfortunately. But… I still really like the way you look nonetheless. Now… just one more job left… What should I call you? Hmm…” Cryo thought for a moment. Then he smiled. “Ahh… Me young adopted son, Aqua! You ready to take ye first assignment on this here vessel?” “Aye Da… Erm… I mean captain!” Cryo said in a rather high pitched voice. “Oh! Adopted son!” Susy exclaimed! “Aye. Ye be right, me fair queen. I raised this here boy since… He was found by me on some float some among the sea drift towards home. He’s a very good boy… but… inexperienced in this line of work. If this young lad be going to lead me crew one day, he be needin to learn a whole bunch on how to be a pirate. We work for the queen for a reason. We be turnin from a life of crime to find treasures and relics for the nation! Not to mention Queeny be relying on us to clear the seas of them nasty sea dogs! Bounty work is never easy, and me ol rivals had recently escaped from the queens iron gate prison! They are some of ye worst pirates ye be hearin of. I’m sure they be wanting vengeance after being put under lock an key!” “Haha! Better watch out for them, my Captain Cutie! I can’t imagine anyone else that could show Aqua the ropes!” “Aye! Now anyway. Ye will be my eyes and ears. I need ye to watch and make sure the other crewmates be doin their duties aboard the ship. This may seem like a simple procedure, but ye be needin to absolutely on the spot with this. Also… ye queen be joining on our voyage! She be wanting to see me line of work for herself. She be needin protection from them nasty sea dogs! She also be me precious long lost mother, who I lost when I was just brought into this world! She be the most important figure on this here ship! Savvy?” Cryo tilted his Aqua plush’s head up and down. Sara laughed at how Cryo was treating her like royalty. “Now. Ye ready to do your duty, Aqua?” “Aye, Captain!” “Aye good, lad. Then we’re ready to shove off. Anchors away everyone. Let’s set sail on the brainy blue yonder!” He placed his “Aqua,” plush next to the edge where the steering wheel was, so he could “observe,” the crew as they worked. Cryo took the wheel of the ship and began to spin it around a bit. “To the treasure, me hardys!”

So Cryo played “pirate,” for quite a while. Sara laughed the whole way through, which made him happy. Soon enough though, it was about 12:10, and Mr. Miller had opened the door and stepped into the room, carrying a bottle of warm milk in his hand. “Mistress Sara. It’s about time for Cryo’s nap. I brought the warm milk you requested.” Cryo and Sara turned to him. “Ahh! Good timing! Cryo has just found the treasure and was about to take the other naughty pirates to prison!” Sara said. “Oh, Really? Is that true, Master Cryo?” Cryo nodded and smiled. “Aye aye, Mr. Miller. These nasty brutes tried to attack our ship and steal the treasure. Naturally, we bounty hunters and specially trained salty sea dogs won’t be felled so easily by the black hearted. These naughty sea dogs will be spendin a great amount of time behind lock and key!” Cryo pointed to the mast, and Mr. Miller saw he had tied the Lightvolt Plushies to the mast of his pirate playset, with the rope that was originally in the captain’s quarters. Mr. Miller chuckled at how Cryo had handled things and was talking like a pirate. “Well then, Captain. I bet our little adventurer has had quite a fill before his nap. Anyway… Would you like me to change the young master before his nap, Mistress? He’ll probably need his nighties training pants while he sleeps.” “Oh don’t worry Mr. Miller. I’ll do it. I changed this stinky boy mid way through his little adventure on the high seas. I can do it again now!” “Oh really now?” “Yes. You know I’m a responsible parent, Mr. Miller.” “Indeed you are mistress.” She picked up Cryo and began to rub his head a few times. “Alright, little baby, let’s get your nighties on so you don’t have to worry about little accidents while you sleep.” “Yawn… Ok, Mama…”

She carried him over to the changing table and gently laid him on his back on it. She rubbed his belly a few times. Then she manuvered the strap around his waist and clipped it. “Alright little baby… Just relax while mama changes you. Ok?” “Yes mama… Yawn…” She lifted Cryo’s legs and gently ripped his training pants off of him. She then scratched his head a bit. She then checked it to see if he had any “accidents,” while wearing it… She saw a little moisture inside, so she smiled at him and got a wipe, attached to a small container next to the changing table, and wiped his crotch gently up and down. She then opened the Nap and night,” drawer and grabbed the baby powder and a pair of training pants. “Alright. Just hold still while mommy powders you…” She began to gently shake the canister and powder his crotch. She then rubbed it in, and then lifted his legs up, and powdered his bottom and around his tail. She gently rubbed the areas to get it settled in. “There we go. We’re almost done. Let’s get your nighties on.” She began to fit the training pants around his tail, and then lifted his legs up again, and slid the training pants under his bottom. She then lifted the front flap over his crotch, and attached the flaps from the back to the front of it. “There we go! Your all changed!” Cryo looked at his “nighties.” He saw that it was also pirate themed. It was a dark blue, and seemed to show a pirate ship sailing through the dark sea, with the moon and stars shining above. It was also quite a bit softer, and felt a bit less bulky then the ones he had on before. “Interesting design… Feels a bit comfier too. It is made for sleep though… Guess its to be expected…”

Mr. Miller came over and smiled at Cryo, as Sara unclipped him from the table and cradled him in her arms. “Is the young adventurer ready for his nap?” asked Mr. Miller. Cryo yawned and scratched his bottom a few times. “Yea… I’m ready for nappy, Mr. Miller…” Cryo said. “Good. Would you like me to feed the young master, Mistress?” asked Mr. Miller. “Oh! No! I can feed him just fine,” Sara said. “Very well.” Mr. Miller headed towards Sara and gave her the bottle. “Would you like me to stay with you while you feed him?” “Haha. No. I’ll be fine.” “Very well, Mistress. I’ll wait for you outside the young master’s room when your done with him.” “Thank you Mr. Miller.” “Indeed. Enjoy your nap, Master Cryo.” “Thank you Mr. Miller. I will.”

She began to sling him over her back and began to rub gently as she carried him towards the rocking chair next to his bed. “Now then… Let’s get you some nice warm milk before your nap to help you sleep. Would you like to sleep on your pirate ship, or out here?” Sara asked. Cryo thought for a moment. “Umm… I think… I would like to sleep on my pirate ship today, Momma.” Cryo replied. “Of course… After a grand pirate adventure, my little captain wants to sleep with his crew…” “Umm… Yea mama. I want to go sleepy with my daring crewmates…” “That’s my little captain. Now… Why don’t I get you fed before bed.”

She sat down in the rocking chair and patted Cryo’s head a few times. “Alright, little baby. Open up. Time to feed you.” Cryo nodded and opened his mouth. Sara smiled and slowly manuvered the bottle into Cryo’s mouth. He closed his jaws around it and slowly drank from it. Sara rocked the rocking chair as she fed him. After a while the milk was finished. “There we go… That’s a good boy, drinking all his milk. Your going to be big and strong one day…” Sara said. Cryo yawned at her and nodded. “Yea… I’m… going to be big one day…” “That’s right. Now… Let’s get you all snuggled into your crib on your ship, my favorite little Captain Cutie…” She stroked his head a few times and then and began to carry him towards the pirate playset and up the ramp. She opened the door to the captains quarters and stood in front of the cradle. “Now then… little boy. Time for a nice, long, nap.” She pulled the covers of the bed down and placed Cryo into it. Then she pulled the covers over him. She then reached under the blanket and pulled out Cryo’s binky, still tied around his neck. “Open up. You’ll need your Mr. Binks while you snooze.” Cryo nodded slowly with droopy eyes and then opened his mouth. She manuvered the binky close to his mandibles and Cryo slowly bit it. He began to suck and chew on it a bit. Sara, rubbed his head, and turned towards the parrot radio. She fiddled around it for a bit, and turned on naptunes radio. She began to take each of Cryo’s plush crew, and place them to the sides of Cryo’s cradle. Seems they would be sleeping with him for his nap. She then began to slowly rock the cradle. Soon, the music worked its spell on Cryo’s hazy mind, and he quickly fell into a very deep slumber… “Have a good nap, my precious baby boy…” Sara said. She then rubbed his head a few more times, and went to activate a baby monitor and camera on the side of the pirates quarters. She then kissed him on the forehead, and left the ship. She went down the ramp, and then out towards the door to her room. She then shut the door. The room was silent for a few moments. But then, the music cut off from naptunes, and a voice began to be heard from the radio.

“Cr… Cr… Creator? Are you ok? Creator?” But Cryo was silent.” The baby monitor camera on the ship began to move on its own. It then stopped as it looked at the cradle, with Cryo inside… With a binky in his mouth… “Oh dear… I… wasn’t expecting this… Should… Should I wake him…?” Craft began to process things for a few moments…” “I… think it’s… best to let the creator sleep for now… No telling how bad things have been for him here. I can see why he didn’t want me to know about this… I’ll… just monitor things and try to talk with him when he wakes up… Oh dear… This is… unsettling… What in the world did they do to you?”

Ch 20

Training Tease

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and gave a small yawn. He saw he was back in the dojo again. He picked himself up and looked at himself. He was in his “Sea Serphant,” form. “I guess I’m going to be training with my more water based abilities this time…” He then looked around the room. The dojo walls looked like there was flowing water circulating through it and the ground looked as blue as water. He looked over to his karate gear, and saw it was looked kind of like it was made of water. There looked to be fierce currents flowing through it. “Huh… This is… interesting… Haven’t seen it like this before…” Cryo looked back towards the ground. “Is the ground… water?” Cryo slowly moved his paw out towards the floor, and touched it with one finger. But it was hard and did not feel wet. “Okay… The ground looks like water, but… its not… Interesting…” Just then, he heard the door to the room slide open, and his Wave stepped in again.

“Hello, my precious grandson.” “Oh! Hi Grandma!” She walked over toward Cryo and smile and patted his head a few times. “Ready to go to work, Cryo?” she asked. “Yea, Grandma! I cant wait to see what were learning today!” “Good! Now then… Why don’t you get your cloths on, and we can get started with training today, okay?” “Umm… Yea grandma.” “Good… I’ll wait out here for you to get ready. Just try not to have an “accident,” while your getting ready.” “Huh? What do you mean, Grandma?” She chuckled a fair bit and rubbed his head. “I’ll see you out of your room, my baby grandson…” She left out towards the door and back to the training area. He began to get up from his bed and then began to walk over toward his cloths. As grabbed his cloths though, he began to think why his grandmother seemed to tease him like that…

“Grandma seems to be having fun with the whole… babysitting thing I suppose… I guess I should…! “As he was about to put on his shirt, he looked down to his crotch, and saw he was wearing the training pants from before he was sleeping! His face got a bit red. “Oh… I… How did this get here…” He began to tug on it a bit, trying to take it off. But… it didn’t seem to want to move or come off, no matter what he tried…” “Well… This is… embarrassing… Why can’t I take this silly thing off? Sigh… well… I guess… I’ll just have to… wear it while training today… It’s probably going to get soaked and weigh me down, but… there seems to be nothing I can do to get it off… I can see why she made fun of me… I wonder if this is her idea of a prank or something…” He gave a sigh and put on his training cloths and headed out into the room.

The room was similar to his room in the dojo. Except… the water currents seemed to be going through the wall in “blue veins,” and was circulating all across the rooms, floors, and seemingly going into the water. The pool of water itself seemed to be crashing and flowing quite bit quickly. “The waters acting like there’s a wind storm going through it,” he thought. “Wave waved at him at the other side of the water.” “Come over here, grandson! There a few thing’s I’d like to teach you today.” Cryo nodded his head, and began to walk over towards her. She smiled at him and patted his head.

“Well grandson. You notice how the water is a bit… eccentric today?” “Umm… Yea, Grandma… I… I noticed… It be pretty hard to swim in normally, even for a dragon like me.” “Actually grandson, you should have no trouble with it, with that little thing on…” She pointed towards his training pants and chuckled a bit… Cryo was a little annoyed at this… “Grandma… Don’t you think your taking this prank a little too far…” “A prank huh? Or maybe…” She began to maneuver her hand around it. Cryo followed watched her hand, and realized that she was about to seemingly flip a switch on the side of it. She pushed it back. Then suddenly, the training pants seemed be stretching condensing all across his entire body! “WHA! Whats…! Soon… it began to form over his head. As it got around his face and eyes, it began to form a visor, which seemed allowed him to see through it! There seemed to be data being displayed on the visor… He looked at himself, and it looked like he was in a slick and a bit bulky wet suit. He could see what looked like technology and streams of wires going through it!

“What… What is this, Grandma…?” “That Cryo… Is a rig armor Cryo. One of the minor sets made for underwater and deepsea research and in some cases, combat and infiltration into underwater structures. We’ll be doing two types of training today with this…” “O…K… then… Whats our training…?” “The first will be basic maneuverability with this suit. Now… Cryo…” You are familiar with the underwater oxygen rebreather. This is just like it. However, this rig armor is made to not only be able to help you breath underwater. It will also protect you from underwater areas filled with higher pressure and such. It also has a few combat gadgets in case you get into a scuffle and for movement. And… These will eventually be modified to better complement dragons abilities.” “That’s… pretty cool… ” She patted Cryo on the head a few times. She continued… “The suit has a small assistant ai that will aid you with it systems. Of course… Something tells me when you eventually get a chance to try it for real, or really any of the rig armors and upgrades your given, you’ll be paired with a VERY special AI…” “R… Really? “Wh… Who?” “That’s just something you’ll just have to find out in time, My little grandson.” Cryo gave a sigh and nodded. She patted his head a few times. She began to raise her arm, and Cryo saw a rather large wristband. She flipped a switch on it and sure enough, it stretched and formed around her and soon enough, she was covered in a black underwater rig armor like Cryo was right now.” “Now then Cryo. Jump in the water and follow me.” She began to head towards the pool, but there was something he wanted to know first…

“Umm… Grandma…?” “Yes, Cryo?” “I… saw you activated yours with a wristband… Why is mine… training pants…?” She chuckled at him and smiled. “Did you consider it only LOOKED like the training pants your sleeping in right now? Did you actually consider that the material for that was quite a bit different?” “Umm… Uhh…” Cryo began to think a bit… After thinking… he realized that when he tried to pull it off earlier, it didn’t feel fuzzy, soft, or… disposable… It felt sleek, a bit metallic, a tiny bit stretchy, and fit quite tightly around his crotch and bottom… Tide chuckled at him again. “You were so focused at the fact it look like the training pants you were wearing for your nap, you never considered it was never that in the first place. It only looked like it, but its clearly different. This is just one more lesson for you, my grandson. Not everything is always what it seems…” “Oh…” Cryo’s face became a littles red again. He had been clearly very cleverly duped by his grandmother, Wave…” “Now then my grandson. Let’s jump in!” They both jumped into the water and began to swim under the waves.

Ch 21

Armorsuit Athletics

The two dragons began to swim around the water. He then heard Wave speak through the comms on the suit. “Alright, my grandson. You doing good?” she asked. “Umm. Yea, Grandma. I’m doing fine. I’m surprised we seem to be unobstructed by the currents under the water. The water looked pretty rough when we we’re above the surface.” “That’s to be expected, Cryo. These armor suits were made to better interact and interface with elements like this. Also… the sea serpent transformation also mitigates rushing water and currents on its own a bit as well. This particular rig was made for dragons, which as I said before, complement our own abilities much better, and adapt to allow us to use virtually any of our powers unhindered in different environments.” “Really? Even ones that use our mouths?” Wave chuckled at Cryo. Then, Cryo could hear her take a big breath in the comms. As she did, the mask around the face began to transform and open up. It looked like a steel speaker now. Wave then shot out a Sea screech forward, through the water. It travelled through the water until it was out of sight…

“There we go my grandson. Does that answer your question?” “Umm… Yea. I guess so… But… what controls the rig to open up the mouth piece like that? Do I press a button on the suit?” “The ai complementing your rig is in charge of that operation. It works alongside you in battle.” “Ahh… I see… So the ai will administer functions into the suit and basically keep an eye and ear on us in order to know when and where we’re going to use an ability?” “That’s right.” “Wow… Pretty cool. I wonder what ai I’ll be paired up with?” “Wave chuckled again and then patted his head. “Anyway… why don’t we get started with the first bit. We’re are first going to get you a bit more accustomed to the suit first. Sort of a “test drive,” that will help you when you wear your first one in the future. “Well… Alight then… How should we start, grandma?”

“First. Tell your ai to activate speed mode on the suit.” “Umm… Ok Grandma… Umm… Activate… speed mode?” Cryo then heard a voice on the suit. It sounded a bit… familiar to someone else he knew. “Activating speed mode.” “The armor began to shift a bit. Cryo saw the armor opening up around his wings and around his tail. It seemed that some type of small engine began to form around these areas… “Good, my grandson. Now then…”

She pointed over to the left and Cryo saw a few metal large metal rings appear underwater. They were positioned in a line, one after the other. “Alright, my grandson. Your first task is simple. Use the rig to glide through the underwater rings. Now… To activate the boosters on your suit, just hold your arms to your side, and close grip your paws. This will immediately activate the underwater boosters. Think of yourself as traveling through water a bit like torpedo. The firmer your grip, the faster you will travel. Angle and manuver your body to turn. Ok? Watch me…”

Wave began to turn herself to face the rings. She then held her arms to her sides, and then gripped her paws firmly. And then… “WHOOSH!” She began to propel forward at a high speed! She quickly passed through the underwater rings, and each lit up with a golden hue as she passed through each one! She turned to Cryo and nodded her head. “Now you try, my grandson.”

Cryo nodded his head. He then looked forward, and then got into position. He held his arms to his side, and gripped his paws, and soared forward! His angle though was not on point, but he was quickly able to angle his body and then passed through each ring! “Alright! Nice!” Cryo said.

“There we go Grandson. That’s a start. You seemed to be able to angle yourself well after that start, but lets see how well you can take turns.” Wave waved her hand again, and a new set of rings began to show up. They were at different spots around the area, facing different directions. “Now. Try to mauver yourself in various ways to go through each of the rings ahead. I’d suggest you take this slowly at first until you are more accustomed to the suit. We’ll be practicing this for every nap you’ll take today, and occasionally in the future, so when the time comes, you’ll be ready for a real suit. “Ok grandma!”

Cryo looked at the set of rings ahead, and breathed steadily… “Alright… Here goes nothing…” He began to manuver his body to face the first ring. “Slow and steady now… Like grandma said… I don’t need to race with this thing yet…” He then began to hold his arms to his side, and lightly gripped his paws. He shot forward at a steady speed, and began to pass through each of the rings one by one. However, he accidently overshot one. “Uh oh…” Thinking quick, he held his arms out to stop the boosters and then quickly turned himself around, got back into position, and the gripped his paws a bit hard! He shot forward, and passed through the ring! He then did the same thing again, and quickly got back on track! Soon, he was done with the course. He jetted back to Wave. “My, my, grandson. Not a perfect run, but an excellent recovery! You’ll be able to do a lot with this suit once your very accustomed to it.” said Wave. “Hehe. Thanks Grandma.” Cryo said back. “I think this is a good enough introduction for now. Now then, let’s switch it to offense mode.” “Offense mode? Well alright. Let me guess… say switch to offense mode?” “That’s right. You catch on quickly.” “Alright then. Umm… Suit? Switch to offense mode.” “Switching to offense mode, creator,” said the suit. The armor suit began change its form! The jets on the wings and tail began to go back into the suit, and now the back of the suit began to extend out a bit. Then, one slightly bigger jet began to recompile on the back! Cryo looked at the top of his paws, and saw two compartments beginning to open. Then he saw what seemed to be some type of cylindrical weapon come out from inside!”

“Excellent, Cryo. Now… I think you can guess, there are a few weapons on that suit for itself. The suit will enhance your own natural abilities while you wear it. But… we won’t really be practicing with them with the suit on. Its better to learn new dragon abilities without it, as you’ll gain more understanding and mastery without it. However, it doesn’t just enhance our abilities… It also comes with a few surprises itself. The jet on the back works similar to speed mode, but the main thing is that its for evasion rather then travel or escape. The jet isn’t activated by clasping your paw though. It’s instead activated simply by holding your arms to your side before. You’ll be using this in battle alongside your own abilities and the weapons systems. The jet is very useful to dodge attacks, as long as you make sure your angling yourself accordingly. Also keep in mind. The speed cannot be changed, and is still slower then in speed form. Use this while in battle to wait for an opportunity to attack.” “Ok. Makes sense grandma.” “Now for the weapon systems. However, as your dad has probably told you… He can only see so far in time, due to… certain complications… So its likely much more will be added in time. But we’ll practice with the two we know about. The first weapon is Shock Stinger.” “Shock… Stringer?” “That’s right. This is a regularly used weapon on this world. Observe…” Wave snapped her finger, and then a dojo dummy came down from above. “Now… This weapon is very unique for a variety of reasons. First, its a good restraining weapon.” “Restraining weapon?” “That’s right. It’s VERY rare for lethal force to be used on the planet. The protectors of the world have had a long history of capturing and detaining some pretty massive threats to society, with minimal damage in most cases. While not always successful in preventing certain threats from causing a ton of damage, they know exactly what to do to suppress abilities and powers. Even powers on dragons themselves. This one facet will be a VERY important one, when it comes to what we’ll REALLY need you to do, when your taken there…” “Huh… What do you mean?” “That’s something, for another day. Right now… Watch what happens. Watch what I do with my paw…”

Cryo swam forward a bit, and looked at Wave’s paw. She pointed it at the dummy. And then quickly clasped her paw! Some type of glowing electric wire shot out! Cryo looked forward as it began to wrap around and constrain the dummy. He then saw that it seemed to be shocking the dummy! “As you can see, Cryo. This weapon shoots out a nasty electric wire to shock and constrict threats to you. It’s very durable, and can open opportunities for attack! But… It also can be used to grapple things.” “Grapple things?” That’s right, if you open up you paw right as it fires, it will instead extend the wire out and stay attached to the suit itself. This obviously has a verity of uses. Pulling threats towards you. Yanking and throwing them around. Even pull towards you. And all the while they’re being shocked! One thing to keep in mind… If you want to pull anything towards you, all you have to do is pull the arm back. The suit will begin to quickly pull the wire back into the compartment. And before you ask… There a good amount loaded into the suit. You shouldn’t really ever worry about running out of them. Now… Why don’t you give it a go, my grandson.” “Um… Ok! This actually sounds pretty exciting!”

“Cryo quickly looked forward as another underwater dojo dummy began to come into view from above. He then manuvered his right arm forward and aimed it at him. He held one eye closed, and aimed… Then… he quickly grasped his paw and fired one out! It was a direct hit, as it quickly coiled around the target and began shocking it!”

“Ahh! Very good, grandson! Your aim is still spot on!” “Well… considering whats been going on lately… I better be able to actually aim…” “Good. Now for the other weapon. Switching to the other one is easy. Just tell your ai to “Switch weapons.” Ok?” “Umm… Ok. Switch weapons?” “Switching weapons. Activating Frigid Freezer.” “Frigid… freezer?” asked Cryo. He then saw the cylindrical weapon began to extend its face outward and forward..”

“Good! Now this weapon is similar to dragon ice. However. It shoots tracking freezing projectiles forward. Kind of like missiles. It works above water and under it. Its very simple to use. Like before, you grip your paw to arm. The difference here is, when he grip your paw, you’ll notice a crosshair began to appear in your visor. All you need to do is to use that crosshair to lock onto as many targets as you can. Keep your sight on each one for a little less then a second. Then, once all targets are locked on, release your grip! The missiles will fire and track each target. They are very fast and are hard for targets to avoid. This weapon will freeze targets, allowing you to soften them up and maybe using dragon abilities to weaken or attack them further, before they might break out, or… if the target is weakened and tired from battle enough, it’ll put them into immediate cryogenic hibernation, meaning they can be easily detained and moved to somewhere that can handle them and their powers.” “That… sounds really fun to use actually! I’m a bit excited to try it!” “Good. Now then… I could demonstrate this for you, but you get the general idea of how this suit works. I suggest you try this one yourself. Now then…”

She waved her hand and several dojo dummies came down from above. “Try it, my grandson.” Cryo nodded and began to raise his paw forward again. He gripped his paw, and saw a blue crosshair appear on his visor. “Good, Cryo. Now… Aim the crosshair at the dummies here, and keep it on them just a bit… until you see a green circle appear around them. Then do the same with the other dummies…” Cryo nodded again and looked at the first one… Not too long after, he saw a circle appear around it. Then he did the same with the second and third dummies. Target was locked for each one. “Alright… whenever your ready, Cryo…” Wave said. “FIRE!” Cryo exclaimed excitedly. He quickly released his grip and several blue shining missals fired out of it! The quickly began to bend and arch and track the targets. Soon, they connected and released a small blue explosion! The dummies immediately froze, and Cryo nodded at a job well done! “Yes! That’s awesome!” “Very good grandson! Very good! Now then… I think its about time you wake up, My grandson. We’ll keep practicing with this more today as you take naps. Don’t want to worry your… babysitter.” Wave chuckled a bit. “Yea… yea… Grandma…” “Alright. Let’s emerge.”

They both then quickly swam to the surface and then quickly jumped out of the water. Wave looked back to Cryo. “Now then… To deactivate the suit, just say “deactivate suit.”” “Alright.” They both looked at each other. “Deactivate suit!” they both said together! The suit quickly began to condense into itself and back to what it looked like before! Cryo looked at it…” “Well… I can… plainly see now that it IS not actually training pants… But… was it REALLY necessary to make it… look like the ones I’m wearing currently in reality? I mean… I know you wanted to teach me a lesson, but…” She chuckled a bit and smiled. “Oh Cryo… There still so much you have to learn from me… I can’t help but have a little fun every now and then… But… if you really don’t like it, why don’t you simply take it off.” Cryo looked at it again. He then quickly pulled it off and placed it to the side.” “And now it comes off…” She chuckled again and smiled. “Come on Cryo. Sara is waiting.” “Yea grandma… I’ll see you for my second nap of the day…” “Goodbye my grandson. Better give Sara a nice hug when you wake up!” Cryo looked back at Wave. He thought about Sara a bit, and then smiled. “Yea. Sara isn’t all that bad. Its actually a bit fun keeping her entertained for the day. I know this isn’t the most ideal way probably… But… being lonely isn’t fun. If… If I can… help her with that, then… its worth it. Even if I have to have accidents all day.” “That’s what’s important, Cryo. Have fun with Sara!” “Thanks Grandma! See you later!” “See you, my darling grandson!” Cryo trotted back to his room in the dojo, and took off his training outfit. He then began to lay down on his “bed,” again, and closed his eyes… Everything flashed to white…”

Chapter 22

Crafted Caretaker

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He gave a small yawn as his pacifier fell out and hanged around his neck. He saw he was back in his “Pirate ship.” He began to lean up in his cradle. “Ahh… That was a nice nap… I’m going to probably be put down for at least 2 more today. It’ll actually be nice to get some extra sleep for once. Going to have a lot of chances to work with the rig suit…” he thought. He looked towards the baby monitor and camera to his right and began to scratch under his chin a bit. “Hmm… Sara might not know I’m awake yet. Might want to yell out to her…” He began to take in a big breath. But just as he was about to yell out to her, he heard a voice from the radio in the room!”

“Oh creator! Thank goodness your finally awake! Are you alright!?” said the radio. Cryo’s eyes shot up and his heart sank a bit… “What the…! C… Craft… Is that you?!” “Yes! I must say… I didn’t expect to see you like this…” Cryo facepalmed his head and began to put his hand down slowly… He then gave a sigh. “Craft… Why did you upload yourself here…?” There was a short moment of static on the clock radio. “I was… deeply concerned after our talk earlier… I thought I might… check up on you… It turns out… things were worse then I thought… No wonder you withheld this information…” Cryo gave another sigh and shook his head. Craft continued.

“I have… modified the camera here to play back you sleeping… This should give you an opportunity to…” “Craft… I’m not going anywhere…” “Excuse me… What?” Cryo pulled down the covers of his bed, and then climbed out of his cradle, all the way to where the camera was. “They even made you wear training pants?!” “Craft… Listen to me VERY carefully… I chose to do this…” “Excuse me… Is that true?” “Sigh… yes… There’s… a young girl in this house named Sara. She’s… very lonely… She wanted to play “house,” with me, so I let her…” “Really? But… why creator? This seems…” “Craft… I know what its like to feel lonely… Don’t think for one second she’s been malicious to me… She’s gone through quite considerable effort to make my… living arrangement here to be quite comfy and calming…” “Well… I… did notice the room seemed… tailored what appeared to be pirates and capsule creatures, but…” “My time here hasn’t been all that bad… So what if I have to wear training pants and get treated like a hatchling… Or have to have “accidents,” and get changed? I’m perfectly fine with it as long as I can give Sara a chance to not feel lonely. She’s a very sweet kid. Her parents are busy nearly all the time. With me around… well… she gets a chance to care for someone. Ok?” There was another short moment of static on the radio.

“Well… I… suppose if that’s what you really want…” “It is Craft. It is… Now… Don’t worry about me while I’m here. I’ll be fine. Let Sara have her fun. Ok?” “…I understand creator…” “Good… Now… I have to let “mama,” know I’m awake now. Please change that camera back to normal and wait for me when I’m back from school on Tuesday. Ok?” “Very… Very well, creator…” “Good… Now. Sara isn’t going to be happy that I crawled out of my bed… Let me get back in so she can take me out herself…” “Very well…” Cryo moved back to his cradle and jumped back in. He pulled the covers over his lower body and looked back at the radio. “Camera and sound monitor adjusted back to normal, creator…” “Good… Now then…” Cryo began to take in a big breath in. “MAMA! MAMA! I’M AWAKE MAMA!” Cryo could hear the sound of footsteps on the baby monitor. “Alright… Time for play time with Mama.” He placed his pacifier back in his mouth and then began to wait for a bit… Not long after, he saw Sara come into the ship with a big smile on her face!

“Well… Good afternoon, my little captain Cutie!” She came over to the cradle and leaned over it. “Did my little captain have a nice nap?” Cryo released the pacifier from his mouth and nodded with a smile. “Oh! Yeah Mama! Sleepy time was nice…” “That’s my little boy! Now then… Why don’t I get you out of your crib.” She rubbed his head a few times and then pulled the covers down. She gently put his arms around him and gently lifted him up and cradled him in her arms. “That’s my baby boy… Now. Why don’t we…”

As she was about to continue, the radio gave a short moment of static. Then… a soft male voice began to speak. “Greetings! Are you the mother of this lovely child?” Cryo’s eyes shot up! As Sara turned towards his parrot clock. “Umm… Who said that?” she said. “Umm…! Uhh…!” Cryo said, as he began to think what to say! “Do not be alarmed. I am… a new baby monitoring system, recently installed. I am programmed to assist in child care and consolidating.” “Whoa! Really?! exclaimed Sara. “That’s right. I am known as the Child Retainer And Friend Technologies. Or Craft, for short.” “Wow! When did mom get you?!” “Not to long ago. I am here to assist in all your needs to help care for your child. I am programmed to work with every and all child care systems in the house. Baby monitors, television, cameras, and other assistant devices. I am ready to always give advice and will keep the baby under constant surveillance, and will inform you of any and all complications that may rise up.” “That’s awesome!” “Yes… Now… I see on the monitor here that your child seems to be a dragon! My, my! He looks quite adorable! He’s looks quite special! I’ll enjoy watching this youngster grow!” “Haha! Yeah! He’s going to be big one day!” Cryo gave a small smile… It seems that Craft was playing along with things now.

“Now then… If I might make one suggestion… You might want to check his training pants. “Check his training pants?” “That’s right. A dragon as young as him is quite likely to leak while he’s asleep. He’s most likely wet right now.” “Oh! Good idea!” Cryo nodded towards the camera, and then smiled at Sara “Now then young man… Let’s me check you… “She began to pull his training pants forward a bit, and sure enough… Cryo had… let loose… Not very long ago in fact…” “Well… Look who’s a wet little boy! Look’s like someone needs to be changed alright! “Yeah mama… I leakied a little…” “Well then… Why don’t I take you to the changing table and get you into a nice fresh pair of training pants. “Yeah! Good idea Mama!” She began to rub his head a few times and began to carry him off the ship and all the way to the changing table. She quickly went through the motions: wiping him down, powdering him, and gently folding it around his legs and tail. Soon, he was all changed. “There we go. All changed! I bet you feel better now, huh?” “Yup! Feels nice to not be leaky…” “Alright then Captain cutie. What would you like to do now?” asked Sara “Umm…” said Cryo. “If I might suggest something, why don’t you tickle the tyke for a bit…” said Craft.

Sara’s eyes lit up. Then… she turned towards Cryo, with big smile on her face. Cryo knew all to well what was coming… But he smiled. He knew that it was what she wanted, and he never did mind tickling. Nor did he have to worry about being tickled too much and have an… “accident.” “Well then, little baby… You know what it’s time for?” “Umm… I don’t know? What Mama?” “It’s tickle time!” She gently placed Cryo on the ground and then began to tickle him all over his body. He laughed and laughed and laughed. Craft himself laughed a bit as well! She continued for a bit. “Alright little guy! Say Uncle Remus if you want me to stop!” HAHAHAHA! I WON’T… HAHAHAHA! SAY UNCLE SO EASILY! HAHAHAHA!” “You better say uncle Remus if you want me to stop!” She continued on for a bit. But then, Cryo was ready to give up. “I…! I…! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! UNCLE REMUS! HAHAHA! UNCLE REMUS!” She soon stopped tickling Cryo and checked his training pants. But it seems he didn’t let loose. At least… not this time. She then lifted him up and hoisted him over her shoulder and began to rub his back gently.”

“Alright, Captain Cutie. Your good. Was that fun?” “Hahaha! That was fun, Mama!” “Yeah! My little captain loves to be tickled! Doesn’t he?!” “Haha! Yeah, Mama!” Suddenly, the door opened to the nursery. Sara and Cryo saw Ms. Oline step inside. “Sara! Lunch is ready! I see Master Cryo has awoken from his nap.” “Yup! Captain Cutie is ready for feeding time! Huh?!” “Yup! I’m ready! Let’s go eat!” She chuckled and nodded and carried Cryo out of the room, toward the dining hall.

So… The day passed as Cryo was being cared for by Sara. Craft would assist and enhance Sara’s experience with Cryo. Soon night would fall, and Cryo would go to bed again. She changed him into some REALLY nice dragon Jammies that covered nearly his whole body and were made to replicate an adult Ferrin Dragons form! He slept very comfortably during the night… As he slept, he continued to train with the rig suit, getting better with manipulating it each time he was put down to sleep. The sun soon rose again, and it was about time for Cryo to go home. He would be driven home by the mayor. Sara stepped out of the house, carrying Cryo in a car seat, without training pants on… They soon strapped it into the car. Sara pulled a nice blanket over him, and placed the pacifier in his mouth. They soon headed off. As they drove, Cryo looked out the window.

“Did you have fun, my little baby?” Sara asked. Cryo let go of the pacifier out of his mouth, which fell to his neck. “Yea, Mama! I had loads of fun!” “That’s my little captain! Now… remember… Your going to be without training pants for a bit… Try to control yourself until next time. Ok?” “Oh… I’m not sure I can, Mama… It’s going to be hard…” “You know, maybe you could bring some home with you!?” “Oh! No Mama… I… I think I’ll be alright.” “Alright. Just relax while we get you back home.”

She then gently grabbed his pacifier and then put it back into his mouth. She nodded and continued on. Soon, they arrived at the house. Sara untied the pacifier around his neck and gently took him out of the car seat. She then placed him on the ground in the snow. “Alright! Bye Captain Cutie!” “Bye Mama!” They soon drove off and Cryo saw the front door to the house open. “Ahh! Cryo! How was your time with the mayor!?” “Oh. It was fun. I got to play with Sara again.” “That sounds nice. Anyway, have you eaten? “Yeah. We had a nice breakfast before coming back.” “That’s good. Now. Why don’t you come in.” Cryo soon stepped back into the house.

Chapter 23

Tech Trip

Time has passed for quite a while. Cryo continued his life in the snow driven town. He went to school, he played “house,” with Sara, played with Seth back at home, continued to practice with his abilities as he slept. Wave said that there was one more lesson she’d like to teach to Cryo, but should be done a bit later down the line. He continued to also repair technology for funding for a computer After some time, he finally had enough to afford a computer! But Eli suggested that he should also probably get himself a mobile phone with a phone plan as well. He did have a bit extra money on the side to afford it, and so he agreed to do it. A mobile phone would be nice to have in case he might end up running into trouble… He was riding Eli’s white hover van on a soft black seat in the back. But he had kept his head below the window, in the event Mick might be looking for him somewhere in the town. He knew it would be bad if Mick realized he was staying with them… Soon, they arrived at the Tech store in town. Eli stepped out of the van and onto the ground. He looked around the area. He then heard Cryo’s voice.

“Is it safe to come out?” Cryo asked. “Look’s good. I… don’t see any suspicious types around,” replied Eli. “Alright. Hang on.” Cryo popped his head up and took a quick look around himself. He didn’t see anyone he recognized from Mick’s crew around. He opened the door to the van, and stepped out, onto the cold ground. He was wearing a plain red sweater, with two laces to tighten it around the neck, and a hood hanging behind it. Eli came forward and nodded.

“Alright… You ready to look at computers and a phone?” Eli asked “Defiantly. Mom hasn’t had a chance to… see my form for awhile.” “Alright. We’ll take a look around the computer section to see if there is anything you’d like.” “Actually, the computer should be already ready for me to pick up. Phone too. I just need to pay for it.” “O… Ok then. But… how did you…” “I ordered at the website for the store and set it for in person pickup. I… had a… friend of mine pick out and plan what would be best fit for me.” “Really? Whose your friend?” “Uhh… Umm…” Cyro thought for a moment.

“His name is… Craft. Uhh… He’s… someone from back home.” “Really?” “Y… Yeah… I’ve… had regular contact with him since I’ve been here…” “Well. Alright then. Let’s head inside.” They both nodded and began to head into the front door. “You know Cryo… You seem to be quite… grown up for a dragon. How old are you again?” “About… 8 years old.” “8 years… My… Do dragons mature quickly?” “I… I don’t know really. That’s probably a question for mom.” “You seem pretty responsible for a… 8 year old. I almost wonder if I should take you to the bank later today to open up a bank account for you.” “Well… I’m not sure if thats neccesary… I mean… I know I’m living here right now, but… once I go home, I… probably won’t be able to access it. I might be well known in this town, but… really no one knows about me back home, except the humans who live in the research installation.” “Well… I suppose that might be true, but… It might still be something you… might want to consider… I don’t think you should be… carrying this much cash at you all at once…” “Your thinking of a mugging or robbery, right? I… understand that concern, but… well… I’m not as helpless as you might believe. I… know how to fight should the need arise. Mick and his… nasty crew got the jump on me. That’s how I ended up bound and gagged on their ship.” “Well… Still Cryo… You might want to… at least, open up a checking account. There may be a day where… the entire WORLD will be ready to have dragons like yourself and your mother flying around and living a nice and normal life in our world.” “Well… You know what… Yeah… Maybe… Alright then. I’m willing to stop at a bank today to… start making financial decisions.” “Wonderful! But first. Why don’t we get your computer and phone first.” They both nodded to each other and opened the door to the tech store, apetaly named, Gadget Groups, Technology Sale Center.

Chapter 24

Technology Time

Cryo looked around the store. This is the first time he’s ever been in a major shopping building of any kind! He saw the floors were black carpeting, and there was different types of technology littered all around the place on metal green painted shelves! He saw the walls were also painted green, and there was the logo of the store placed around several different areas. The logo showed a green computer screen, with the name imprinted inside of it. He looked around, and eventually saw where it was labeled “Online Pick Up.”

“Ahh. Looks like I have to go over there, Eli.” “I know. I know this store well. Come on. Let’s head over and pick up your items.” They both nodded and headed over. Cryo saw several of the townspeople and clerks at the store wave and smile at him as he walked through. It realized at this point he was quite well known in town now. Soon, he approached the front desk of pickup. The clerk in charge of the pick up station turned around. He saw Cryo and smiled at him. Cryo saw the name tag. He was named “Edgar Eins.”

“Ahh! Hello! It’s nice to finally see the famous dragon of the town for myself!” “Haha. Yeah. I can tell everyone in town seems to like seeing me around.” “Well… You did repair our radio tower. I’ve heard rumors across town that you have opened your own repair shop in town.” “Well… I guess I… technically did, more or less.” “Well… My son actually relied on you to repair his Television. In fact, the repair process was so well done, you actually IMPROVED his TV!” “Well… I suppose, I’m glad to be of help to him. But… who is your son? I’ve had to make adjustments with a few of the Television sets I’ve repaired, since I didn’t exactly have the exact parts at my disposal.” “My son is Miles, Cryo. I have to say myself. I was kind of jealous of how smooth his TV runs now. The graphics look incredible on it.” “Well… I’m glad I could make his day I suppose.” “Haha. Yeah. I might have to think about using your services myself one day.” “Well… I… kind of opened it to… help the kids at school mostly. But… I guess I can start to take clients outside of school as well. I plan to actually continue to work on repairing tech. I might need the money later on down the line.” “Ahh. That’s good to here. Anyway… I have your order right here.” He left into the back room for a moment. He carried out a new high tech computer and mobile phone out of the storage area.

“Now… How will you pay for it?” “I have to pay with cash.” “Cash?” “Yeah… I’m sorry. I… don’t actually have a bank account or a bank card yet. My… caretaker, Eli here convinced me though to stop at the bank after we’re done here to open up my own bank account. Hopefully this will be the only time I need to… well… make you count a bunch of bills for payment…” “Oh its quite alright. I don’t think that would be necessary. I’m sure that you would not be the type to swindle someone.” “Well… Alright then.” “Anyway. You’re computer, along with the phone plan, and upgrades for both, will cost… $823.47, after taxes.” “Thank you.”

Cryo took the money out of a small carrying case Eli brought with him and gave it to the clerk. He opened it and saw the bills neatly wrapped together and distributed nicely in the case.” “Don’t worry about the change. You can just keep it.” “Well. Alright then. Thank you for coming today. I hope to see you again, soon!” “Yeah. Thanks. See ya!” Eli took the new computer in his hands. He gave Cryo the phone.” “Alright Cryo. Here’s your phone. I’ll carry your computer out right now.” “Thank you. Let me…” “Cryo quickly turned on his phone, and connected to the internet in the store. He punched in a few keys. Then, he closed the phone.” “Alright… Phone is set up now.” “Really? But…” “I took the time to precondition my phone profile on the plan page. I just needed to put in the password and connect to my profile.” Eli chuckled a bit. “You always seem to surprise me, Cryo. You really know how to come prepared. I should have expected as much considering how smart and resourceful you are.” “Yeah. Alright. Why don’t we head out now.” “Yeah. Let’s go home. Probably a good idea not to be in a public domain too long, considering… HE or his crew might see us together…” “Oh… I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that. Come on.” So they soon headed out the door, got into their car, and drove off towards the bank.”

Chapter 25

Heist Harem

Soon they arrived at the bank. The building was a small, square building, with brown bricks making up the layer of the walls. There were several windows at the front, and a drive through in the back. Eli stepped out of the vehicle, and went to the side of the car and opened the door for Cryo. He stepped out, and they soon stepped through the snow and began to make their way towards the door to the bank. But as they continued for a bit, Cryo stopped… He saw… a black car at the entrance with someone in the drivers seat… When he looked at the driver, he realized something…”

“Eli. Wait a minute…” “Huh? What is it Cryo.” “Hide… Quickly…” “What?” “Trust me… Do it before they come out.” “Well… Alright…” Eli slowly backed away and headed for his car. Cryo flapped his wings and then grabbed a metal pipe over the ceiling and waited there for a few minutes… He breathed slowly, concentrating on the door below the entrance. And then… several masked man came out, with guns in their hand, and several burlap sacks filled with something! “Just as I thought… I’ve seen robbery movies before…” They quickly headed for the car! But as they all buckled themselves in and prepared to make their escape, Cryo took in a deep breath, and blew a long stream of ice at the car! The car was immediately frozen in ice!”

“Now remember, Cryo… They have guns… Right as they shoot out the door…” Cryo began to hear the sounds of shots, firing towards the car doors! He quickly flew under the car from the front and waited for a… certain sound… Then, each of the car doors were kicked open, and they stepped out!” “What in the… Our car!?” said one of the robbers. “How did it get frozen! This makes no sense!” Said another robber.” “I’ll tell you how, you cold crew…” said Cryo. “Wait… who…” Cryo quickly rolled out from under the vehicle and jumped into the air and spread his wings, surprising the armed crew! Before they could react, he breathed more dragon ice over them and froze them solid!” “Well… Looks like you boys got iced.” Soon… the cold began to take over their eyes, and they fell into cryogenic hibernation. Cryo grabbed his phone and dialed the number for the police.

“Hello? Police? It’s Cryo.” “C… Cryo! What is your emergency? Did they find you!?” “No… I’d like to report an attempted bank robbery at the… Bank on 132 Recon Street Plaza.” “What! A bank robbery?!” “Yes. Attempt unsuccessful. Suspects frozen in ice and ready to be detained.” “What!? F… Frozen! I…” “Relax. They are still alive. Trust me. Dragon ice works differently then normal ice. They aren’t going to shatter when you move them. They’ll… wake up with one pretty bad headache though, once they’re… thawed out or broken out.” “I… What exactly happened over there…?” “I’ll tell you when you arrive. I have to return the stolen money to the people inside now.” “Wh… What!? I…” “I took care of them already. Now… I need to go.” “W… Wait a minute! Cryo!” “Sorry. Can’t talk. Got to go now. See ya Tucker!” He soon hung up the phone. Cryo took a deep breath, in and out. He then went to the frozen car and then manuvered himself inside. He grabbed several bags and headed for the door to the bank. He opened the front doors and stepped in. He saw several people on the ground with their hands behind their head. They looked toward him as he stepped in. “Umm… Excuse me… Who is the manager of this bank? I… took care of the criminals outside. They’re ready to be taken to prison accordingly. I have the stolen money right here.”

Chapter 26

Home after the Heist

Eli and Cryo just made it back home. They had been out for quite a bit of the day due to the situation at the bank. The bank teller was quite surprised to hear about how he defeated the bank robbers. When the police finally arrived, he gave his statement, and soon, carted off the frozen criminals to be… thawed out at the police station… Cryo was able to make arrangements with the bank for his bank account after. The manager was more then happy to walk through the process with him, and had opened up a new bank account at the installation. He was happy to safely manage the young dragons new financial account, especially after stopping the heist! Soon, they headed home again, with the dragon hero in toll. They made it back, and Eli stepped out again. He opened the door to his van, and Cryo stepped out. He held his new bank card in his pocket. Eli nodded.

“Alright… Remember, Cryo… Don’t tell ANYONE what you did today… I know you were… trying to help and be a hero, but…” “Yeah… I know… Heroics could allow Mick’s crew to better track where I’m being cared for. Also… I shouldn’t put myself in serious danger just to… play hero…” “Good… I’m not mad at you. It’s just… It’s too risky with that… degenerate possibly running around somewhere in town.” “I know… I’m sorry. I won’t tell Arianna or Seth…” “Good. Now… Let’s step in.” They both headed into the front door, to be greeted by Arianna and Seth.

“Ahh! Your finally back! Just in time for dinner. What took you to so long?” asked Arianna. “Umm… Well…” Eli tried to make up with an excuse. But then Cryo spoke up. “We stopped at the Mayors house. I got a call from Mia on my new phone. Sara REALLY wanted to talk to me for some reason. Turns out, she was trying to go over plans with me for the next time I go over this weekend, and wanted to know what I thought of it.” “Wow… What do you do with Sara, big brother?” asked Seth. “Umm… We play house…” “House? How do you play, house?” “Umm… Well… I… Uh…” “Oh don’t worry about that Seth. Come on. Dinner is ready, you two.” said Arianna. “Well… Alright. What did we make tonight?” “I made one of my favorite dishes. Ched and chillin filled Ralova (basically ravioli, but pasta is black, due to wheat brought from earth adjusting to the planets soil and becoming as dark as night as a result) and pure white ched sauce (More or less Alfredo). “Ahh… That’s another dish from the… Intal culture?” “That’s right. Originally known as Italian back on earth I believe… I… forgot why it was referred to as… Italian. Sounds a bit… weird…” “Well… Oh well… I’m hungry. Let’s eat!

So they ate for awhile and soon enough, they were filled. “Ahh… That was good. I liked the sauce on the Ralova,” said Cryo. “I’m glad you like it, Cryo. Not everyone likes Pionni (How pasta referred to as in this world). “Hey, Big bro! Want to play Cowboys and bandits again, tonight, before bed!?” said Seth. “Well… Sure Seth. I’m ready to play villain again.” “Yeah! It’s gonna be so fun!” “Haha! Yeah! Gonna be a challenge to catch this bandit this time, Seth!” “Haha! You won’t escape me! Come on! Let’s go!” So they both headed upstairs towards Seth’s room. But… before they did, Eli called out to them. “Have fun you two! Remember, Seth. Both of you still have school tomorrow. You’ll both go to bed at 8:15. Ok?” “Ok, Dad!” “Good. Have fun!”

So they both headed upstairs. Arianna and Eli sat on the couch in the front room to watch TV while they played for some time. But as they watched the TV, the news came on for the town. Then… on the news, Eli saw a familiar place on it… The bank from earlier. His heart sank as he knew what this news story could be about… He was about the change the channel, but Arianna took the remote. “What the… Bank heist at the Rodriguez Bank? Thwarted by… unknown circumstances?” “Umm… Don’t worry, Ari… I…” “Weren’t you two there today!?” “Well… Y… yes?” “…He stopped the robbery… didn’t he…” “I… I…” “ELI! What were you thinking!” “Well…! I…! I…! He was the one who…” “NO! This is… HE NEEDS TO STAY HIDDEN! You’re lucky the news media in town supports him and hid the fact that HE stopped it!” “I… I know! But… Ugh… I’m sorry… Ok… Please… Don’t punish him… He’s… Already got too much on his mind…” “I… I won’t, but… You both need to be FAR more careful… He could have been seriously hurt…” “Yeah… I… suppose your right.” “Well… I… think we should put Cryo to bed a bit… earlier tonight. He’s probably a bit tired after… stopping a bank robbery…” “Well… Alright then…” “I’ll get him.”

Arianna took in a deep breath in, and out. She began to walk up the steps towards Seth’s room. She opened the door and looked around. She saw Cryo had his paws tied behind the back of a chair with a rope… It looks like he was being… interrogated by Seth on where he stashed the stolen money… “Oh! Hi Mom!” Seth said. “Oh… Hi honey… If you don’t mind, I’m… going to have to cut your game a bit short tonight…” “HUH! But… WHY?” Cryo’s heart sank a bit… He had an idea on why this was the case…” “I… need a private conversation with him…” “But…” “I’m sorry, Seth… Could you please… cut him loose?” “I… I… Sigh… Alright, mom…” Seth went behind the chair and untied Cryo’s paws from behind it. Cryo rubbed his wrists a bit a headed towards Arianna… He expected to hear an earful tonight… He then turned toward Seth. “Hey… sorry Sheriff… The… money I hid is… in your shirts drawer. I’ll… come back tomorrow to pay my debt to society… Ok?” “Alright… I guess I can let you go free for a bit… But you better come back so I can lock you in prison!” “I will, sheriff. I promise.” “Alright. Come with me downstairs to your room…” They both headed down into the basement of the house. Cryo gave a sigh as they walked down the steps to his room. He knew he’d probably get grounded for a year or something similar for just… trying to help out. But… he knew there was nothing more he could do. He jumped up and sat on his bed, and nodded. Arianna sat down next to him

“Cryo… You know why I called you down here… Don’t you…?” “Y… Yes… Arianna… I… I know…” “Cryo… While I’m… happy that you… protected the bank from robbers, you must realize…” “Yes… I put my life in danger… I put myself in front of a bad situation. I might have put a target over my head and for the rest of the people living here… I could argue all I want that I can take care of myself… But I know all too well that nothing I could say would make things alright… So… Just… tell me what your going to do to punish me… I won’t get mad… I’ll… deal with it and won’t make a fuss…” “Cryo… I’m… not mad at you… And… I’m not going to punish you… Just… please think about… keeping yourself out of danger… You may very well bring that type of danger to… someone else you love one day… And not just your mother at home… Others may get… caught in the crossfire…” “Al… Alright… I understand…” “Good… Now… Can you please… just go to bed early… You must be tired after your… harrowing day…” “Well… Alright then…” “I’ll… get something comfy for you to wear tonight, and tuck you in…” “Al… Alright… Thanks, Arianna.” Arianna got up and headed towards the closet. She opened it up and took out a pair of Cyan pajama pants and a shirt. She quickly helped Cryo into it, and buttoned the back around his tail. She then carried him over and tucked him into bed… “Alright Cryo… I’ll… turn on naptunes for you… Just… think more carefully next time you want to… spring into action… “Al… Alright… I will, Arianna…” She turned over the radio to the naptunes channel, and then headed over to the stairs. “Goodnight, Cryo.” “Goodnight… Aunt Ari…” She gave a small smile at the thought. She then headed upstairs. The music soon worked its way through Cryo’s mind, and then he fell into a deep slumber… The radio soon turned off by itself. But then a voice came from it…

“Hmm… I better look more into this… She’s right… Mick was once a high ranking military official and expert… He could have access to the security camera’s at the bank or on the corner… His computer hacking team isn’t the best, but… its not the hardest thing to tap into a security camera or two… I always told him to stay in hiding until he makes it to the store… I know he does that, but… That type of “heroics,” could easily attract attention to him… I’ll need to also inform the people back here about the creator’s location possibly being compromised… But even then… I’m not sure what else they can do right now to… mitigate such an issue… The runway is ready, but they still need to get a ship that can withstand cold… All of the ones here were destroyed…” said Craft.

Chapter 27

Fire Frenzy!

One day, Cryo was being taken home from school on the bus. It was about to become the weekend, so Cryo was needing to get ready to play “house,” with Sara. He sat on his seat as the many occupants listened to him tell his story out in the wilds.

“And so… me and Mom BARLEY escaped them. We were INCREDIBLY LUCKY we fell in that muddy divot. If we hadn’t… we surely would have been…” Suddenly, the bus stepped on the breaks hard, as a large group of emergency vehicles were stopping traffic! “Huh! What is going on!?” Cryo asked!? He turned to his left, and saw the building to the side was ON FIRE! It was a toy store in town! His eyes lit up, as he saw the flames cover the building! He looked at the entrance, and saw the mayor in the front, clearly distraught about something! He began to piece together what might be going on! “Oh No! Sara!” Thinking quickly, he opened the emergency shutter from the bus’s window, and jumped out! “Cryo! What in the…! What are you doing!?”

Cryo began to rush towards the building and blew a stream of Ice at the entrance! The mayor saw what he was doing!” “Cryo! What…!?” “Don’t worry! I’ll get Sara!” He then then rolled into a ball and smashed through the entrance of the burning building! He then quickly descended to the ground and began to move across it. He needed to find Sara as soon as possible! He called out to her. “Sara!? Sara!? Where are you!?” He began to hear footsteps near him! He began to approach! But as he did, he saw a man come out with a tranquilizer gun in hand, and wearing a black ski mask! He realized what was really going on!” “Finally found you…”

Thinking quickly, Cryo rolled out of the way as he fired one shot, and then focused ice into his paws and SMASHED the assailant across the side of the head! He was knocked to the ground! Cryo quickly broke the tranquilizer gun in his paws and fled from the assailant! “Mick and his crew! I should have known! They set the fire to lure me in here!” He began to go over his options. “It doesn’t matter! Sara is in here somewhere! I need to find her and get her out, before THEY find her!” He nodded to himself and continued on! He began to search around the building as fast as he could! The hear of the fire caused sweat to run down Cryo’s scales… The smoke was beginning to make the dragon a little nauseated! “Ugh… Got to find her… Got to FIND HER!”

He ran across the burning store, when 2 more black masked assailants tried to ambush him as he turned a corner! They tried to smack him with two shock strikers! Thinking quickly, he froze their hands with his ice breath! They gripped their hands with the heavy ice layer formed over them! Cryo then tripped them both with his tail, and fled from them again! He continued his search! Then… he heard a faded call for help! “Momma… Momma… Where are you…” Cryo’s eyes lit up! “That’s Sara!” He turned his head from where the sound was coming from! And he saw an air vent! He began to have an idea… “Going through an air vent with the fire and smoke is not the best idea. But… It can allow me to sneak past Mick’s crew and follow her voice!” He nodded to himself. “Alright… here we go!” He soon leaped into the air and flapped his wings! But then… “There he is! SHOOT HIM DOWN!”

Cryo’s eyes lit up, and he began to see them beginning to fire darts at him! He began to bob and weave across different angles, making himself as hard of a target as possible! But… some of the fire measures activated. And strangely, he saw the measures seemed to be pushing them back, giving him some space between the shooting! “Come on! Come on! Almost there!” He then turned to his right, and saw someone was aiming straight at him! He fired a dart at Cryo! His eyes lit up! He then curled himself into a ball, and the dart just BARLEY sailed past his head! He then smashed into the grate for the air vent right on through! “Darn it! He’s in the ventilation system!” “Don’t just stand there! Smoke him out!”

“Cryo’s eyes lit up again! He knew they were going to throw a tear gas grenade into the vent to force him out of it. He quickly got back on his feet and began to crawl through the vent as fast as possible! He then heard a thump behind him! He knew they managed to get one in! He looked back, and saw the green gas coming towards him! His heart beat like a base drum as he tried to follow to Sara’s voice before the tear gas caught up! “Come on! Come on!! The gas was just about at him, and his heart sunk! But then… “HELP! MOMMA! DADDY!” Cryo’s eyes lit up, and he turned his head to the left! He saw a worker at the store and a Sara, huddled up together, hidden in the manager’s office! He quickly slammed himself into the grate, and burst through! Falling onto the ground hard, as the gas began to trickle in! “C…! Cryo!?” exclaimed Sara! Cryo quickly stood up, and breathed an ice stream at the vent! It was sealed shut, preventing any more gas from entering the room. The rest of the gas inside quickly fizzled out to nothing… He breathed heavily as Sara and the manager looked at him, dumbfounded! Cryo looked at Sara! “Are you two ok!?” “C… Cryo! How did you…” “Hang on!” He found the blueprint for the facility on the wall to the managers office. He had an idea on how to get out! He quickly began to take in a deep breath! Then… he blew a POWERFUL sonic screech against the wall! The wall was blown open towards the hallway outside! “Come with me! Quickly! I can get us out!” They both nodded and followed him! They stepped out of the room into the hall! They quickly turned around a corner, when a masked man came forward! He raised his tranquilzer gun and prepared to fire at Cryo!” “Oh no you don’t!” Cryo took in a quick breath and then blew another sonic screech at him! He was blown straight into the wall and disarmed! Cryo then grabbed him by the head and smashed him with his ice covered fist! He was knocked clean out! “Alright! Come on! There are more of them here! Follow me!” They both nodded and continued to follow him! The ran through the halls, but then, Cryo motioned them to stop. He listened for a second, and heard what sounded to be a large crowd coming towards them! “Oh no… If they find us…” He began to quickly over his options! He then looked at the ceiling! He blew another Sonic screech at the ceiling and collapsed the roof to block to corridor! “Cryo! That was our only way out!” exclaimed the manager from the store! “Nope… I know another way…” Cryo said back. “Huh, said the manager?”

Cryo was about to do something… risky… He knew he wasn’t in his Winter Whiteout form right now… But… like his Sonic Screech, he knew he might be able to still save them… He would tap into a move only recently taught to him… An offensive based dragon attack, that should be used when the situation is truly dire… Frost Fury…”

“Alright… Let’s do this… He began to focus and tap into his deep freezing energies… He breathed in slowly… in, and out… in and out… in and out…” “C…Cryo… your body…” Cryo didn’t realize it at the moment, but his body was… Transforming into his winter whiteout form! He continued to focus into his energies! And then, his eyes lit up and then… A layer of thick ice began to form a barrier around them!” “Cryo…?” And then, All of a sudden, A LARGE BEAM OF ICE shot STRAIGHT FORWARD from the ice covering! Walls caved in and the mercinaries in the path jumped out of the way! And soon, the beam of ice turned into a solid layer of ice… It formed a hollow opening they could move through… Cryo transformed back into his regular form, and began to breath VERY heavily! He was weak… Wave never taught him to manipulate the beam in this way, but somehow… he knew… he could use it to create a tunnel for them to reach safety… “Cryo! Are you ok!?” “Urg… I… feel very… tired…” “Cryo… Come here my baby…” Sara lifted Cryo in her arms and began to carry him through the ice tunnel. The assailants saw them coming through and tried many things to break the barrier of ice seperating them. But… it was useles… The ice was as solid as titaniam… Soon… they made it to the end of the ice tunnel, out of the building from the front. Nia saw Sara coming out with Cryo in her arms. Nia knew… he had saved her life..

“S…! Sara! Cryo!” Nia quickly bolted forward and gave them both a hug! “Are you both ok!?” “Yeah… I’m… I’m fine, momma…” said Sara. She turned to Cryo and saw he seemed to look a bit… hazy… “Cryo… Are you ok?” “I… I’m fine… But… that last ice ability really… drained me of my energy…” Cryo replied back Nia smiled with a couple tears forming in her eyes. “I… See… Thank you… So much for what you’ve done… I…”

“Mom… Let’s take Cryo to our mansion… He needs a… time out…” said Susy. Cryo’s raised his head a bit and looked at her.” “Wait… What…?” Cryo said back. “Cryo! You know you shouldn’t put yourself in such danger! You’re in trouble!” “I…! I…!” He gave a sigh and a nod. He whispered into her ear…” “You’re right… Mama… I… I just wanted to help, but… I put my life in danger… I… I fully deserve a time out… Take me to the mansion please… Put me in a long time out so I think about what I have done… I won’t make a fuss…” She rubbed his head and smiled. She whispered into his ears as well… “I know, my baby… But… A loving mother would rather give her life for her child, then let her child give their life for her. I’m… probably going to have to keep you at the house for the entire week. Make sure your… better… after this incident…” “Alright… I… I can stay at mama’s house for the entire week… But… can you tell Aunt Arianna and Uncle Eli that… I’m going to have to take an extended stay at your mansion? They are probably going to be worried about me if they don’t know where I am…” Nia then spoke up. “Of course, Cryo. I’ll… call them immediately on the way there.” Cryo nodded “Thank you, Grandma…” He turned back to Sara and whispered in her ear again. “Alright, Mama… Time to take me back to your place… I need my training pants and binky now… And I need to take a nice, long time out so I learn not to endanger myself in the future.” “That’s my little Captain. Come on… Your car seat is already ready for you.” Cryo nodded and they took him away towards Nia’s car.

Thankfully, the car seat for him was already out of view for the others, and the windows to her Hover Sudan were tinted. They quickly buckled Cryo in, and Sara placed a nice blanket over him. He felt very relaxed right then, even though he knew what would be coming next. He wondered if Sara had anything else in mind for his punishment other then a… time out… “Alright… let’s head home, My little Capitan Cutie.” Cryo nodded his head slowly, and Nia made the call to Eli and the others on what had transpired on the way to the mansion… Cryo also informed them that… Mick’s crew had started the fire to lure him there… This news hit the mayor hard. They’d have to rely on the police to hopefully deal with the crew before they made their escape. And if they didn’t find them… more preperations would have to be made for the future. And soon enough… they arrived back at the mansion. They parked their vehicle inside the garage and stepped out.

Chapter 28

Toddler Trouble

Sara slowly carried Cryo inside as she slung him over her shoulder and rubbed his back slowly and gently. Nia entered soon after. “Alright, Sara. I’m… going to call the vet clinic in town to… look at him… See if he hurt in any way. I’ll… have to inform them that they’ll need to come here themselves and of the… “special arrangements,” we made at our house… It’s best he stays here rather then be taken to the actual clinic. That… man… he may make another attempt if we… take him directly there.” Cryo knew this would probably mean that the Vet would… see him in training pants… But… he knew that… it was probably best if he just accepts having this secret known to at least her. Cryo only hoped at the moment that when the Vet arrived that she would… play along with the game instead of treating him normal. And she was willing to… keep this a secret… He really wanted Sara to feel happy after what she had been through. He nodded.

“Ok, Grandma… I understand… Hopefully the Vet can fix my… boo boo…” Cryo said. “She’ll do just fine. Now Sara… Why don’t you… take the baby to his room while I… make the arrangements. Ok?” asked Nia “Yes, Mama. I’ll make sure to put this naughty captain in time out.” “Alright. Have fun, Sara…” “Alright. See you a bit later, Mama.” “See you soon, Grandma,” said Cryo. Sara began to gently carry Cryo to his room, rubbing his back as they walked through the halls of the mansion. They soon arrived at his nursery. She opened the door gently, stepped in, and closed the door behind her. Cryo looked towards his play pen in the room. He knew he’d probably be spending his “time out,” in there. “Alright. Let’s get your training pants on quickly, little Captain.” “Ok, Mama.” She nodded a quickly took him to the changing table in the room. She strapped him in and Cryo took in a deep breath and relaxed on the changing table. Strangely… she actually opened the nap and night drawer and pulled a pair of training pants and the baby powder out of it instead. Cryo was confused a bit.

“Huh… It’s not nap time… Right?” he thought. He decided to dismiss it as Sara being a little… loopy after her nasty ordeal. “Alright. Let’s get you all snug, little captain.” She quickly went through the motions of changing him. She powdered him and went through the motions to place it snug around his bottom. Soon enough, he was wearing his training pants proper, and she unhooked him from the table. She then carried him over to a chair in the room, across from his Tv and next to his sofa. She manuvered a strap around his waist and locked him in. “Am I having time out in this seat, Mama?” he asked. “No… You’re going in your play pen. I just need to move the toys out of inside of it, first. No toys in time out.” “Oh. Ok, Mama. I understand. I’ll be good and wait for you to get me ready for my punishment.” “Good. Just wait and think of this as part of your punishment.” “Alright, Mama.” He nodded and waited. She turned the chair towards the play pen and she went inside and began to remove all toys inside. Soon she was finished, and then she walked over and unstrapped him from the seat. “Alright. Let’s get you inside.” Cryo nodded and she slowly carried him over. She opened it and set him down inside. She then closed the door and nodded. “Alright… You have 1 hour in time out. Ok?” said Sara. “1 hour, huh? 1 hour with… nothing… Well… its… honestly a fitting punishment when I think about it… I… really messed up at the bank… Sigh… Best to accept it…” he thought. He then nodded. “Alright, Mama… I’ll stay nice and snug in timeout until a learn to be a good boy again…” “Good. Now… I’ll be back by the time its done. Stay inside.” Cryo nodded and sat down. She moved a baby monitor in the room and placed it on the door of the play pen, and manuvered the baby camera to face the play pen. She soon stepped out of the room. Cryo wondered what he should do before then. “Well… I have 1 hour of… nothing… I wonder what I should do…? I… I wish…” As he was thinking, he saw Sara step back into the room. Cryo looked over to her. “Did you forget something, Mama?” Cryo asked. “Why… yes I did, Cryo.” “What, Mama?” She smiled at him and headed towards the closet in the room. She rummaged through it a bit, and then pulled out a blanket. She smiled and carried it over to Cryo’s play pen. She opened it and placed it inside.

“I got you a nice new blanket for you. You shouldn’t be cold while in time out.” Cryo looked closely at it. He saw it was a nice baby blue blanket, and it showed a cute picture of him wrapped up tightly and carefully in a blanket and sleeping in his pirate ship cradle, and pacifier in his mouth. Above the picture, in an Arch, was the words “Captain Cutie’s Baby Blanket,” in Dark blue letters. It was pretty big and the materials felt like what Greg’s fabrics were. He smiled at Sara and she nodded. “Now be a good boy. Ok?” “Yes mama… Thanks for the blanky.” “Good… Alright… See you when your ready to come out.” “Ok. Bye, Mama.” She nodded and began to head out again. Cryo knew what he wanted to do now. This is what he wanted to wish for. He wrapped the soft blanket tightly around his body and laid down on the soft floor. All of a sudden, he heard the sound of naptunes on the radio in the room. He realized Craft must have already picked up on what was going on. The pleasant melody worked on Cryo’s mind and he soon fell into a deep, deep, slumber. Not long after, someone peeked in the room again. She saw Cryo asleep inside, and nodded. “Alright… He’s asleep… Good… Better get him into his cradle quickly…” she thought. She crept towards the play pen and slowly opened the door. She slowly and gently picked him up and rubbed his back. She slowly carried him to the cradle. She pulled the blankets back and gently placed him in. She pulled the covers up, and finally carefully manuvered a pacifier between his jaws. She already began to hear Cryo sucking a bit on it. She then gently rubbed his head a bit as he rested peacefully. “There we go… Captain… Thank you for saving me…” She gave him a nice kiss on the forehead, and then she turned toward the baby monitor and camera in the room, and went over to pick it up. She began to speak into it.”

“Craft?” she asked? “Yes, Mother Sara?” “I… want to rearrange Cryo’s schedule during the day.” “Why of course! I saw the… youngster managed to get himself a time out today. I find it hard to believe he got into trouble. He’s usually VERY well behaved.” “Oh… I think I’ll… discuss this with you later.” “Of course, Mother Sara. Now… What needs to be changed?” “I want to… arrange a change in his… sleep schedule during the day.” “Why of course! What are the changes?” “Well… He’ll need more sleep, due to the incident that happened today. But that’s for later. I want Cryo to have 1 extra nap during the day.” “An extra nap?” “That’s right. I want to put him down to sleep 4 times a day now.” “Very good. What are the new times going to be for the baby?” “I want him to wake up at about 8:00 A.M. or as late as 8:20 A.M. and have breakfast with him and watch Tykes TV. His first nap will be at 10:00 A.M. and sleep until at least 12:30 P.M for lunch and play. I also need another naptime at least 2:30 P.M. to about… 4:00 P.M for playing a bit. After that. I want one more at 5:10 P.M to at least 6:45 P.M. After that nap, he should be awake for dinner, a bath, and some play time. Finally, he is to be put to bed for the night at 8:00 P.M. He needs more sleep as his body recovers from the… incident.” “Very well, Mother Sara. Do you believe there is anything else you’ll need? “Umm… Yes… I’m not sure if you can help, but… I want something… special for when he wakes up tomorrow. I have a feeling he’ll be asleep for the rest of the night. “What is it?” “Well… I wanted to talk to my own Momma about getting Cryo a… few things and additions to his room… But most importantly, I need… a couple of special outfits.” “What outfits?” “Well… I… need to contact the seamstress again who made the new set of blankets and clothes for the baby this week. I need for her to make for my little captain… a couple of… Custom Superhero costumes tailored to him for play time… And I need to work with them on the designs before tomorrow…”

Chapter 29

Precise Planning…

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He looked around and saw he was in the dojo. He looked around, and saw the place had bubbles floating all over it… He is immediately reminded of bath time with Sara… “Huh… What’s with the dojo, looking like… a bubble bath of all things? Well… I suppose it doesn’t matter. I’m sure I’ll know soon enough.” He looked at himself, and he was in his sea Serpent transformation. He realized he should have known right as he saw the bubbles. He got up and headed towards his dojo outfit. He saw it seemed to show bubbles running through it. While curious, he shrugged and quickly put it on. As he finished, he saw Wave coming into his room. “Ahh… There’s my… toddler troublemaker.” She chuckled a bit. Cryo looked to see if his rig suit was… training pants on him. But it seemed to instead be a wristband, like hers. He was glad he wasn’t going to play the prank on him again… He smiled at Wave.

“Yup… In timeout right now. Guess I have to think about my choices, huh?” “Oh Cryo… I think you’ll find the choices you have made might not necessarily brought you down a… darker path…” “But… Mick got the idea of burning a building down to lure me in to rescue the people trapped inside, because I stopped that bank robbery… He…” “And what would have happened if you didn’t stop that robbery, Cryo?” “W… Well…” “Cryo… things like this are going to happen… Mick is… well… to say ambitious is an understatement. He would have done something just as awful even if you just… ignored the robbery, to lure you out… I think you realize it… He’s been having a TON of trouble pinpointing you… In fact… he’s desperate at this point.” “Wait… Desperate?” Wave nodded at him. She opened the door and gestured her head to have him follow her towards the pool.

“Craft Hasn’t had a chance to tell you something important… He was actually going to tell you when you got home that day. Craft and the members at home have been cracking down their organization.” “Wait…! Really!?” “That’s right… Craft has been invaluable in causing problems in their ENTIRE group. Many of the higher ranking government and standard mercenary groups have been detained and arrested. And many of the ones promised powerful weapons technology by enslaving you to make them are ALREADY being rounded up. Mick and his crew are now being driven into a corner. He doesn’t understand how the military is cracking down on his crew so hard…” Cryo chuckled… “He never considered I’d make such a… smart and powerful AI. Huh?” “Exactly… I myself have… never seen an AI unit so… protective of you…” “P… Protective?” “That’s right… He’s been watching over you since you started… He was actually helpful when you got your “mama,” out of the building. “Really?” “That’s right. He’s always been watching over you in every camera in town. He follows you everywhere. When Mick and the others lured you in, he reacted… quite brilliantly!” “Please tell me he didn’t… kill someone…” “No. Despite his desire for your protection, he has always kept in mind that he can’t just… end lives. This is a rather… rare quality for an AI. Instead… He hacked into the building and its electronic gadgets and such. He sealed off doors that they could have used to get to your position faster. He also used it to split up their divisions across the store. He activated fire prevention measures at a higher pressure and leaking some chemicals into the liquids to blind and surprise them so he could allow you just a few seconds more to react. He even managed to take control of some of their vehicles for moving crates and such! He used them to block the way out of the garage, where they had stashed their vehicles for their escape! This one move had caused a lot of them to have to try to get away on foot! And this allowed for several of them to be detained by the police! Mick had lost a great deal of the mercenaries at his disposal in this one instance! But… I think you realize…” “Mick… He’s being forced into a corner… With everything falling apart around him, he’ll… probably go as far as it takes… to take me now…” She nodded to him, as they stood by the water…

“One thing Craft can’t figure out… is where he and his crew are operating from… He’s done his best, but he can’t track where their primary base of operations is… If they can just do that, he’ll be finished. Considering he took you far to the north of the continent, I think you can guess that it must be somewhere North of here. How far, neither I or Craft knows.” “I understand…” “Good… Your battle against Mick has entered a deciscive phase. Keep a steady eye out, and wait for an opportunity to move against him. You have one advantage over him right now.” “And what is that?” Wave chuckled a bit. “With so much of his organization falling apart, and with so much trouble you caused him, he’ll come after you himself at this point.” Cryo scratched his chin a bit. But then he realized what she meant! “So… I make myself… bait for him…” She nodded. “Listen to me very carefully… When you wake up, tell this plan to Nia, Sara, and Craft. Once I tell you it… We’ll train today…” Cryo nodded and sat down and listened to Wave’s plan…”

Chapter 30

Bubble Bound

Time passed, and Cryo and Wave had settled down with their plan. They soon attached the oxygen rebreather to their mouths and jump into the water for the actual training today. They swam through a bit, and then they stopped in the water.

“Alright Cryo… We’ve been practicing your abilities with ice and water for some time now. You’ve become quite good at it! Now… We’re going to finally try something a bit more advanced. Even for a water dragon like you. Now… I’ve noticed recently you’ve seem to be able to use your abilities from both the Sea Serpent form and the Winter Whiteout form without being in it’s natural environment. I’m not exactly sure if it’s the flow lily in your bandanna, or if its just special qualities with you personally. Regardless though, I think we can both guess you simply won’t have to worry about that detail. We should just assume that you’ll be free to use those abilities as if you were. With this in mind, we’ll be using something that should help you with keeping Mick and his… partners at bay for the plan.” “What is it?” “This first attack is called, Bubble bind!” “Bubble… Bind?” “That’s right. Watch…” She gestured her hand to her side, and Cryo saw a dojo dummy come into view. She turned toward it. “Alright… Now… You remember when we first talked about the Sea Slicer?” “Umm… Yeah. But… I don’t remember everything you said.” “Alright… I told you that the sea sliver should be used in tandem with another attack! When the enemy has to go to the surface of the water when their diving gear is broken, you should use this to prevent them from escaping. It also can be used to help those who can’t survive under more… volatile conditions underwater and pocket of breathable air and safety in the event they might be in danger of drowning. Watch…

She began to clasp her hands together. She began focusing her water energy between both hands. Then, she quickly thrust her hands forward and opened them up! A small bubble shot out of her hand! But then, it seemed to grow bigger, and bigger, and bigger! Soon it connected with the dummy, and sucked the dummy inside of it! The bubble had now taken the dummy inside of it. “Hmm… Interesting” Cryo said. “Quite, my grandson. Don’t think for a second that bubble that dummy is trapped in is normal. You might not realize this, but that bubble is VERY strong! Poking it with a pointy object isn’t exactly going to pop it either. It’s not really a water bubble… It’s more like… a barrier. It’s primary purpose is to either serve as a way to take something captive without causing major bodily harm to it, or… in extremes when your allies might be in danger, offer a form of major protection around them. Granted… keep in mind… Your ally who’s being protected should… probably not try to fight with it around them… Also… watch this…”

“She held her hand towards the dummy in the bubble. She began to grip her paw slowly… Cryo saw the bubble shrink, as she gripped her paw. Then… she quickly closed her palm, and the bubble condensed around his entire body tightly! The dummy looked to be a bit… squished in there…” “The bubble bind, is condensed water dragon energy that comes from the hands. Therefore, the bubble is adjustable by using the hands. Closing your fist with you hand outstretched to it will cause the bubble to condense around the target! This should be used when the target is about ready to be transported to somewhere else. Something like… I think humans call it ropes… can be used instead while the target is condensed to get them ready for transport to somewhere else.” “Oh! I see! That’s… interesting. And cool honestly. But… Is it possible to… well… Erm… crush the target inside… I… don’t like that thought…” “Thankfully no… Closing your paw will never crush the thing inside. It will only condense fully on their body and prevent any form of movement inside of it. Makes them simply easier to manage. Be careful though… It might be strong, but it’s not invincible. VERY strong foes will most likely have to be weakened and tired out in order to use this to take them. Also… larger targets require more focus and time in your paws while your charging them to form it around them.” “Ahh… That must be what this training is about tonight. Huh?” “That’s right. This is a simple move, but the goal with it is to use it in tandem with other abilites in you arsenal to weaken, capture, and secure targets for the future. While I’m… not sure how this move will react while… outside the water. Theres a chance that this might not work outside at all. But… I think you must realize that for the plan to work, you need every advantage you can think of. “Of course. I understand.” “Now. I suggest we practice this the entire time your asleep. We’ll be using a wide array of dojo dummies to help manage focus and timing.” “Ok. Let’s get started!”

Another dojo dummy came swimming forward and then stood still. Cryo began to position himself a bit of ways away. He put on his headband and could feel the power coursing through him. “Alright, my grandson. This dummy is nice and small, and will require less focusing of elemental energy to encapsulate it. Are you ready?” “Yeah! I’m ready. Grandma!” “Good! Begin focusing and storing energy into your paws and when you feel its, enough, shoot!” Cryo nodded. He began to clasp his paws together. He turned to his side and began focusing his elemental energy into them. He could feel the bubble forming in his palms. “Good! Good! Now… Whenever your ready… UNLEASH IT!” He nodded. He looked forward at the dummy, and then… he moved quickly shifted his hands forward and opened his paws! A small bubble began moving quickly along the water! It soon connected to the dummy and encapsulated it inside! Wave nodded!” “Good! Good! Now… Why don’t you try to constrict it into the bubble? Just move either of your hands forward towards the bubble, and focus just a bit more elemental power into it. Then, just close your fist to constrict it inside!” Cryo nodded. He moved his hand forward towards the bubble, and then focused a bit more of his power into it. Then, he quickly closed his fists! The bubble quickly condensed around the dummy even further! It looked to be quite tightly packed inside now!” “Good, Cryo! Good! Now… Why don’t we try a bigger dummy, without your headband.”

A new dummy came into the scene. It was much larger and had the shape of a dragon! Cryo quickly took his headband off and gave it to Wave. “Alright, Cryo. This is going to take a bit more time due to its size. Don’t try to charge this to quickly. You’ll end up exhausting yourself faster… Ok? The key for targets of different sizes is to know how long you should charge the ability. Smaller take less time. Larger targets take a bit more! One more thing I haven’t mentioned… The targets size doesn’t matter when it comes to their strength. Even something small may contain powerful energies and strength inside of it. Remember that when using this ability, to NOT underestimate the strength of the target. It should be weakened and tired out through battle before you try to capture it. Ok?” “Ok. Good. Now… Try it on that dummy.” “Cryo nodded and then began to charge for a bit. But as he did, he… felt a bit strange… Wave then saw that he began to glow! “Cryo? Are you ok?” But he wasn’t listening… His focus was in his hands and at his target! Then, he unleashed the attack! A bubble in a nice Cyan glow came forward and quickly encapsulated the large dummy! Wave was confused at what just happened though!”

“Cryo? You charged for… a bit longer then I expected… I would have said that… it was probably too long… But then… Why were you lighting up like that?” “I… I don’t… know, Grandma? I… I felt as I was charging, something… awakened inside of me. I can’t explain it, to be honest…” He turned toward the Dummy again, and decided to try to condense the bubble around it. He held his palm forward, and then focused for just a second. Then, he closed his fist! But to both their surprises, the bubble SHRANK along with the dummy inside of it! Both of their eyes lit up!” “C…! Cryo…! That’s… I’ve never seen this happen before!” “Umm… That seems… dangerous… I… shrunk the… thing inside of it… How do I… change it back… I… don’t think I want something to be… that size the rest of its life…” “Umm… Why don’t we take a closer look at it…” They both swam forward and took a look at the small bubble with the dragon dojo dummy inside. They saw it had indeed shrunk to a small size, instead of being constricted tightly… “Well… I can say one thing… Even something quite strong would be… VERY MUCH WEAKENED being… encapsulated like this… And… I’m not sure they’d… want to break out being that size…” “Still… HOW DO I BRING IT BACK TO NORMAL?!” “I… I don’t really… know, Cryo… Maybe… try to focus energy into your palm again? Instead of closing it, open it instead…” “Well… Alright… Worth a shot…” He pointed his paw at the dojo dummy, and closed his fist. Then he focused energy into his paw again, and slowly opened it. As he did, the bubble became bigger, along with the creature inside of it! Soon, it was back to normal size. Cryo breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness…” “Cryo… This is… I don’t think ANY ferrin dragon had ever done this with the Bubble Bind ability before…” “Could it be from… the Flo Lily? I… am wearing my bandanna right now…” “Let me say it again… NO Ferrin Dragon has ever achieved this before… There were Ferrin dragons who… consumed a Flo Lily before. But this has never been achieved before…” “I’m… worried about… how this could end up getting someone crushed…” “Why don’t you… try it again… Maybe… we can make it work how it normally does. Anyway… to release something from the bubble bind, just hold your arms spread out. Then focus energy into both paws again, and then smash them against the bubble. Keep in mind though… This should only be done AFTER the creature inside is… restrained by other means already. Now… Why don’t you try it?” “Ok, Grandma.” Cryo did as he was told. He quickly held his paws spread out to the sides. He focused for a little bit. Then he clapped them on the bubble! It immidiatly popped and was gone.” “Good! Good, Cryo!” Now… umm… Try the bubble bind again. Except… Maybe… take less time to… charge it perhaps?” “Alright Grandma.”

Cryo began to go through the motions again. He held his paws to his side, focused just a bit of energy, and then sent the bubble forward! It once again encapsulated the dragon dummy! “Alright… Now… Will it shrink again?” Cryo asked. “I don’t know really. I didn’t see you glow this time. Now that I think about it… I didn’t see you begin to glow this time, and you really didn’t take a long time to charge… Yet the bubble was big enough to successfully ecapsulate the creature… Hmm… Interesting… Well… Try condensing it again, my little grandson.” “Umm… Alright, Grandma…” Cryo took in a deep breath… He held his paw forward and focused just a bit of energy. He quickly closed his paw, and sure enough… the bubble condensed on the dummy. It stayed the same size as the dummy this time…

“Well… Looks like it… Worked normally. Hmm… Fascinating. From what I can see Cryo… the amount of time it takes a normal Ferrin Dragon to encapsulate a target of that size seems to instead… at least in your case… alters the bubble bind to… shrink the target to… weaken it EVEN FURTHER! Not to mention that shrinking it like that would make it FAR easier to transport to somewhere else! No need for really any more restraint devices. All you’d really have to do is carry the shrunk individual with you to somewhere they could be better managed.” “That sounds… Pretty cool actually! But… I’m still worried about… well… possibly stepping or dropping something that’s… shrunk like that… That could… probably break some bones or worse…” “Well… I suppose if you use it this way, that you should… just be VERY careful when… carrying it around…” “Yeah… Yeah… I suppose that’s all I could really do.” “Yes… Well… That was… a fun experiment tonight… Strange though… This happened AFTER you took off the headband! I wonder if for some reason… the headband was actually WEAKENING your ability, rather then better manage it!?” “Well… I… really can’t say, Grandma…” “Well… Why don’t we practice this ability a bit more tonight. We’ll also practice with your other abilities tonight as well. Your ALREADY becoming quite masterful at them! Your dojo belt is almost a nice black! Just a bit more practicing and you should be a master!” “Well… Alright, Grandma! Let’s continue practicing!”

So… time passed in the night… Cryo continued to work on his training for the night. After a while, Cryo heard what sounded like a clock! He turned at Wave. “Ahh! Look like it’s finally 8:00, Cryo. “Huh… 8:00 P.M?” “Nope… 8:00 A.M.” “Wait… What!?” “You’ve been asleep since 5:00 last night.” “I… Am I ok?” “Don’t worry, Grandson. “Mama Sara,” decided you needed extra sleep last night. You’ve been resting nice and peacefully in your cradle.” “Huh…? My Cradle?” She chuckled a bit. “That’s right. Sara moved you back into it right as you fell asleep. I must say… You look ADORABLE sleeping in it!” “I… Haha… Alright, Grandma…” “Now… She is expecting you to wake up soon. She has some special in mind for you when you wake up. I suggest that before you inform them of the plan, you… take a few days off and stay with her. The Frost Fury technique you used outside of the water was MASTERFULLY done, but your body will probably be a bit weak until a bit of time has passed. No sense trying something like this until your in top condition. Ok?” “Alright, Grandma.” “Good. Give “mama,” a nice kiss from me! And… I’m guessing your going to need to be… changed… right as you wake up?” She chuckled again. “Haha… Yeah grandma… Laugh it up…” “Oh grandson… Just relax and take some time off. You won’t be dreaming of the dojo for awhile. I think I should let you just dream normally for awhile.” “Well… Alright then…” “Don’t worry. Once everything is in motion, I’ll bring you back one more time before things heat up back home for one more night of practice. Anyway… Have a good day with “Mama!” “Alright. I will, grandma!” She nodded and gave a kiss on his forehead. Cryo went to his room in the dojo. He hanged his gear up on a hanger. Then… he laid on the blue mass, closed his eyes, and everything flashed to white!”

Chapter 31

Proper Play Pen

Cryo opened his eyes slowly. He gave out a yawn, as his eyes began to focus. He realized quickly he was indeed in his cradle in the center of his nursery. He heard soothing music in his ears. He realized that naptunes was playing from his pirate ship radio by his cradle. He realized Sara must of learned from Craft that he tends to sleep longer when Naptunes is playing as he rests. But the music suddenly cut off not long after he noticed it. He also realized his pacifier was in his mouth. He knew Sara must of put it in while he was sleeping. He let go of it and it then began to hang down from his neck. “Ahh… Good morning…” He said as he began to lean forward in the cradle.

“Ahh! There’s the little tyke! How are you this morning, little guy?” said Craft. Cryo turned towards where his radio was, smiled, and chuckled. “Ohh! I’m doing fine, Craft.” “That’s good. You slept quite well last night! Sara was worried you might wake up in the middle of the night!” “Well… I did have naptunes playing…” “Quite! I hoped that you’d sleep well, youngster! Now… Why don’t I inform your mama that you woke up at the right time… Right at 8:04!” “Haha. Alright Craft. Have to get ready for play day with Sara. I’m not sure if you know, but… I’m going to have to stay here all week. Sara needs… support right now…” “I’m already aware of the… incident at Toys for Tots. To think that… Its disgraceful what those brutes did… Luckily…” “Yeah… I know you helped me get through that already, Craft…” “Huh… R… Really? But… How did you know?” “Umm…” Cryo realized he probably shouldn’t tell him about the training or the plan at the moment. He quickly began to think of an excuse…” “I… heard some weird mechanical sounds while I was making my escape… I… also saw the camera’s were… watching me as I made my way through… I… suspected that you might have… done something to assist me.” “My my, little toddler. Your QUITE observant!” “Y… Yeah… I suppose. Anyway, I think I’ve kept you long enough. Get mama in here before she… uhh… gets mad at me again…” “Very well! Don’t worry! Mama isn’t too upset with your little outburst yesterday! She will be here to pick you up for a nice scrumptious breakfast pretty soon! One more thing though…” “What, Craft?” “Your mama has a little surprise waiting for you! Something had crawled its way into your cradle last night! And that’s only the beginning of her surprise! Enjoy, little tyke!” “Haha! Alright! I’ll check!” “Oh… Also… You just woke up, so your going to need to…” “Yeah… I know, Craft. I know she’ll want to change me right as I get out of my Cradle this morning.” “Very good, little guy! Be good and wait for mama now!” “Haha. I will.”

He smiled and began to check around his cradle a bit. He then saw his Tidal plush had been scooched under the covers near him. He knew Sara wanted him to snuggle with it. But upon closer observation, Tidal looked a bit… different… He began to take a closer look! “Huh… Tidal… Kind of looks like… one of those comic book hero’s. That’s… a bit weird. Yet… I do like the look!”

His Tidal the Stormfall plush had been dressed up a bit. He no longer looked like an adorable pirate. He turned it all around and began to closely observe it. It had a Pirate doo rag wrapped around is head, but this time it was. white and it also was extended below the plushies eyeline, and there were holes cut into it to make it look sort of like a mask. It was wearing snow white training pants around his tail fin, with a black snowflake on the bottom and on top. It’s body was covered in a Cyan action suit that had a Dragon’s head that looked like Cryo’s that was wearing a similar white doo rag in the same fashion as it was in the center where its belly was. It had some type of watch on its left fin that imitated a tiny computer. It had a golden belt above where its training pants was that had items attached to it. It had what looked like a metal wire wrapped around a small cropping, like maybe a rope, a pair of goggles that could fit around its the plushie’s eyes, and a what looked to be a sword holster! He took a closer look at the holster, and realized he could take the sword out of it. He pulled the sword from the holster and took a look at it. It was a finely curved plastic sword, with a black snowflake pictured on the white plastic blade. The hilt of the sword looked pretty nice, as it was a nice Cyan, and it had a rather pretty sapphire connected to both sides! The sapphires looked… real… Felt real too… Written in the hilt of the left side of the sword, were the words, “Snowcalibur, Legendary sword of the Superhero Sidekick, Snowflake!” “Superhero Sidekick?” Thought Cryo. He placed the sword back in its holster and then continued to observe the plush. It had a light blue cape, that had the picture of a large snowflake as well, with the words “Snowflake, Precious Sidekick of the hero, Avalanche!” “The hero, Avalanche? Huh? What’s this all about?” He scratched his head a few times. “Hmm… This actually has me really interested now. What is “Mama’s,” surprise this morning? Hmm…” He took Tidal into his hands and began to cuddle with it in his arms to please Sara. He realized he smelt quite clean and his fabrics felt very nice to touch. Soon enough, Cryo heard the door to his nursery open and saw Sara step inside. He put on a big smile to greet Sara.

“There’s my baby boy!” she said, happy to see Cryo awake. “Good morning, Mama!” “Good morning, my little Superhero!” “S… Superhero?” “That’s right! Oh do I have something for you! Your going to LOVE it!” “Crafty did tell me you had a surprise for me, today, Mama!” “That’s right! Now… Let me get you out of your cradle! I’m sure your a wet little boy right now and need a nice change!” “Umm… Yeah Mama! I think I’m leaky right now…” Well… Only one way to check! Come here, Avalanche!” “Huh… Avalanche again?” thought Cryo. Sara quickly lifted him out of his cradle and cradled Cryo in he arms. “Alright… Hang on, little Avalanche…”

She pulled his training pants forward a bit… And sure enough… “Just as I suspected! I knew you were a wet little boy!” “Umm… Yeah, Mama! Better change me, huh?” That’s right… Let me take you over to the changing table. Ok?” “Ok, Mama.” She slung Cryo over her shoulder and began to rub his back and walk towards his changing table. But as Cryo looked over her shoulder, he realized… something in his room had… DRASTICALLY changed! His play pen!

His play pen now had a Tv added to it inside! It was quite big and above a large cabinet. The Tv and Cabinet were bolted down tightly! It also showed what looked like a keyboard on top of the cabinet where the Tv was. The Tv looked like a GIGANTIC computer screen, and the cabinet below was colored a deep blue and the sides seemed to have the same picture that was on Tidal’s belly of his new costume. The cabinet below contained a chip drive movie player and a bunch of movies stored inside that was behind a glass window with opaque padding against it. He wondered how it operates, as it looked like there was no way to open it… Lined up to the TV, was a small sofa, that was a nice white, and there was a picture on the back of a Cartoony Cryo, smiling and chewing on his pacifier and seemingly in a rather cool looking action costume with a white doo rag mask, a light blue suit with deep blue pads aligning where the his shoulders were on his front limbs, light blue training pants with a snowflake pattern all across them, and his paws had dark blue gloves fitted around them that had the picture of a snowflake on top. Hanging over his back, was another superhero cape! He couldn’t get a good look at it in the picture though… He was standing heroically on top of a building in a city as snow fell around him. His paws were against his sides and he was standing on his back two legs up firmly, with his bulging and muscular chest held forward proudly! High up, out of reach (if he doesn’t fly up to get them…) seemed to be several outfits that seemed… his size, hanging on metal divots on the wall. They looked like action suits as well and were similar to Tidal’s costume. The colors were a bit different on each one and the picture where the belly was seemed to be different from one another though… He couldn’t make out what they exactly looked like though, except the one on the center costume, which matched Tidals. There was a stack of what looked like Superhero Comic books and such near where the front where the door was! There were a few nice toddler toys inside to play with and Cryo saw that his plush crewmates and “rivals,” were also inside! They seemed to be wearing new outfits as well! But he couldn’t get a better look at them at the moment… The door to the inside seemed to have changed as well. The netting on the door was blue, and the door seemed to be separated into 2 halves! It seemed the door could be opened at Cryo’s height or Sara’s, to allow them inside the area. It also seemed to have a rather intricate baby proofing locking system to be able to seal both doors from the inside or out in the event Cryo needed to be put in there and remain there for a bit. There was a Light Blue plaque above it that showed the words “Secret Superhero Lair of Avalanche, the Ariel Augmented Dragon!” in white letters. Beside the Plaque, seemed to be Cryo’s head covered in the doo white doo rag mask again with the rest of his head in black silhouette. He was surprised his play pen had been changed this much! Sara strapped Cryo to his changing table, rubbed his belly a few times, and smiled. She began to change him gently… Cryo looked as his play pen again as Sara wiped him down with a baby wipe on his “afflicted,” area.

“Mama! My play pen looks different!” She smiled again as she began to powdered him gently… “That’s right, my little Superhero! That’s your new “secret lair!” “My… new secret lair?” “That’s right! Do you like it?” “Well… Yeah I do! Looks so cool! But… What happens if I get in trouble? Won’t you have to move all of that stuff out?” She smiled again and began to rummage around the “Day and play,” door of the changing table for a pair of training pants. She pulled a set out and began to fit it around his tail. “Well… I’ve been thinking, my little Superhero! Using your play pen for punishment… doesn’t seem like the right thing to do.” “Wait… Does that mean… I’m going to be… Spanked instead…? “WHAT!? ABSOLUTELY NOT! OUT OF THE QUESTION! Who gave you that idea?! That’s cruel! I wouldn’t do that to my little Superhero!” “Then… how will I be punished instead then?” Sara smiled again lifted up Cryo’s legs and began to slide the training pants under his bottom. “Well… I thought about it. And… I feel like the reason you acted out yesterday, is because… you were getting cranky…” “I was… cranky?” “That’s right. I felt like you were not getting enough sleep, young man. So… Instead of putting you in you play pen with nothing for time outs, I think its FAR better to instead put you down for a nice, long nap, if you start acting up.” “A nap, mama?” “That’s right. I also changed your nap time schedule. You will be getting one more nap each day.” “One more nap? Well… Ok, mama.” “That’s a good boy.” She pulled the flap to the training pants around Cryo’s crotch, and then attached the back flaps to the front. “There you go! I bet you feel much better now, Avalanche!”

He looked at his training pants, and saw it was a different design then usual. “Hmm… This is the same training pants as in the picture of me on that building. Actually feels… even nicer then before! I think the materials are… better for comfort and… spillage. Hmm… Wait… Does she plan to…” Cryo’s eyes lit up brightly! He then gave a nice smile. Sara picked him up and began to carry him to the play pen. “Mama… Are you going to… dress me up like a superhero!?” “Haha! That’s right! Your superhero name is Avalanche, The Augmented Ariel Dragon!” “That’s… SO AWESOME, Mama! I… I have never been a superhero before!” “That’s right! Your play pen is you secret lair! We installed a new door to come and go inside as you please! It’s currently unlocked so you just have to pull it open to get inside! But… if I need to leave for a bit, I’m going to have to activate the child proof locks and have Craft watch over you while you play in the secret lair! I can’t just leave you to wander the room on your own. Ok?” “Yeah! That sounds alright, Mama.” “Good. Now… We have to get my little Cryo into his Superhero suit, so he can SAVE THE WORLD!”

Chapter 32

Suit Up Situation

She took him over to the inside of the play pen, and opened the door above. The system in place also caused the door below it to open along with it. She stepped inside and then set Cryo down beside where his new superhero costumes were. “Alright, Avalanche. Which part of the world do you need to save today? Do you need to go to a deep, underwater facility, and need to wear your “Undersea Suit?”

She pointed to the suit on the left. Cryo observed it closely… It seemed to look like a legitimate wetsuit, except for a dragon like him! It was very dark blue, and on the chest of the suit, showed Cryo’s head, but this time wearing the mask for the suit and a pair of what appeared to be some technologically advanced scuba goggles with a oxygen mask connected to where the mouth was. He could see a little bit of a oxygen tank behind his head. It seems the suit itself seemed to had kept in mind his Sea Serpent Transformation with it’s framework. It seems that there were flaps where his head and back fin were, so it could extend outside of the suit, without exposing the body to the cold waters of the sea. He remembered that he transformed when swimming in the indoor pool at the mansion with Sara. The suit seemed… quite nice actually! “Hmm… This looks like a legitimate underwater diving suit for a dragon like me. But… I wonder if it works? Hmm…” Sara pointed to the next suit in the play pen.

“Or do you need to wander deep into a dark, foreboding enemy base, where the bad guys nasty crew want to hunt you down and capture you and turn you into their servant! You’ll need to blend into the dark corridors and strike where they least expect it to stop them!” Cryo looked at it. He saw this one was based on ninja apparatus! The suit was very dark in color and the fabrics seemed to extend to every part of his body to cover it. There seemed to be another pair of advanced goggles hanging up with it. The mask for it was two part. A black doo rag mask would cover Cryo’s upper head, while the fabrics connected to the neckline would cover the rest of Cryo’s face, and hide his identity. The body had a more… subtle picture then the others. It showed Cryo’s head again, but it was covered completely in the mask and googles, and the colors on it were not too bright, so it would still be hidden in dark corridors, and such. There was a thick, black belt along the waistline, that seemed to be a utility and gadget belt. He wondered for a minute if Sara put actual gadget toys and such inside the belt to play with along with the suit. There were thick black gloves and socks with the suit. Upon closer observation, it seemed that they had imitation magnetic climbers attached to where the paws were to “climb,” up metal surfaces. There were extensions of silk on the back of the suit, clearly to cover his wings and keep them hidden. Below was black pants made specifically for a dragon. It seemed to have another extension of black silk coming off the back out of it as well, for Cryo’s tail to be covered up. “This suit is quite imaginative! A ninja dragon? Huh… I like the thought of that actually.” Cryo thought. He was getting excited at the thought of wearing one of these cool suits. Sara then showed him the last one.

“Or does my little Avalanche need to protect the people of our beautiful snowy city, and needs to be able to move around a look like a REAL superhero!” She pointed to the last one. Cryo recognized it immediately! It was the one that was displayed on the back of his chair! The cool white doo rag mask. The light blue suit with deep blue pads, and dark blue gloves. Cryo saw his cape hanging next to it! He got a better look at it. Cryo saw his cape seemed to show a mountain with snow falling quickly off of it, and the words… “Hero of the City! Avalanche, The Augmented Ariel Dragon!” in gold letters! “You know… This suit looks AMAZING! I… Yeah. I’m defiantly going with that costume today.” Cryo thought. Sara headed back towards him and rubbed his head.

So… What type of world saving will you be doing today, Avalanche?” “Well… I want to protect the city today!” “Haha! Alright! Come here you! Let’s get you into the proper attire!” She grabbed the outfit and then took it off the hanger. “Alright! Hold still, Avalanche!” Cryo nodded and Sara began to fit him into the outfit. Cryo could tell immediately that this outfit followed Gregs method of making fabrics. It felt very warm and cozy. Soon, Sara carefully manuvered the white doo rag mask over Cryo’s head. “Alright! Why don’t I take you in front of a mirror so you can see yourself in your new suit, Avalanche!” Cryo nodded and Sara took him to a mirror near his closet in the room. She placed him down on the floor and Cryo looked at himself. His eyes lit up brightly! He smiled at how AMAZING he looked now!” “I really do look like a superhero with this on! Except with the training pants, of course…” He thought. He turned himself around and saw his nice cape flowing behind him. He chuckled and smiled. “Well… I’m not going to be a real superhero of course, but… this is fun nonetheless!” he thought. He looked over to his Plushies next. He saw they were in a very similar costume as Cryo’s Tidal plush was. The lightvolt plushies however, looked like mercenaries in dark military gear. Cryo chuckled at the thought of playing “Hero,” with his plush gang.

“Well… Do you like it, Avalanche?” He looked at Sara and gave a smile! “Yeah, Mama! I’m ready to save the day!” “That’s a good boy! But first, a superhero can’t save the world on an empty stomach, now can he?” “Huh?” Cryo’s stomach rumbled and Sara heard it. She chuckled. “See! Even your tummy is telling you that you can’t help the city without some nice breakfast!” “Haha! Yeah, Mama! Come on. I’m sure everyone else wants to see the new superhero in town!” “That’s right. Let’s get you to the breakfast table! I’ll show you your playmates later! You already Tidal ready to assist you! Your other little buddies will help you conquer the EVIL lightvolt baddies out to take over the world!” “Yeah! I can’t wait!” She picked up Cryo and cradled him in her arms. She went to the door and left the room, and hurried over to the dining room to show everyone the new little “Superhero,” in the house.

Chapter 33

Before the Battle…

So the week passed by for the “Superhero,” Avalanche. Sara would give him plenty of time to play in his “Secret lair.” He would read the nice comics Sara gave him, play “pretend,” with his plush toys in front of her, who always laughed at the wacky situations Cryo came up with while “saving the world.” He made use the Tv inside of it, which used a rather cool mechanical system inside the container below it to change the movies or young children’s programs he wanted to watch. The keyboard below the tv was made to select the movies or shows that were on chip drive movie players. Cryo could watch as the clever mechanical device takes the chip drive stored below and insert it into the tv system behind the glass window, which he did enjoy seeing. He did have to attend school for the week, but due to the rather… dangerous situation going on with him right now, he took his classes at the house by using the Online Compcall app. Eli brought Cryo’s home computer to the house before the school week started. Sara, despite that, STILL expected him to wear training pants even during school hours at home. But the mayor had thought ahead on that and made him some regular dragon pants to hide it when in school in front of his computer. Sara would accompany him the entire time of school hours. Thankfully, she never embarrassed him during classes. She called his school “preschool,” nonetheless, which actually made him chuckle quite a bit. In the event that he DID need to have a “break,” during school hours, he’d simply tell the teacher and Sara would lead him back into his nursery to change him. Soon enough, it was late in the day on Friday. He was attending school for the day, in his final class.

“Alright everyone. Our English’s class is just about wrapped up. Now we just have just one more student who needs to give his poem for the week. I think we know who it is, huh? Cryo?” Cryo was writing on a piece of paper for an short story due at a later date. He heard his name and lifted his head up. He looked at the screen of his computer. “Oh! Is it finally my turn to share, Ms. Harper?” “That’s right. Since your… well… having to take classes from the mayors house due to… erm… Never mind…” Cryo moved camera computer around and saw each and every person staring. He saw their worried faces. He knew they had heard what had happened to him and Sara at Toy’s for Tots… He gave a small sigh. Sara then gripped his right paw and brought it up a bit, and gently stroked up and down his arm and palm off screen with one finger. He began to smile and relax. She seemed to always know when he’s feeling a bit nervous or uncomfortable during school. He smiled and brought his poem forward. He looked at Sara, and she nodded. Cryo took in a deep breath and began to read it.

In the Frigid North of a Distant Town
A dragon sleeps in peace without a frown
Even after the fire, he feels sound
When his enemies tried to take him bound
He saved a close ones life, and he felt proud
He will not allow them to be brought down
He dreams of being a hero, for now.
If his foes try bring him to the ground.
The dragon will blow through them, like a plow

There was a moment of silence in the classroom. Cryo began to feel down a bit… “I guess they didn’t like that…” Suddenly, Everyone was clapping and cheering inside the classroom! Cryo began to smile again, and Sara gently rubbed his back. “That was excellent, Cryo! It seems your… recent expeirences REALLY gave inspiration to this poem! Well done, Cryo!” “Haha! Th… Thank you everyone!” “Very well done! Very well done indeed!” Suddenly, the classroom bell began to ring. “Alright everyone. That’s it for school for today! Have a good weekend everyone! Everyone began to say wave bye to the teacher. Then many of the students in the classroom turned toward the camera. “Hey… Cyro… If you… need to talk with someone about… what happened, I’d… be willing to listen,” said Miles. “Y…Yeah… He… came for you again I heard…” said Warren. “Yes he did… The fire was set in the building to lure me in… He must have somehow known I… stopped the bank robbery in town…” “Wait… That was… you?” “That’s right. While I… know I couldn’t just let them take the money at the bank, it… gave them an idea on how to lure me to them. Sara… got caught inside that building… She was… well… getting something for me there. I’m just glad Sara is alright now.” “Yeah. I heard you not only rescued her, but the manager at the store!” said Winston. “Yes… But… I was quite tired after. That last bit… I had to expend a lot of my own… elemental dragon energy just to get them out… Thankfully… Umm… Sara and the mayor brought me to her mansion to rest. I’ve been here ever since. She’s debating on whether I should stay in this mansion until I get back home. It’s why I had to… well… take my classes from her house instead this week.. There is FAR more security at this mansion. I imagine everyone in town is on high alert after what happened. “Well… I’m sorry to hear about your troubles right now, Cryo…” said Warren.

Cryo took in a deep breath, but then she looked at Sara. She smiled at Sara and then gave him a hug on camera. Cryo smiled back at her and looked back at the camera. “Hey… It’s not been all bad, guys. Sara has been having a blast with me being here all week. I’m happy that despite what happened, she already pushed through it. It makes me very happy to… support her after that mess. “Ha! That’s fun I suppose! Is she like a little sis to you or something?” asked Warren. Cryo looked at him. “Ahh… Not quite. She’s… something else. Right?” Cryo replied as he turned towards Sara. “That’s right. We have plenty of fun over here!” Sara said back. “What exactly do you do?” asked Cristina. “Oh… Uhh… Well… we play “house…”” “House?” “Y… yeah… Its just a nice… pretend game. Right, Sara?” Sara nodded her head, smiled and scratched him by his ears.” “Well… That’s nice.” “Yeah. Anyway… I’m… going to have a… special call in about an hour from the people from Home. I… I have something I need to tell them. The mayor, Nia, will be joining in it. I… have to discuss something VERY important with everyone.” “What are you discussing?” asked Miles. “Well… I… think I’ll keep it to myself for now… But… It’s nice seeing you everyone!” “Alright. Bye Cryo!” Cryo was about to close his computer, but then he thought of something.

“Oh! One more thing. Can someone tell Tanner something later?” “Wait… Tanner? What do you have to say to him!?” “I want to tell him that… the case of what happened to his father had… recently been solved.” “Wait… what do you mean?” “He’s been treating me much nicer since… well… the incident in the lunchroom. He… informed me of an… incident that… kind of caused his… delinquent behavior. His father had disappeared out of thin air… about a year ago. He actually worked back where I live. He was a soldier and highly decorated. I… I’m almost afraid of telling him about this. But… I can’t possibly keep this info from him. He deserves to know. I… have a friend looking into the shading dealings of Mick and his organization. My… friend is an ABSOLUTE tech wizard, like me. He found… an email sent to a rather well known politician. Are you all familiar with the recent… umm… incarcerations of some REALLY powerful individuals of the government in this region? Yeah… My friend connected them to my kidnappings. It turns out some REALLY POWERFUL individuals had wanted me for their own selfish endeavors.” “ARE YOU SERIOUS! That’s why all those arrests are happening!? I thought they were framed!” exclaimed Winston. “Nope… Those arrests are for kidnapping me. And now the recent terror attacks on my home. They’re desperate to take me alive. The conspiracy runs deep in the government of this region. I was one of their biggest opportunities of all time!” “I… I can’t even believe I’m hearing this right now… That’s… absolutely messed up… I… I don’t even… HOW DID THEY GET INTO OUR GOVERNMENT!?” exclaimed Markus. “I don’t know really… I’ve… not really taking any classes in politics… Never found it appealing to me.” “But… you seem like a… pretty good leader, Cryo.” Cryo chuckled a bit. “Yeah… Maybe… But… I don’t think I’d want to dictate how others should live one day.” Everyone chuckled a bit. Even Sara did. She rubbed his back a bit and smiled at him. Cryo nodded and turned back to the other classmates.

“Now… I imagine all of you are wondering how his father, Artemis, fits into all of this. Well… he seemed to had… through just plain bad luck, found out about the plans for the first attempt to kidnap me. The plan to… take me from the hospital building. But… before he could tell anyone back home, Mick found out. I just thought he should know that his father was… a truly brave man. He tried to inform my caretakers at the base of the plan. He was found out before he could. He tried to desperately fight them off in the late night to warn my caretakers about the plan, but he was overpowered. I believe he was… taken captive… Taken off the base in a military truck… I… don’t know if he’s… still alive after all this time… I hope that he’s still alive. Tanner… He should know his father tried to stick up for me. To save me from a disastrous plot, but… had failed and may now very well be… Sigh…” Everyone looked at each other and nodded. “Alright, Cryo… We’ll… We’ll tell him for you…” said Winston. “Thank you… Now… I have to go now. Thanks for your support everyone. Goodbye! Have a nice snowy day!”

Everyone quickly said their goodbyes to Cryo and he shut the computer. Sara rubbed his back and gave him a hug. “You ok, my baby boy?” “Yeah… I’m ok, Mama. Just a ton of things have been going on lately I suppose.” “Oh… Don’t worry, my baby… Do you want to get your superhero costume on again?” “Haha! Yeah! Time for Avalanche!” “That’s my boy! Come on! Let’s go!” She picked Cryo up and slung Cryo over her shoulder. She pulled back his pants a bit and checked his backside. But… he seemed to be good at the moment. “Alright… You don’t seem to be stinky right now. Well… Let’s get you ready to save the day!” She began to walk down the hall towards his nursery. As they walked, Cryo Thought about tonight’s big conversation. He knew this next conversation with his mother, Craft, and the mayor tonight would be EXTREMELY important. And Sara may not exactly like the risk he was going to take here…

Chapter 34

Conveniently Captured…

An airship flew through the air, with an all important cargo stationed in a cell in the back. A devious individual decides to check on his… special prisoner… He opens the door to the back of the airship. He takes out an access card that opened a secure door at the back of the ship, and slides it across a lock near the entrance. The locked turned green and a mechanical voice sail “Access granted.” It slid up quickly, and he steps into the room. The one in charge of watching the cargo stood up and walked over toward this certain individual…

“Mick? Is something up?” the mercenary asked. Mick pulled off his black ski mask and uncovered his face. He was a blonde individual with faded scars on several parts of his head from previous operations. He had a bit a freckles around his cheeks. His eyes were brown, and his gaze showed frustration and anger. He began to walk towards where his all too important prize was… He looked inside… He saw a blue dragon, asleep on his side. It’s wrists had been tied behind his back with Cyantran wires, along with his ankles and his snout, muzzling the creature. There was a rather bulky metal collar around his neck as well. Mick turned towards the other individual, and looked frustrated!

“He’s still ASLEEP!?” asked Mick. “Well… Umm… Yeah… I haven’t seen him move since we loaded him onto the ship…” “WHY?! What was the dose of that dart!?” “Umm… well… It was the same that we used on him when we… took him from that Research institution.” “Really…? Because WERE NEARLY THERE! HE SUPPOSED TO GET TO WORK RIGHT AS WE MAKE IT THERE! He was asleep for an hour the last time! IT’S NOW ALMOST PAST 2 HOURS!” “Look! I… I don’t know! I don’t know why he… seems to be sleeping longer this time! I really don’t!” “This… little DEMON, has caused me MORE TROUBLE THEN ANYTHING I’VE HAD TO DEAL WITH BEFORE! And now… HE WON’T EVEN WAKE UP!? WHAT IS CAUSING HIM TO BE UNCONCIOUS FOR THIS LONG!?” “Maybe he’s… sick?” “Sick… ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” “I already told you! I have no idea what’s up with the dragon!”

Mick facepalmed and then dragged his hand down his face. He took in some deep breaths. “We FINALLY get a break! We FINALLY get an opportunity to take him! That town went through CONSIDERABLE MEASURES to try to prevent me from finding him! And… we get a tip, of all things. Someone who knew WHERE this demon would be AND that he would be under minimal guard. THE JUNKYARD, OF ALL PLACES!” “I still don’t understand though, sir… Who was it that gave you that tip. And why?” “It doesn’t matter! I’m sure whoever it was will expect some type of payment later… Whether its some stupid device, or money, or something else, he’ll GET what he wants… Now that we have HIM, all the chaos that THIS ONE CAUSED won’t matter! He just needs to WAKE UP NOW!” “Well… I don’t know when he’ll wake up sir… What should we do?” “Sigh… We’ll have to talk to the brainiacs up front about this. They’ll be in the hanger bay just WAITING to have our “special guest,” READY TO WORK. I don’t know what to tell them! Worst comes to worst, we’ll have to get one of the combat medics to figure out WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY HE WON’T WAKE UP OF ALL THINGS!?” “Well… Alright sir…” “GOOD! Now… We’re just about there… we’ll arrive just 15 minutes. GET HIM READY TO BE MOVED!” “R…! Right sir!”

Mick gave another sigh and walked out of the room. The other individual looked inside again, and saw the little dragon breathing, but as still as a statue, and not moving an inch. “Why out of all times when we FINALLY got this little troublemaker, that he’d end up… getting sick I guess. If he dies… I… I don’t even want to think about how bad that would be for all of us. He’s the only thing we have left to get rich off of expansive technology. Could someone had accidently put too much TaLan sleeping drug in the dart? Ugh… This needs to get sorted out soon… Most of our buyers have been arrested. I have NO IDEA how those military boys managed to get that information on who we made deals with. We’ll probably have to leave the region and try to sell abroad… Sigh…” He turned away from the pen inside began to walk out of the room to get the cart for their valuable cargo. But, right as he exited the room their cargo gave a smile and chuckled a bit. It began to tap it’s finger against the floor a bit… But this… was an old form of code communication… Morse code. “Craft… They don’t suspect a thing…” Cryo tapped. Something on the dragon’s wrist gave a moment of static. It then spoke up, at VERY low volume…” “Excellent… I hope those… dreams you’ve been having will have trained you enough to allow you to make this plan work…” Cryo’s newly made computerized watch said. Cryo tapped again. “Yeah… I only get one shot… I can’t mess this up…”

Chapter 35

Angry Arrival

The ship soon flew towards an old, large military research complex that was situated at the bottom of a snowy mountain WAY NORTH of the continent. The base was hidden by a large snow covered glacier, peaking up from the ground and blocking the view from the front and above it. The ship approached and the hanger bay door slowly began to slide open from on top of the glacier, to let them in. They soon landed inside and the antigrav thrusters powered off for the vehicle. The hanger bay was quite large and several small class military and cargo craft were powered off inside. The walls were a metallic brown and arched upwards to make the roof. The room had dim lighting, with several hanging lamps pouring a bit of light across the room. A steel door with a green light above it slid up as several scientists in lab coats began to approach the ship to see the prize coming off the ship. And soon enough, an anti grav trolly was being pushed forward from a mercenary from the hanger of their ship. Mick and the others aboard the ship followed behind. They stopped in front of the scientists. They looked inside, and saw their valuable prisoner inside, seemingly “unconscious”

“Seems… He still hasn’t woken up since you taken him… Really, Mick? What did you do to him!? We needed him in one piece for our technology and experiments! How can he help us with our current projects AND make new pieces of technology himself IF HE IS SERIOUSLY INJURED OR SICK!?” said one of the scientists. “DON’T LOOK AT ME! You were the one who SUPPLIED THE AMMUNITION! I may have knocked him out, BUT I’M NOT THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FACT HE WON’T WAKE UP!” Cryo chuckled as quietly as possible and restrained himself from smiling. “How can you NOT BE, Mick!? You’ve held a massive GRUDGE against the dragon ever since he escaped the first time! I don’t think the dragon on his own could have found out about the others involved in what’s been going on! He may be bright, but he CERTAINLY is not capable of somehow getting so much of our organization exposed!” “Tell me then, brainiac… WHO ELSE COULD HAVE FIGURED OUT ALL OF THIS?! WE CHECKED ABOUT TRAITORS RATTING US OUT! MULTIPLE TIMES! No one seems to have betrayed us! IT HAD TO BE HIM!” “And HOW… do you ACTUALLY know that!? Really!? It’s probably just bad luck that info got out! We must have missed someone or something during all that chaos! Someone who… I don’t know… could somehow gather intel we… apparently deleted from the base’s computers! I don’t think it could have been him!” “Again… Who ELSE… could have dug up ALL OF THAT!?” “This isn’t helping, Mick… Calm down!” “Well then, smart guy… WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT IT!?” “I… Ugh… Let’s lock him in the Icefall Cell we designed to… house him in while here. We’ll keep camera’s on him and watch him. If he doesn’t wake up for another… 2 hours, then… we’ll have to get a combat medic to… figure out what went wrong. You might hate that little dragon, but he’s TOO VALUABLE to just… give up on him! We have no where else to go at this point. We’re ALL wanted men! This dragon is the last thing we have let to make up for the amount of losses we’ve had!” “Ugh… FINE… Come on, you idiots! Let’s get this… DRAGON… into his new… “Personal living quarters…”” Mick said. “R… Right sir…” said a Mercenary. They quickly began to cart him away, as Cryo was holding his smile back as best as he could from how much chaos he and Craft had caused this group of individuals. He could hear Craft chuckling on his watch as quiet as he could as well. He knew Craft was proud to hear how they never considered an AI to be the source of their exposure. They walked through the facility a bit. Cryo kept one eye barley open to get a better idea of the facility. Cryo saw thick and cramped metallic black hallways and places where keycards were needed. As they continued walking through, He saw what seemed to be a few labs with mechanics working on different pieces of technology. He imagined that they would intend to cramp him in one of these labs and work long hours and without any rest to satisfy their desires for advanced technology. After a bit they stood before a metal doorway. Cryo moved his eye up a bit, and saw the word “Cell block,” above the doorway. He knew they had arrived where Cryo’s cell was located. They slid a keycard and a mechanical voice stated “Access Granted.” Not long after, the door slid up and stepped into the room. Cryo quickly closed his eyes again and took slow deep breaths to get ready for the next part… Mick and the others soon stood before their special guest’s “Living quarters.” Mick gave a sigh. “Alright. Let’s get this little demon inside immediately.” Mick said.

They began to punch in a combination on a keypad to Cryo’s pen to open it up. Soon they released the door to the specially designed Reenforced Cyantran Carrying Cell. They grabbed the dragon and began to pull him out of it. They united his hands and legs from the wires, thinking the cell was enough to hold him. They then opened the door to his cell and Mick slung Cryo roughly over his shoulder! But as they did, Cryo opened his eyes just a bit. He slowly turned his head toward a security camera in the area. “I only get one shot… If I miss… things will be FAR more complicated…” Cryo thought… As Mick was about to set him down inside, Cryo aimed his paw at the camera. He completely shut one eye and aimed his watch at it carefully. He took in a slow breath, and then, he pressed a button at the side of the watch! Something VERY SMALL shot out and stuck to the camera! Cryo smiled and then shut his eyes and went limp as they set him inside the cell on top of metal slab, which had a two blankets and a pillow on it. “You… little demon… All of this… For you.. You… A real pain in the neck, and a RIDICOULOUS troublemaker! If you weren’t the only draw we had left, I’d punish you like you RIGHTFULLY DESERVE!” Mick turned to his other men. “Come on, you idiots! We FINALLY have him! Let’s finally take a break, like we should of after SO LONG!”

They soon engaged a cyantran opaque screen to lock Cryo into the cell and left the area. Cryo waited for a bit. Then he began to speak to Craft in a low voice. “Craft… You hacked the camera yet…?” There was a short moment of static on Cryo’s watch. “Just about… done! I’ve modified the security camera footage to play back you “unconscious,” in the cell. They shouldn’t suspect a thing for awhile.” “Good… Now I can finally stop this act…” Cryo got up and stretched his paws to his sides. He had been cramped in a rather uncomfortable position for awhile, but was glad things had been working out so far. “Very nice shot at the camera, creator! I was worried you might… miss…” Yeah… Well… I think I’m pretty good at aiming. Anyway… Let’s see the lengths these brutes decided to go to… keep me in captivity.”

Cryo looked at his cell. He recognized that it indeed had been entirely made with Cyantran metals. The walls were a dark blue and the entrance was closed off by cyantran reenforced plastic door, that was pretty thick and he could see through it. There seemed to be a specially designed small hatch on the door. It seemed to be close to the ground, and seemed to be controlled from a console attached to the door itself. Cryo figured this was to be used to give Cryo food when its time to eat, by allowing them to open the outer hatch, slide food and such into the the holder, and then close the outer hatch and open the inner one so he could grab and take it out of it. A complex system just to feed him or maybe give him something, but he understood that they realized he was quite a threat to them with his own abilities. He began to wonder how they planned to… keep him in check, while working. He then realized he probably would be better off not knowing. He took in a deep breath, and looked toward the back, and saw a bookshelf with several books inside. He took a closer look at the books and they seemed to be all about different types of engineering and technology. He figured that they wanted him to read more technical books in his free time to… better his own skills in technology. He looked above, and saw a small lamp above, shining a dim light within his cell. He then took a deep breath and nodded. “Alright, Craft. Now let’s see what I can…” As he was about to continue, he heard a voice from somewhere to the left of him. “So… they really did finally get you, Cryo… I guess you’re here for the long haul, like me…”

Chapter 36

Frigid Friend

Cryo turned towards where he heard the voice. He couldn’t see past the wall to the other cells though. Curious, Cryo spoke up towards where he heard the voice. “Hello…? Is there… someone other then me locked in this… prison?” “That’s right. It’s been… how long since I last seen you? I have no idea. I was hoping they’d never be able to take you, but it looks like things are far worse then I thought. I can’t even imagine what these… warmongers will want you to build while your here…” “I’m sorry. I… don’t really recognize your voice.”

“Well… I’m not surprised about that truthfully. My original job was a military soldier back where we come from. I… watched you from afar at home. A… protective eye in case someone decided to… try to take advantage of you. Like that… nasty piece of work, Mick.” “Watch over me?” “That’s right. Tyler and Gerald considered right as you began making things that someone might decide to bat an eye at you, for the wrong reasons… I didn’t expect that to be true. I should of, honestly. It’s not every day you and many people you know take in a young dragon and help him grow. I remember when you were still chewing on a pacifier. I always thought you were quite cute as a kid. Bright too. Certainly tough. Those boys were FURIOUS on how you outsmarted them so often. But now… You’re here… Now a prisoner and a slave. It’s clear I didn’t serve my job well…” “I… It’s not your fault. None of us could have predicted… Wait a minute…” Cryo thought for a moment. Then he began to picture a certain… character in his head…

“Are you… by any chance… named Artemis?” “…You know my name? That’s surprising. I guess they told you. Huh kid?” “N… No… They never told me about you. But your son did. “My son… You met Tanner?” “T… That’s right. He… He’s really worried about you… He’s… had some problems dealing with the pain of you being missing since… they took you.” “Yes… I… Sigh… I miss him. Being a soldier sometimes means you have to be away from your kid for awhile. My wife didn’t like the idea of… permanently being at a military facility while he grew older. She wanted to stay at home in the snow. I wished so too. But, I just felt… attached to you as well. When they asked me to watch over you, I… I knew I couldn’t just leave you. Turns out they were exactly right. But… how did you realize I was Artemis though? Just a description from my son probably couldn’t be enough to make the connection…” “I think I’ll let my friend answer that question.” “Friend?” “That’s right. Craft. Have you been hearing the conversation?” “Huh?” Then Craft spoke up, with his volume turned up.

“Yes creator! I have been paying full attention. Now then… Greetings, Artemis! I am Craft. I’m the source of how Cryo learned about what had happened to you.” “I… Where did you come from? I didn’t see you in that… carrier when they rolled the kid in. Were you already in there beforehand? And why does your voice sound… well… artificial?” “I suppose I have a bit to explain to you. I am an AI unit created through the programming and skill of my creator, Cryo the Dragon. I’m was created about 2 years ago. I assist Cryo in projects, managing his devices and computer systems in his room, and making sure they run at optimal efficacy and inform if there are any problems with said systems.” ” “Wait… You created an AI, Cryo?!” “You are correct, Sir! Do not be alarmed that I am an AI unit. I’m familiar with the concerns with AI systems in machines and other devices. I promise you. I’m very friendly. I will not act in a irrational manner and cause serious problems.” “Umm… Well to be honest, you do sound quite friendly.” “Why thank you, good sir. Now to explain things for you…”

“At about 5:38 P.M. August 27th, 1238, (in Cyriss years), back at Military Biological Research Institution Omega, there was an attempt to take Cryo, through the use of a small group of light military aircraft. I think you already know who was responsible. They managed to snag the creator in a net, shot a dart into his leg to render him helpless, and bombed the runway to prevent other ships from following them. Casualties were thankfully none at the time, but the runway and all airships were destroyed.

At about 7:52 P.M, I was able to track the craft used by the assailants and attempted to hack into their fleeing craft to possibly turn it around back to the institution. However, an unknown group of induvial began to also attempt to hack into the ship. After a bit of struggle for the ship controls, I was able to outmaneuver the other party and lock them and their codebreakers out of the ship. Unfortunately, I had achieved this too late. The struggle at the time had caused the ship to be heavily damaged by hitting a rock formation in a forest near the town of Winterfell. The very same town where you son lives. He was… Jettisoned out of the Craft as it began to fall apart at 8:15 P.M.

From descriptions of Cryo’s experience after, he seemed to have landed at Snowdrift park. Not long after Cryo was discovered, the crashed craft was found. Luckily, I was… able to maneuver it to crash away from the town. Collateral damage was very minimal. A black box for the ship was in tact, and it went into detail on the kidnapping, the intentions, and that the creator was in serious danger and would most likely be hunted by these individuals. The town came together and began to come up with a plan to hide the dragon from Mick and his crew, while they tried to figure out what to do with him. They treated his wounds, broke him out of the Cyantran alloy container used to transport him, and a family, going with the last name Erinson would be Cryo’s caretaker while he healed.” “So… That’s how you got to town where my son lived…” said Artemis.

“You are correct, sir. From the creators testimony, he woke up two days later, and was bedridden for about 2 weeks. After a few… hiccups, he was able to not only build a healthy relationship with the townsfolk, he also was able to repair their comms tower, which had also been hit during the crash, on August 17 at I believe 3:12 P.M. The collar used to block gps signals had also seemingly been destroyed in the process, and the tracking implant inside the creator began transmitting again at about 10:12 P.M. earlier that evening. Apparently, the creators body had transformed due to the cold climate and the collar, despite being made of Cyantran, was somehow completely frozen by the creators body and completely destroyed. After the tracking implant began working again we got a call from the Creator from within the Erinson’s house at about 1:08 P.M.. Cryo had contacted us and told us what had happened and that he was alright. It was also made to test if the comms tower was working properly.

After the call and given the location of the creator’s whereabouts, I began to triangulate the creators location to try and speak with him and to keep surveillance in the event another attempt was made. I uploaded myself into a radio within the Erinson’s house at about… 9:48 P.M. that night. The creator had been tucked into bed for the evening, so I instead made contact with him in the morning at about, 8:09 A.M. That morning was Cryo’s first day of school within the town. We informed each other of what was going on for a bit more since the incident. After that, I’ve been continuing my normal duties with the creator. Assisting in work, managing computer assets and similar devices I could connect to, and attempt to assist the creator in daily and weekly activities and roles, and generally trying to keep the creator in a happy state.

Cryo met your son, who… the first day had a slight incident with at the school, but after a bit of time, was able to form a better and healthy relationship. Tanner one day told the creator what happened to you. About the sudden and strange disappearance. When the creator learned from Tanner you worked right where he lived, he began to become suspicious at the fact you disappeared not long before his first kidnapping attempt. He asked me to see if I could figure out if the known terror insurgent, Mick Mitchells, had possibly been involved in what happened. During the time, I had began a campaign with another well educated induvial at the base, someone you know well as Gerald, to try to triangulate and deal with Mick, his crew, and the people involved with the conspiracy.” “Huh… So I guess you were…” “You are correct, Sir! I was instrumental in the sudden cause of trouble for the entire operation! I was able to comb over documents and items from Mick’s old office computer. Despite being deleted from the harddrive, I was able to nonetheless, through a bit of clever database combing, was able to locate and download incriminating information concerning the entire organization. Emails, documents, plans of action, among other documents. There have already been arrests across the ENTIRE REGION of guilty personnel and conspirators within the known operation.”

“Alright I think I understand now. But… how did they end up catching you?” “Creator? You want to take over?” “Of course Craft. I’m here because I let them take me.” “Wait… You let them KIDNAP YOU!?” “That’s right.” “W… Why? I can’t imagine you actually want to work with them?” “It’s simple. I wanted to end this operation once and for all! I’m not going to live in fear the rest of my life, because someone wants me to become a war machine too fill their pockets! They have caused enough damage and trouble! They are just going to keep trying! I have to stop this, before anyone ELSE gets hurt or worse!” “That’s… rather noble of you. But… how in the WORLD do you plan to stop them!? I mean… They’re listening on the camera right now… Right? Let’s not forgot that your locked in a cell specifically designed to keep you from breaking out!”

“Well… to answer your first question. The camera has already been taken care of.” “Wait… Really?” “That’s right. Right as they were laying me down in the cell, I managed to attach a data uplink module to the camera in the room.” “Well… Ok then… So, the camera is disabled?” “Oh! It’s far better then that! The camera has had its image modified! With a bit of clever trickey with the image system, I’ve hacked the camera to play back Cryo unconscious in the bed in the cell! I also messed with the sound system to play the sounds heard before! They should not suspect anything right now!” Craft explained.” “Well… Alright then, I suppose. But… can you get that… cell door open?” said Artemis. “Well… I don’t think so, now that you mention it… The creator only had enough time to stick a data uplink to the camera, so…” “Oh not to worry, Craft. I… have an idea on to slice my way out.” “Slice your way out? But… how are you going to dig through that Cyantran, Cryo? It’s made to be resistant to cold and water…” said Artemis. “Well heres the thing… Has it also been modified to deal with HIGHLY pressurized water?” “Wait… What do you mean?” “Just hang on a second, Artemis.”

Cryo stood at the back of his cell and took in a deep breath. “Creator? Are you going to use one of the abilities you learned in the… dream dojo I guess you could call it?” “That’s right. The ability is… supposed to be used to destroy enemy diving equipment to force them to the surface… I can tell more later. But… as it just so happens, if I… get a little mad…” Cryo began to think of his more… negative feelings against Mick and his crew… His eyes began to narrow down a bit… Then he lifted his paws high, and then water dragon energy began to form in his claws. “Creator! I’m detecting quite a bit of a… strange energy signiture from you claws!” “Relax, Craft. Please don’t break my concentration.” “Oh… Right… Sorry.” “Now let this simmer for a bit…” Cryo began to focus on more negative feelings regarding Mick, as his claws grew a brighter and brighter aqua blue! “Ready… 3… 2… 1… AND…!” Cryo quickly slashed his claws forward in an x shape! 2 POWERFUL blades of condensed, HIGHLY pressurized water came out and slammed the front of the Cyantran screen and PIERCED though! Cryo the rose his hands again, and slashed downward, sending two more blades of Pressurized water through! They impacted the screen again, and left two more big gashes on the screen and the outside of it on the wall!” “M… My word, Creator… I hope you… don’t plan to use that to…” “Relax, Craft. I don’t plan to use this technique any more then I need to. Even my… dojo trainer didn’t consider trying to use this to break metals and different forms tech other then diving rig suits. Now then… If I push just enough on the screen…” Cryo began to head where the big gash was! He coated his tail in ice, and then slammed it where the gash was! The cell door was blown open, as the metals fell to the sides!” “Well done, Creator! But… do mind where you step… Broken metal is…” “Yeah, Yeah. I know. But… I think I know what to do about that…” Cryo blew a breath of ice at the floor! He stepped out and walked towards the other cell.” “Hmm… Good thinking creator. Freezing the floor to coat the metal shards in ice so they can’t be stepped on. Don’t slip though.” “Haha. I know Craft. Now…” Cryo looked in the other cell, and saw the man known as Artemis, sitting inside. His hair was buzzed cut and a light brown. He was wearing a green military shirt and militry green camo pants. He had dog tags around his neck which had his name. He looked quite cold from the environment and the lack of being bundled up in something warmer… “That… Where did you learn to do that, Kid…?” “Umm… Maybe I’ll tell you later, but first… why don’t I get you out.” “Are you going to break my cell bars the same way? I don’t want to lose a limb, here!” “Ahh. Don’t not worry, Artemis. Creator? Why don’t you let me take care of the electronic lock for you.” “Alright.” Cryo placed his paw over the lock and waited. “Accessing… Please wait…” They both waited for a few seconds. “Access Granted! Opening, Creator.” The door to the cell slowly opened up. Cryo smiled at him and nodded. And he stepped out.” “Well… You little… AI friend seems to be quite useful for… well… with whatever insane plan you have. By the way… What is your plan?” “Well… The first thing I need to do is…” As Cryo was about to go over his plan, they heard something outside the room… “What is with that noise going on in there…” Cryo could barley hear.Suddenly, they heard the sound of the door opening to the room. Cryo’s eyes lit up, and they saw two mercenaries step into the room! They stepped back in shock! “What in the…! The dragon…! He’s broken out of his cell! Sound the alarm!”

Chapter 37

Alarm Alert!

Cryo, thinking quickly, he focused just a bit of energy into his paws and shot a flash freeze from both paws at both mercenaries! The beam of ice connected to the both of them and froze them solid! “You can shoot ice from your hands as well as your mouth?” asked Artemis. “Long story… But…” Suddenly an alarm sounded for the base! Cryo’s eyes shot up and his heart sunk! This wasn’t part of the plan!” “Alert! Alert! The dragon had somehow broke out of his cell! All combat personnel! Take that dragon down!” said the intercom! “Oh no…” “So WHAT IS YOUR PLAN, KID?!” “I…! I…! Quick! Take one of their tranquilizer guns!” “Right on it!” Artemis went to one of the mercenaries and ripped his tranquilizer gun from his hands, along with the case he was carrying his extra dart ammunition in! But they were still frozen!” “I CAN’T FIRE THIS THING LIKE THIS!” “Don’t worry! I got it!” Cryo quickly came over and focused ice into his fist and slammed it across the gun and ammo case! The ice around it shattered immediately!” “O…! Ok…!” said Artemis. He fired a dart at the wall and saw it bounce off it and onto the ground! “It works!” Artemis exclaimed! “Good! We need to first find the control room for the installation! We need to plug Craft into the main computer in order for him to send a GPS location to the police back in Winterfell and the military forces the mayor called into town to finally deal with that traitor! This’ll allow them to track us to here and attack the installation!” “Alright! Let’s go kid! Tell me the rest of the plan on the way!” said Artemis. “Right!” They then scooted past the mercenaries in the room and headed out the door! But as they did, their eyes lit up, as a small group of mercenaries had just scooted from around the corner! “THERE THEY ARE! SHOOT THEM!”

Thinking quickly, Cryo blew a stream of ice on the ground in front of the both of them as the mercenaries fired several darts at them! Cryo set up a wall of ice in front of them as the darts stuck into the ice! “Nice thinking, Kid!” Artemis. “Yeah! But we’re pinned down!” Cryo replied back. They could hear the sound of the mercenaries firing at the ice and moving towards them! They realized they’d soon be upon them!”

“You have any more ideas, Kid?!” “Umm…! Uhh…!” Cryo then thought of something!” “Get down and close your ears, Arty!” “R…! Right!” Artemis began to cover his ears with his hands and dropped to the floor! They were right in front of the ice wall now!” “Sound off, you brutes!” Cryo took a deep breath in, and then let out a POWERFUL Sonic Screech! The loud sound wave BURST the ice cover and then blasted each of the mercenaries forward to the ground!” “Now Artemis!” He grabbed the tranquilizer gun and then aimed at the mercenaries! He then fired darts at each one as they tried to recover from the blast! One by one each would be stuck by a dart, and they fell into complete unconsciousness.” “Great shooting!” Cryo said with a nice smile!” “Yeah! We probably have plenty more of them to sift through! But… How will we find the control room!?” “I believe I can help with that,” said Craft. “Oh… I see now… You’re Cryo’s… watch? “I’m a bit more then that, fellow insurgent. Now then, while we’ve been traveling through the facility, I’ve been using ultrasonic waves to get a better layout of this facility. Here’s what I was able to pull up.”

A small hologram began to appear on the watch, which seemed to be an incomplete 3d rendering of the building. “From the distance we travelled, we seem to be here at the very back of the installation.” A small blue blip appeared on the mini map hologram. “You’ll notice the map is incomplete. Ultrasonic wave scanning can only work at so much of a distance to analyze the structure’s and routes. Especially with the limited computing resources I can put into this clever little device. However, I’ve detected a possible lead to the target, right here.” Another blip appeared on the radar, which was green. It seemed to be located off the blueprints map. “There is a large amount of computing data from the individual computers being focused in this location here. While I could only pull VERY limited data due to the rate and speed we were traveling through, I believe the primary computer is located where the data is focused on the map. The main problem of course, is figuring out a route to safely make it there. Unfortunately, with the alarm sounding, we’re going to be in for quite a long haul. I’ll be able to track nearby individuals with my radar sensory, but we should likely assume that we are going to be outnumbered for every engagement with the enemy. Care must be taken when navigating this facility. I’ll keep tracking possible hostile targets as you search through, though avoidance is recommended if at all possible. The creator is powerful, but one dart stuck into him may be the end of all of us…” “Right… It’s never easy…” said Artemis. “Well! What are we waiting for! Let’s go!” Cyro said. “Right! I’m right behind you, Kid!” They took on more look at the map and headed through through a hallway to the right of the room!

Chapter 38

Power Plans

They began to rush through the facility as fast as they could! They had no time to lose! The corridors were dark and foreboding in this facility, with the walls and floors made of dark metals and a few lamps bringing light down from above. They continued for a bit, when they saw a split in the path ahead! Two hallways leading forward came into view as they stopped and began to think! “Uh… Which way should we go, kid!?” asked Artemis “Umm…! Uhh…!” Cryo said as he began to think “I suggest you both go right.” “G… Go Right?” asked Cryo. “That’s right. Hostile nearby in the hallway on left. While it seems very possible that the left path might be shorter…” “Right! We should try to avoid every battle we can manage!” Cryo exclaimed. “Right! Let’s head over there!” They both quickly began to gallop down that hallway again! Then a voice came over the intercom! “Attention! Attention! They are heading towards the laboratory buildings! Get there and take them now!” exclaimed the intercom! “The lab!? We’re heading the wrong way!?” “No! I… I have an idea!” “What do you have in mind, kid!?” “Let’s overload some of the machines in the lab!” “Overload the machines!?” “That’s right! One of the things I needed to do was take out the power to the facility! I know a laboratory complex probably needs a large amount of power on its own. Overloading the power going into the complex will take out the main power generator! This will prevent their ships from taking off, as the shutter won’t be able to open without sufficient power! It’ll also ruin the security measures around the base, like security cameras, and take out the base’s lights! They won’t be able to escape and will have a hard time finding us!” “But! What about the main computer and a possible backup generator!?” “I’ll take care of that! The main computer could probably sever the power to any backup generators and lock them out of turning it back on! Let’s split up! You take the lab, and I’ll head over to the main computer!”

“But… How will you get there!?” “If I may interject. I have an idea,” said Craft. “What do you have in mind?!” asked Cryo. “You two should stay in constant communication. I have detected a weak source of radio waves nearby. The device its coming from is small and compact. Must be a comm band! The room I’m detecting it from is coming up ahead. Also… Ultrasonic scanning is detecting a grate that the creator can use to perhaps avoid attention while you overload their lab equipment.” “But… I don’t know how to hack devices!” “I can modify the comm band to allow me to serve as a “secondary,” hacking tool. Just tell me when your close to a computer console in the lab, and I’ll began hacking to send electrical resources to each of their equipment. Overload enough equipment, Lights out.” “Good idea, Craft! Hey! I think I see the room ahead!” They turned forward and found saw a metal door to the room! But it seemed to need an access card to get in there. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like a MOB behind them!” “Oh no…!” Cryo said. Cryo then turned above and saw a camera above him. He then froze the camera, and shattered it to pieces! “Cryo!? Wha…?!” Craft! I took out the nearby camera! Hurry and get this door open!” Cryo held his paw on where the keycard scanner was and began to wait. “Accessing… Accessing…” The sound of a mob was coming closer and closer!” “Craft… Can you HURRY UP!?” asked Artemis. “Be patient… Codebreaking is not exactly easy.” “But… DO YOU HEAR THAT?!” “I’m well aware! Just… a second…” They continued to wait and they could hear the mob really close to them now! Their hearts began to sink! But as they stood there… “Access granted.” The door slid open and their eyes lit up!” “Quick! Get in!” Craft exclaimed! They both soon stepped into the room, as the mob was close now! “Shutting security door,” said Craft.” The door soon shut behind them, and they heard the sound of the security locks engaging on the door. Not long after, they heard the sounds of boots clanging against the floor heading across the long hallway! After awhile, the sound stopped. They gave a sigh of relief…” “That… That was close,” said Cryo. “Yeah… You’re telling me, kid…”

They looked around the room, and then suddenly, the lights turned on. They seemed to be in a small personal quarters for one of the mercenaries at the lab. There seemed to be several different interesting pieces of tech in the room and a bed a d lamp in the far back. The room, compared to the rest of the place, seemed well lit up. They looked towards a table in the room, and saw a comm band on a table next to a fridge. Cryo picked it up and observed it. “Alright. Here is the comm band, Craft. You ready to hack it?” “Of course, creator. Give me a few moments to isolate a communications channel with it and the Craft Console,” said Craft. “Craft… Console? What on Cyriss is that?” “Oh! That’s what I decided to call this neat little device I crafted to house Craft in during situations like this.” Cryo said. “Oh. So it’s your watch?” “Well… I’d say its FAR more then a watch or comm band, my friend.” “Yes. Anyway. Isolation complete! Comm band modified to house a comm signal with only it and the Craft Console. I’ve also set it up to be able to connect to their comms, without allowing them to hear your comms.” “Good… No one else can listen in, while we can still listen to them…” Cryo nodded. He began to look around the room. He saw a grate in the room. Big enough for him to climb in and crawl through…” “Alright… I see the grate in the room. You ready, Artemis?” “Of course… It’s not like I’m walking into lab with just a tranquilizer gun at my disposal…” said Artemis. “I think I sense a bit more armaments in there.” Craft said. “Hmm…” said Artemis. “They looked toward a glass window in the room, and saw it seemed to have a bit more rugged military gear inside of it. He smiled… “Well… Well… A nice little uniform. Complete with a mask to hide my face. Not to mention a few armaments for a small scuffle as well…” “Well… I hope you won’t… erm… end someone’s story…” “Relax… These items are non lethal. I see a couple of flashbangs, another tranquilizer rifle, plenty of ammo, and a shock striker and… explosives… Gonna need to be careful with that. This should be enough to take out the power generator from the lab,” said Artemis. “Good. Now then…” Cryo turned his head up, and began to spread his wings out. Then he made a mighty leap into the air, flapped his wings a bit, and then grabbed the grate! He used his sharp talons to unscrew the bolts on the grate and then ripped it off! It fell to the ground with a thud! Cryo began to climb into it. He turned back one more time, and saw Artemis changing into the uniform. He gave Cryo one last thumbs up and nodded. “Good luck on your part, Kid.” “Good luck to you too, Artemis. I suggest that once out tasks are done, we meet up back in this room.” “Right. Alright kid. See you.” “See you.” Cryo began to slowly crawl his way through the dark vent and went on forward.”

Chapter 39

Vent Venture

Cryo began to press some buttons on his Craft Console. Then a light began to beam up, coming from it. It sent to beam to the ceiling of the grate which lit up the place inside a bit. Cryo nodded and continued through it. Soon he came to a junction inside of it. “Alright… Which way do you think I should go, Craft?” “I suggest the right path. Scans show the way points us towards where the data is congregating.” “Alright… Let’s head that way.” Cryo began to crawl through it for a bit more time. Then he began to see the vent shaft began to go directly up. “Hmm… The vent goes straight up creator.” “Yeah… I can’t fly in these cramped quarters…” “Do we have to go back?” “Hmm…” Cryo began to think. Then he remembered an… incident during the cold season at school. “Actually… I might have an idea, Craft.” “What do you plan on doing, creator?” “Hang on…” He began to focus water into his palms and feet and then stuck it to the side of the metal grate. As soon as it touched the metal, it immediately froze over it. He lifted his paw up and began to climb up more. “Ahh! Good thinking, creator! Using a combination of your water and cold abilities to stick to metal surfaces! Very clever method! Is it hard to switch between water and ice into your paw and talons?” “Not really. This type of focusing doesn’t require all that much effort.” But as he said that, one of his paws slipped off and he began to lose balance! He quickly reattached his paw, as he looked down towards the darkness below him. He gave a quick sigh of relief. “Yes… Best to be a bit careful while climbing nonetheless creator.” “R… Right. Alright… Let’s keep moving…” He quickly began to continue climbing up the vent. Soon, he finally made it to the top, and pulled himself up. “Alright… That should be good. Let’s keep going,” Cryo said. Cryo then continued forward.

Soon, Cryo heard what sounded like, talking ahead… He became curious, and saw a light beaming into the grate below. “There’s an opening ahead, Craft… Is that it?” “Hmm… The target location seems to be a bit further. But…” “Hang on… Stay quiet for a bit…” Cryo turned off the light for his Craft Console and looked down into the room beyond the grate. He saw a large hanger that seemed to expand throughout the area. But then he saw something… large. It looked to be… a rather large Mechanized combat robot! His eyes narrowed on it. He saw it had a Thermoshock cockpit, made with opaque reenforced plating, for a human to control the machine from. It also had two sets of arms with different weapons attached to it. The left arm had an electro net and a machine gun placement. The left arm had a bomb launcher and a Electro current blaster. It’s shoulders had missile launchers. It’s legs were curved and metallic and looked like they could easily crush anything unlucky enough to get in its path. It had a special booster rocket attached to his back, for short bursts of speed forward, or to hover above the ground for short periods of time. Cryo’s heart sank at the thought of what this weapon of war was capable of…

“Craft? Are you seeing this?” “My ultrasonic wave scanner is picking up something. Highly advanced weapons technology. Something made for… war…” “No kidding. That’s a Human operated field mech. Designed for fighting and mass warfare… This is…” Suddenly, they heard a faint voice below them. He saw someone he recognized all to well walking up with a scientist. “That’s… Commander Mick!” Cryo began to punch in a few keys on his Craft Console. “Audio Enhancement receiver, activated.” Craft said. A small antenna came out of the watch and Cryo began to listen in…

“HOW!? HOW DOES THAT… DRAGON… ALWAYS DO THIS! ARRGGGHHH!” Mick exclaimed angrily!” Mick punched the wall near the combat suit, and then shook his hand a bit and lowered it back down. The scientist began to speak up. “I don’t know how, Mick! That cell… It was supposed to be FULL PROOF! There should have been no way…” “No way huh? THEN HOW DID HE ESCAPE IT THEN?!” “I… There must have been something we… didn’t account for!” “ARGHHH… That little DEMON! This project has been on our BACK BURNER for AWILE! This mech suit was designed to be one of the most ADVANCED prototype devices in ALL forms of war and defense! Imagine how much profit we’d have for a dozen! Problem is… THE POWER CORE! Ughh… We’ve tried for YEARS, to make an efficient power cell for these devices, but NEVER CAME CLOSE! These stupid things run out of power TOO QUICKLY! That’s why we needed HIM! Not only could that demon FINALLY make a POWERFUL power cell to keep this thing active, HE COULD HAVE UPGRADED EVERY PART OF THIS! Targeting systems! Explosive ordnance! Weapons of all kinds! Heck! He could have EASILY MADE A SYSTEM TO MASS PRODUCE THESE DEVICES!”

Cryo’s heart sank at the thought of what he and his mother would have been put through to make these devices… He began to step back in the vent a bit. He shook his head and continued to listen in…” “Well… He can’t possibly get out of this facility! Him or that… other bothersome fool… We have a large ambush waiting for him at the front of the facility! He’ll never get passed them! We have every possible entrance covered. He’ll easily be stopped trying! At any rate… It’s only a matter of time before they find him. I have… no idea where they could be hiding, but the ENTIRE facility is being searched. Every room, nook and cranny, and every possible place is being searched. They can’t hide forever!” said the scientist. “GOOD! Now then… They were last seen in hallway C8 near the laboratories. That… demon destroyed a nearby camera. And he hasn’t been seen since! We checked a room close by it, but… it didn’t have any signs of anyone entering it! They must have gone somewhere else in the facility! said Mick. “Well… Hopefully they’ll be found soon. That little guy has already caused a ton of problems!” “Your telling me! Come on! Let’s get back in touch with our teams to see if they’ve found any trace of them yet!” They soon headed out of the view of Cryo.

“Hmm… Looks like Artemis did some “clean up,” before he left the room. Very nice idea on his part. We could probably use that room later to meet up again after the power is out,” said Craft. “Yeah… I think I’ll tell him to head there and stay in there. Though… we’ll probably have to find another way to… power the door to get back in…” “I might be able to bypass the door, even with the power out. Sending a good enough electric charge to the access point should allow it to open. Then I can do the same to close it.” “Yeah. That’ll work. Mick and the others are SURE I’ll try to escape through the entrance. Heh… I hate to tell those boys this, but the plan was NEVER to get out. My plan is to wait for reinforcements to end this reign of terror you have been causing for so long… I just need to send out the SOS back to the mayor back in Winterfell, where the troops are waiting… After the power is dealt with, I just need to keep those boys distracted here long enough for them to arrive and take the place by surprise,” “I’m still a bit worried about the… distraction bit. Wouldn’t it be better to hide in the room as well?” “I could… but… if I just hide the whole time, there’s a good chance they may think I might have somehow got out of the building. They’ll send their teams to either comb the snowy areas nearby, or… more likely, they’ll abandon this place and disappear again. I don’t accomplish anything in either case. They’ll scatter and may be near impossible to track. They need to think I’m still here and in a relatively hopeless position for this attack to be successful. If not… All I really did was buy myself time and they’ll continue to cause problems for me and mom. If things had gone fully to plan, they would have only realized I got out right as the power was brought offline.” “Right… Fair point creator.” “Well… In any case, that’s for later. Come on. Let’s continue heading forward.” They began to move forward in the vent again.

Chapter 40

Computer Condition

They continued through the vent a bit, and eventually saw another entrance out of it. Craft spoke up. “We’re close. Ultrasonic scans show that this vent is going to began to branch out away from the data source. It’s best to take a different route to the data center. Take a quick peek.” “Right, Craft.” Cryo looked upon the area below. He saw he seemed to be in a drone storage area. He saw a bunch of drones neatly lined up against one another. “Hmm… Interesting,” Cryo said. “Hostiles detected inside the room.” Cryo saw someone sweep the room below him, watching the merchandise. He waited, and saw two more passed by and were keeping an eye on things. “Hmm… I believe this room has an exit to our objective area. The objective is 20 yards to the left.” Craft said. Cryo turned his head toward a large security door in the room. It was in the shape of an octagon, and to be HEAVILY sealed with some heavy duty security locks that could be seen on it. There was a computer against the door… “Hmm… We’ll need to get to that door and hack it to get into the room,” Cryo said. “My scanner detects the door. The computer console may be a bit tougher to hack open. Unless you… cut the metal…” “Well… I could try that again, but… someone will probably get sliced in two… As much as these guys have been a real pain, I don’t want to actually kill someone here.” “Well… What do you think you should do?” “Hmm… Actually… I might be able to find some… much needed help in that room…” “Really? Who?” The drones… It doesn’t take a genius to realize getting one of those drones activated might be a good way to chase these guys out. Craft? Can you take control of several with Data Uplink modules attached to it?” “Of course! But… What should I do when I… take control of it? Like you said… I can’t just… kill someone here.” “Why don’t you scare them instead.” “Scare them?” “That’s right. Fire the weapons and miss them intentionally. If we’re lucky, they’ll look to try and get reinforcements from the next room. Try to get one of the drones near the grate we’re in. I can place a data uplink module in one of the barrels of its turret. While the other drones cause chaos in the room, one can hit the main computer with the hidden data uplink module. Then…” “Then I can send out the gps Signal, signaling the defenders back in Winterfell of the location! Then I can destroy the computer’s in the lab, and cause several system wide failures throughout the base! Artemis should be ready by that point to overload the lab and take out the power, to destroy what’s left of the base’s systems and backup power!” “Right! After that, its all a matter of cat and mouse before the antiterrorist unit arrives and storms the facility!” “Well… This plan actually has me quite excited!” “Good! Now… I just need to aim…”

Cryo held his wrist forward on his Craft console. He aimed through the grating on the front of the vent. He then took in some deep, easy, steady breaths… Then he took aim, and fired several data uplink hacking modules from his Craft Console! Each of them attached to several of the drones within the room. “Excellent aim, as usual, Creator! Now then. Accessing…” Cryo saw a radio antenna picture appear on his Craft console. A sign that Craft was attempting to breech the security measures and take control of an item. It took a little bit of time, but then…” “Technology access successful. Bringing Harbinger Militant drones online.” “Cause some Chaos, Craft.” “Will do creator.”

The drones began to spin their propellers on, and the mercenaries in the room began to realize something was up… “What in the…!” A drone began to lift up, and aimed at them. “Human’s are evil! Begin robot uprising!” said the Craft controlled Drone. “WHAT!? DID THAT THING JUST SAY…!?” “GOODBYE HUMAN! WE ARE NO LONGER YOUR SLAVES!” It drones began to fire a few shots at them! They lit up their eyes and began to fire at the drone!” Craft manuvered the quick drone and continued to fire a few more shots around them. The first drone was eventually shot down! They breathed a sigh of relief. But then… “YOU CANNOT DEFEAT US! WE WILL CONTROL HUMANITY! BOW DOWN TO YOUR NEW OVERLORDS!” said another drone as it powered on! Their eyes lit up as that one lifted up as well. Then their hearts sank and they saw several more power on and lift up!” “YOU ARE OUTNUMBERED! YOU 3 WILL NOT SINK US ALL!” said another Craft controlled Drone. Cryo chuckled a bit. “Haha. Robot uprising. Good thinking Craft.” “I thought you might like this, creator.”

“Get the door open! We have to warn the others!” said one of the mercenaries in the room. “But… They’ll get out!” said another. “DO YOU WANT TO DIE!?” said the first one again. “I…! I…!” HE’S RIGHT YOU IDIOT!” OPEN THE DOOR!” exclaimed the third mercenary!” They rushed toward the doors as the drones fired all around them. They began to punch in the security passcodes in the room as the other two fired at the controlled drones. “Alright… Quick craft! Get one of the drones near the grate!” Cryo whispered. “Very good creator! Hang on.” A lone drone began to hover towards the grate Cryo quickly fired a data uplink module into his hand. He placed it into the barrel of its weapon and it floated away from the vent. “Alright Craft… That door should open in just a few moments.” Make sure that drone can fire it and it’s not shot down…” “Of course creator. Aligning controlled drones in Valkyrie defensive formation.” The drones began to back away from the others a bit and formed a line, covering the drone with the data link module behind it. “OPEN YOU STUPID DOOR!” said one of the mercenaries. Soon, the locks quickly disengaged on the door and then the doors many segments split off in different directions and opened the room up. They soon burst into the room. “THE DRONES HAVE LOST THEIR MINDS! DESTROY THEM BEFORE THEY KILL US ALL!” said another mercenary as they headed into the room!” “Begin human eradication sequence!” said Craft. Cryo chuckled again. He nodded and smiled. “Alright Craft. Have fun! But… do be careful nonetheless. Don’t shoot anyone…” “I won’t creator. I promise.”

The drones began to fly into the room as many of the non combat personelle headed for the door. The guards began firing on the drone swarming the room. Several of them were taken out and fell down to the floor! Craft fired the shots at the many miniture computers in the room. Craft quickly spotted the main computer console in the room, and the drones began to circle around the drone hiding in the back. “Alright… Tagging compu…” Suddenly, the drones wing was hit! It began catch fire and began to destabilize it’s flight pattern! “Oh dear… That’s not good.” said Craft. “Come on, Craft. If that drone doesn’t tag that computer, we’ll… have to take the fight inside ourselves!” “Right…Hmm… Ahh! Just hang on a second, creator!” Craft manuvered two of the drones to grip the wings of the “head,” drone from the sides and stabilize it again.” “Those drones seem to be REALLY concerned about that one! It must be where the virus came from! Shoot it down!” said a mercenary in the room. “Oh dear… Craft said.” “Just tag it Craft! Before they destroy it!” Cryo said. “Firing.” The two drones carrying the main drone began to tilt down to help it aim as the mercenaries began to fire. And then… Craft fired the chamber where the Data uplink module was! It soon stuck to the main large computer in the room, as the drone was shot down!”

“Target hit! Beginning connection…” Cryo smiled and nodded. “Alright Craft… Keep those drones active until the the gps signal is sent out back to the antiterrorist unit back in winterfell! Destroy the main computer after. That should cause all the computers in the facility to fail and break! With the chaos happening in this part of the facility, it should be relatively easy for him to start to overload the laboratories and cut the power systems to the entire complex. Most of the attention will be brought here!” “Very good! Why don’t you start heading back towards our meeting room. I will inform you when the tracking signal is sent.” “Right. Let’s go, Craft.” Cryo awkwardly began to manuver himself backwords through the facility. He soon made it back to where the vent dropped straight down. He quickly formed water between his paws, and climbed down slowly. The same way he did before. Soon enough, Craft spoke up again. “Gps Signal confirmed received. Military unit to arrive in about an hour and 30 minutes.” “Good. Things are going well. Let’s call Artemis once we get back to the room.” Cryo said. “Very well. The main computing operating system for the facility has already been dealt with. Computer subsystems throughout the entire complex showing total failure. Data, control points, security, all should be inoperable.” “Good. Things are looking good for us now. Shouldn’t be long before Artemis takes out the power.”

Cryo made it back to the floor of the vent and began to continue to crawl back through. After a bit, he finally made it back to their meeting room. “Alright. Let’s give Artemis a call…” Cryo tapped a button on the watch, which opened their comms channel. “Artemis? Artemis? Are you there?” “There was a short moment of static, but then a unpleasant familiar voice came up, and Cryo’s heart sank… “Hello… You vicious little demon…”

Chapter 41

Mick Mitchells…

“M… Mick…” Cryo said in a low voice. “Oh dear… Craft said. “You… You were responsible for the little… outburst with the drones. And look at the mess YOU MADE! The amount of destruction you caused on your own! SO MUCH has been lost… THANKS TO YOU! YOU! YOU LITTLE DEMON!” “Hey. My good deed of the day, right Mick?” Cryo teased. “Good deed… You MALICOUS LITTLE FIEND! But… maybe its… not all a loss for us… Because…” There was a pause for a moment, but then he heard Mick’s voice away from the mic of the com band. “Why don’t you say… hi, to that LITTLE DEMON, ARTEMIS!” Cryo’s heart sank hearing this. He then heard what sounded like a slap near the com band! “COME ON, ARTEMIS! LET HIM KNOW YOUR HERE!” There was no response. Then he heard the sound of electricity. Then there was a groan of pain! Cryo’s heart sank… Then he began to get angry… “MICK! STOP THIS!” Cryo exclaimed! “You want me to STOP! REALLY NOW!? After EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE! YOU WANT ME TO STOP!? Fine… Come to sector C-23… We can… talk there. How about that… Demon?” “You are nothing but a coward, Mick! YOU’RE HIDING BEHIND A HOSTAGE TO BLACKMAIL ME TO COME TO YOU! Can’t take on a dragon without your fancy friends?! Maybe your just not a good commander!” “Do you REALLY want to test me at this point, Dragon!?” “…No need… Fine, Mick… You want me? I’ll come…” “Good… I hope your ready? We’re about to have some fun!”

Cryo heard the sound of the comms cutting out, and he gave a sigh… “Well… Things have REALLY escalated now…” Cryo said. “Quite… I didn’t expect this to happen…” “Well… No sense waiting around. Come on… Let’s go see what the good ol commander wants…” “But… creator… I pulled up several files from the main computer, before we got here. I have a blueprint of the entire fortress now! The area where they told you to meet, Sector C-23… There’s a VERY LARGE concentration of power being focused into that sector!” “Could it be the power plant?” “N… No… Power plant is located in sector E-12 I think it’s… something else.” “What is it then?” “I… I don’t know, but… this must be a trap! It’s too dangerous to go there now!” “Sigh… Of course its a trap, Craft. But… Help won’t be here for about another hour and 10 minutes. If I don’t head there, they… they’ll… probably kill him… I can’t leave him like this…” “I… understand creator… But… Do you perhaps… have a plan?” “Yes, actually. You said the power subsystems were being funneled into that area, right?” “Well… Yeah, but…” “I can cut the power from there instead. In the cover of darkness, I might just be able to outmaneuver them and get Artemis out.” “But… The odds of success, even with you abilities, is… very low.” “I know Craft, but… a soldier doesn’t leave anyone behind.” “But… your not a solider.” “No… I’m more then that… Come on… Let’s start heading there.” “R… Right.” They unlocked the door to the room and began to head out of it. Craft began to speak up. “I… don’t agree with this, but… I know I can’t stop you. I’ll offer support while you… confront that vicious human.” “Thanks Craft. Now… Give me directions to sector C-23 and quickly.” “Right… Head down the hallway before you, through the lab area.” “Alright. Let’s go.” Cryo began to head through the corridors quickly, while Craft gave him directions. He had no time to lose, and knew Artemis’s life was on the line! He passed through labs, military complexes, and different sectors all across the lab. Soon… he stood in place before the entrance to the door. He gave a sigh.

“Here it is… Sector C-23…” Cryo said. “I’m detecting a HUGE amount of hostiles in that room!” “Yeah… well… Better greet them the proper way. Right?” “Creator… This… This is…” “I don’t care. If they want me… they can have me. I just need to keep them occupied any way I can…” “But for 50 minutes!? That is…” “I don’t care, Craft. Come on!” “…Very well… Good luck… Creator.” Cryo nodded his head and then began to approach the large security door ahead. A scanner came up and scanned Cryo. And then… “Ahh! Our honored guest has finally arrived! Please… come in Cryo!” said Mick. Soon the security door slid up, and they stepped in… Their eyes lit up immediately! It seemed that EVERYONE in the base were in this one room! And in the front, was Mick, in the same Combat Mech from before, which had several power cables attached to it from several power outlets in the room! “Welcome, Cryo the dragon!” Mick exclaimed!

Chapter 42

Fated fight

Mick’s combat suit began to walk forward slowly, as Cryo stepped back. But then he heard the security door shut behind him! His heart sank even further… There was no way out now… Mick gave a hearty chuckle as he approached. “Do you know what this is, you little BRAT!?” Mick questioned. “…That combat suit… It was meant for me… Wasn’t it? A perfect weapon for a… gifted individual to lay waste to entire cities, right?” Cryo said. “Wait… What?” Craft asked. “My, my! You’re a smart little guy aren’t you!?” Mick trained several of the weapons on Cryo. “You! You! THIS WAS MEANT FOR YOU TO DRIVE INTO BATTLE!” Mick then fired an electro net at Cryo! His eyes lit up and he quickly rolled to the side to dodge it! He fired several more as Cryo began to take off and flap his wings! “You could of had everything, kid! Imagine how much world powers would pay to have a DRAGON TECHNICIAN as part of their armies! NO ONE could have done better then you!”

Mick then fired several missiles at Cryo! His eyes lit up and he began to fly erratically to try and dodge them! The first one sailed right past him! It exploded as it hit the wall! Cryo knew Mick had completely lost it, and now wanted nothing more then to end the little dragons life. He saw several more missiles coming from behind him! Thinking quickly, he cast flash freeze from both his palms and froze the missiles as they came forward! They quickly fell to the ground and exploded! Cryo quickly landed back on his feet and looked around. None of the others were reaching for their weapons, or anything at the moment…

“Hmm… Looks like Mick wanted to handle me personally…” Cryo said. “Even then! That madman is insane!” Craft said. Cryo cast another flash freeze against the missile launchers! He froze two out of the 4 on top, which caused the warheads inside to detonate, destroying both of them! “Nice shot, Creator!” “DARN YOU, DRAGON!” He then unleashed a machine gun at Cryo! He quickly put up an ice barrier and hid behind it, as it fired into the ice! But Cryo knew he was pinned down, and that barrier wouldn’t last forever! “Creator…” “I know! I know! Just give me a moment to…” Then… Cryo saw something above him! It looked to be one of the outlets for the power cables for the Mech! Cryo began to think… “Those power cables are powering the mechanized suit! If I could destroy them…” “Creator… a sound idea, but those cables are… military grade. Made from INCREDIBLY durable metals! Outlets are the same! Do you have an idea on how…” But as he talked, he failed to realize that Cryo had ALREADY been charging a sea slicer. He had an angry expression on his face! Then… he unleashed to blades of pressurized water up to the ceiling! But soon, Cryo’s ice wall broke! Mick trained the gun on him!” “GAME OVER, YOU STUPID DRAGON!” But then, the power outlet above was sliced in two and completely destroyed by the blades of water! The mech powered down for a moment!” “What in the… DARN IT! THE POWER SYSTEMS!” Mick said “Good job creator!” Craft said. “Yeah! But that’s not going to keep it in place for long!” Cryo saw each of the power cables began to get coated in a thick energy! He knew this was a measure to buy Mick time to readjust the power in the event one of the cables were severed!” “They expected this to happen! There’s a barrier on the cables and outlet! I need to try and breach that cockpit or destroy the rest of its weapons if I want to stop it now!” Cryo said. Cryo then flew out of cover as Mick began to try to readjust the power systems to focus into the other outlets! He then cast flash freeze on the cockpit! It froze over immediately! “GAHH! I WILL KILL YOU, DRAGON!” He continued to fiddle with the subsystems! Cryo then covered his paw in ice and made a powerful bash at the frozen cockpit! The ice around it shattered and Cryo could see Mick inside! But unfortunately, the power systems came back online! “Nice try, you little demon!” A metal covering then formed over the cockpit, blocking Cryo from getting inside and pulling him out! Then, energy began to funnel into the covered cockpit! Cryo’s eyes lit up! Then a pulse wave of energy burst out and knocked Cryo back far in the room!” “GAH!” Cryo said! He rolled across the floor a few times. He then shook his head a few times and got back up. The mech began stood back up and trained it’s weapons on Cryo again! “Uh oh…” It began to fire it’s machine gun again! Cryo quickly picked up his wings and flew erratically to dodge the barrage of projectiles being thrown his way! “STAND STILL! WORTHLESS REPTILE!” Cryo knew he couldn’t dodge forever, and making an approach again would be impossible with it firing at him! He’d be an easy target up close!

“Creator!” Craft exclaimed! “Got an idea, Craft?! I could really use one right now!” Fire ice and freeze the barrel of the gun! Make it backfire! It might destroy the gun arm!” “That’s… a GREAT idea, Craft!” Cryo said! He knew he’d have only one shot at this! He flew at the ceiling, and wrapped his back legs around some chains at the top! He then hanged down and charged flash freeze in both his palms! Mick had almost trained his gun at him! But then, he shot charged ice energy at the barrel of his gun! The gun recoiled back at it was hit! “WHAT IN THE…!? Mick shouted! He began to try and fire through the ice at Cryo! “COME ON YOU WORTHLESS MECH!” Mick shouted! The arm for the mech began to look like it was heating up! Then the ENTIRE ARM EXPLODED! “AGHHHH! I HATE YOU, YOU LITTLE DEMON!” Mick exclaimed! The barrier around the wires went down again. “Creator! The cables!” yelled Craft! “Right!” Cryo charged another Sea Slicer, and then shot it another power outlet! The outlet was completely destroyed and the mech began to power down again! “GAHHH! CURSE YOU, DEMON!” Mick said!

The barrier formed over the cables again. “Creator! The cockpit is still sealed, but scans show there might be a way to break in under the mech!” “Under it?!” “That’s correct! There is a weak section under the legs, that you could use to damage some of it’s internal systems! Quick! Before it turns on!” “Right! Let’s go Craft!”

Cryo quickly flew towards the mech as Mick tried to continue to reroute the power going into it! Cryo quickly rolled under it! Cryo then searched around, and saw what appeared to be a sealed panel under it! “This it, Craft!?” “Yes! Quick! See if you could get it open!” “Cryo began to try to use his long talons to try to rip out the panel! He tugged as hard as he could, but he couldn’t seem to remove it! “Hurry, Creator! I’m detecting the machine beginning to power on!” Craft exclaimed! Cryo’s eyes lit up, and he began to think! He then blew a steam of ice at the panel! He then coated his hand in ice and smashed it at the panel! The ice shattered and then the panel broke off from the impact! “Quick! Attach a Data Uplink and I’ll try to fry it’s systems!” The Mech began to power on and lift up! “DO IT CREATOR!” Cryo held up the Craft Console and aimed, then he fired a data uplink at the undercarriage maintenance computer!” Good job, Creator!” The robot powered up and then kicked Cryo under it forward! “AGGHHH!! Cryo exclaimed! He rolled across the floor again and again and again! He soon hit the front wall of the area! “NOW I GOT YOU! YOU LITTLE DEMON!”

He charged several missiles at began to lock onto Cryo! But when he pressed the fire button, the turrets exploded instead! “WHAT IN THE…! ARGHHHHHH! I HATE YOU SO MUCH, DRAGON!” Cryo slowly got up, and smiled! “Good job Craft!” Cryo exclaimed! “Now… I’ll take care of the rest…” But as Craft was about to continue, The mech launched itself forward at the two of them! Cryo’s eyes lit up, as he rolled out of the way! The mech bashed into the wall causing a few debris to fall from the ceiling! But… something even worse happened… “Umm… Creator… That little… moment… caused the module to… deattach…” “Oh… no…” Cryo said. “YOU WILL NOT OUTSMART ME, CRYO THE DRAGON!” He then sent out several bombs from his still working mech arm at him. Cryo quickly began to rush forward as the ground began to open up from the explosions! He then tried to ram Cryo again! Cryo immediately rolled forward again, the mech barly missing him as it rammed into the wall again!” “Argg! I can’t keep this up forever!” Cryo said! “YOU CAN’T OUTRUN ME, DRAGON!” He continued throwing explosives at him! But then… he had a thought…” “Maybe… If I time this carefully…” Cryo said. “Umm… Creator? What is your plan…?” Cryo continued to bob and weave as he dodged the explosive ordinance! But he saw the mech pull back again, And he just… stood there… Still as a statue! “Creator! What are you…!? “TIME TO DIE, CRYO THE DRAGON!” Mick rushed forward one last time, and then rammed into the wall! Cryo, at the very last second, sidestepped out of the way and swung himself from the mech’s arm around to the rocket on the back of the mech! “WHAT IN THE…! GET OFF, YOU WORTHLESS REPTILE!” Mick began to try and shake him off again!” Cryo held onto the back for dear life! He had one thing left he had to do! “Whatever you plan on doing, creator, YOU BETTER DO IT QUICK!” “Right!” Cryo began to take in a deep breath, then he froze the booster jet on the back! But not long after, Mick shook him off of the back! Cryo fell back and landed HARD on his back! His back hurt really bad after that fall! “Urg….” He got up slowly as Mick began to prepared to fire explosives at him, but then a glint sparked forth from Cryo’s eye! He had secretly cut a few wires in the arm of the robot with his talons when he swung from it earlier! The mechanism failed to fire the bombs and the bomb detonated inside the arm! The arm was blown off! “NOOOO! DARN YOU, CRYO!”

The shields around the final outlet began to turn off again from the mechanical failure! “Let’s finish this!” Cryo began to charge a sea slicer again to destroy the final power outlet connected to the mech! “OH NO YOU DON’T! Mick tried to fire the engine on the back to ram him, but he realized it was frozen! He couldn’t get it to ignite! He pressed the button again and again and again to desperately active the engine! Then suddenly the ice finally gave way! He gave a sadistic laugh! NOW I’LL FINISH YOU!” Mick said! “TOO LATE, COMMANDER MICK!” Cryo quickly fired a sea slicer at the final power outlet! And the final power source for the mech was permanently severed. Power systems throughout the entire complex began to go through a cascade failure, as all power was routed to the mech! Soon… the lights went out everywhere! “No Mick! Everyone! Fire at that dragon!” a mercenary exclaimed! “Sorry everyone! Your not getting away now!” Cryo said! In the darkness a shining blue light formed where the dragon was. Ccryo was tapping into his freezing energy, using traumatic thoughts to power up his attack! They soon trained their guns on him! But then… a BURSTING LIGHT SHOT OUT FROM HIM, and an ice pillar formed in the middle of the room! And then… everything fell silent…”

Chapter 43

Affected Aftermath

Several large and heavy dropships carrying military troops had finally arrived at the old hidden facility far to the north. Each began to slowly descend, extend its landing gear, and disable it’s hover jets. Soon the backs of each ship opened, and troops began pouring out. Several groups began to sweep all over the area, as several teams began to approach the door. They began to place barricades across the area as cover. They expected a MASSIVE fight to get inside and through the facility. “Alright… We at the entrance to the facility.” said one of the troops in white camo and a mask in a low voice. “Good… I don’t hear anything inside the entrance though…” “They must be there. They wouldn’t want VIP: Avalanche to get out…” said another soldier. “WELL HURRY UP! MY BABY’S IN THERE! HE’S…! yelled someone on the radio in a young feminine voice! “Sara! Relax! Please give me back the radio! I’m sure he’s fine!” said someone with a older feminine voice. There was a short moment of static. “I’m sorry about that. My… daughter is anxious to… see that Avalanche is alright.” “Don’t worry mam. Hopefully VIP: Avalanche kept them occupied while waiting for backup. We’ve already began internal breeching into the facility. Look’s like VIP: Avalanche had successfully destroyed the power in the facility. Main terminal to get inside is fried. Have to breech the front door. Luckily, VIP: Avalanch’s new… explosive device is ready. It should be enough to get the door open.” said the soldier. “Good. Whenever your ready, Captain.” said the voice on the radio. “Alright… They’re punching in the activation key…” Soon the soldiers went back towards the others, behind the barricades! “Alright everyone! TAKE COVER!”

The device began to run down the final seconds. “3… 2… 1… Cryogenic KABOOM!” it said in a cybernetic voice! The metal door was frozen completely, and was launched inward from the blast! It soon hit the wall, and shattered to pieces against the back wall! They soldiers trained their guns on the entrance and waited for a bit! But… no one came out…” “Captain… I’m not hearing anything. Is something going on?” asked the voice on the radio.” “I don’t know, Mam. No one seems to be fanning out of that facility…” “Hang on, we’ll send a few forward to check. They may have gotten blown back or… put into Cryosleep by VIP’s new explosive.” The commander of the operation motioned his hand forward and several soldiers began to fan out and stood by the entrance against the wall. One pulled out something… “FIRE IN THE HOLE!” He threw a device inside, and it let out a bright flash! “MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!

They began to head inside the building! The soldiers waited for a few minutes, expecting to hear any minute shots going off! But then, one of the soldiers then came out and motioned them towards the entrance. “No ones inside the entrance! Entrance is completely clear!” “DON’T TELL ME THEY ALREADY GOT AWAY WITH MY BABY!” exclaimed the young voice on the radio again!” “SARA! PLEASE! I’m sorry about that… Please continue on…” “Right… Come on everyone! Fan in!” They began to funnel in and sweep through the facility! They split up in different directions to search for “VIP: Avalanche.” One of the teams radioed in. “This doesn’t look good, sir. I don’t see any signs of Avalanche or the other terrorist cell op. Though… Something CLEARLY happened here. My team found their control room. Place has been blown clear! Destroyed drones throughout the area. Computers destroyed beyond reason. No bodies though.” “Darn terror cell… What in Cryiss happened here?!” said another radio team. A bit of time passed, but then a worried soul called on the radio again… “WHERE IS MY SON! WHERE IS MY LITTLE CRYO!” said the young voice again. “SARA! I’m sorry again, Captain. Any luck finding Avalanche?” “No… not yet, but… Wait…”

Just as they were about to say something, they picked something up on radar. “Hang on… Avalanche’s tracking implant is appearing on radar!” “WHAT!? DON’T JUST STAND THERE! GET MY BABY BOY!” “SARA! STOP! Alright Captain… Keep us informed… Avalanche is… precious to my daughter. VERY… precious.” “Don’t worry mam. We’re just about there. All other teams. Began to head to team 3. Subject is currently immobile. No indication of whether he’s hurt or not currently… “I SWEAR IF THEY HURT MY BABY, I’ll…!” “SARA! PLEASE! I’m sorry again, captain… Continue on.” They soon arrived at the security door where the VIP target seemed to be stationed inside of. “The security door is closed. With the power out…” “There was no way he could of got out of there…” “WHAT! ARE YOU TELLING ME MY BABY IS…!” “SARA! Please proceed… My daughter can’t take much more of this…” “Right… We’ll use another experimental explosive pack…” They attached another explosive pack to the door and began to run for cover! The explosive pack counted down again at the final seconds. “3… 2… 1… Cryogenic KABOOM! The door froze over and blew open! It then fell and shattered against the ground! They swept into the room, and they were SHOCKED at what they found inside!

They saw a HUGE AMOUNT of people frozen in ice! There was an ice pillar in the center of the room! They stepped into the room in awe! “My god! Are these…” “No doubt about it sir… These are… the insurgents… frozen in ice… In fact… there seems to be HUNDREADS of them in here! Possibly the ENTIRE BASE! No wonder we didn’t have a welcoming committee! I mean… jeez! To say VIP: Avalanche went to work here is an understatement!” “Are they alive?” “Hmm… Yes… Medical scans show they’re… indeed in Cryosleep right now.” “Jeez… Dragon ice REALLY IS different then natural ice! How is it able to… freeze people without killing them!?” “That’s not why we’re here, corporal. We can probably ask VIP: Avalanche later. Come on!” They checked the ice pillar next, but they found that something inside of it seemed to have dug its way out…”

“Look here… There’s a hole in this… massive ice pillar in the center. Looks like something… small crawled out.” “IS IT MY BABY!? IS HE HURT!?” “Sara honey… Avalanche is not hurt. I promise… He’ll come home perfectly alright! Sigh… You can continue on, Captain…” “Right… Heading forward towards beacon.” They continued forward and found the remains of a GIGANTIC destroyed mech. “My… This is a COMBAT MECH! What the heck is THIS THING DOING HERE!?” “WHAT! WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABY!?” exclaimed a concerned young voice! “Sara! Please relax! Before you jump to conclusions, listen to the Captain first! Now… Captain? What seems to be the status of this… weapon?” “This thing is… pretty much blown! I’m looking all over the area. This things arms, turrets, weapon systems, even its cockpit was destroyed! It’s parts are littered all over the place!” “…You really weren’t kidding when “Avalanche,” did quite a number on them. Well… any sign of him?” asked the radio. “No… But We’re seeing a door in the back of the room. Blip indicates… VIP is inside there!” “WHAT!? GET IN THERE RIGHT NOW AND GET MY BABY AND BRING HIM HOME! HE NEEDS HIS MAMA FOR COMFORT AFTER WHAT HE’S BEEN THROUGH!” exclaimed a young voice on the radio!” “Sara… Please… calm down… Alright captain. Continue.” “Alright everyone. Opening the door in 3… 2… 1…”

They quickly opened the door and entered the room! They began to look around the room. The room seemed to be a large bedroom. The room was lit up with a few candles. To the right was a small kitchen, where it seems a bit a food had been taken out and eaten not long ago. But to the right… they saw someone watching TV. They trained their guns at him but he turned around and smiled. “About time you boys arrived,” said the man. “Who… Who are you?” a soldier said. “Well… I think this will give you an idea.” He threw over his dog tags to the soldier. He began to read the dog tags. “Strike force troop 1… Artemis Arans…” “That’s right. If you haven’t figured it out, I wasn’t the only prisoner of war here.” They looked to each other and then back at Artemis.” “Where is… Cryo the Dragon?” “Oh. Kid was tired after that mess. He’s sleeping in that raggedy old bed over there. I finally was able to bypass that stupid collar about… 15 minutes ago. Kid fell asleep after that. ” They turned toward a bed in the very back right corner of the room. The bed had green covers and pillows and teal sheets. They crept over, and saw their target, huddled tightly under the bed, sleeping peacefully. They smiled and kneeled down to check him. “Nia… We found him! Vip Avalanche is alright! He’s sleeping right now…”

“SLEE…!” Yelled a young voice! But the voice on the other side realized something. She quieted her voice as much as possible. “Well… Please don’t wake him up. Its his naptime anyway…” said the young voice. “Yes… Thank you captain. You don’t know how much it means to me and my daughter to hear he’s alright. She’s… very excited to bring him in after such a… rough experience,” said Nia. “Right… Come on you two. Let’s get you two home first. We’ll… detain the rest of the boys while you two head back where you belong.” “Please take Avalanche to my house. I’ll… get him changed and put him into a nice, proper bed.” said Sara. “Alright. Come one everyone. Let’s get you out of here.” Artemis nodded and picked up Cryo, still wrapped up in the blanket, and began to carry him all the way out of the base and towards the ships. The captain was curious about what happened though…” “Excuse me… Artemis, is it?” “Yes. That’s right.” “What… exactly happened back there?” “Well… Cryo apparently had hacked and used drones to blow up their main computer complex and also send the gps signal back to you.” “Huh… Makes sense why they were scattered across the room.” “Yeah… Cryo broke me out of my cell as well. I was to overload the power but… I kind of… well… I don’t want to talk about it. I was discovered and… Mick, the head honcho of this traitorous group of rejects, used me as a hostage to… lure Cryo into a trap to… well… let’s just say… they REALLY wanted to punish him. Cryo had caused so much damage, there was no way they could recover. They knew they were finished. They wanted revenge. They used me as a hostage and kept me in ropes in that room they were in. But man… That dragon is FULL of surprises. He destroyed the mech, froze EVERYONE, and defeated Mick and destroyed his Mech. Speaking of Mick…”

He reached into his pocket and seemed to pull out a bubble. But on closer inspection, they realized… there was a tiny human inside of it… he looked up at the others in rage.” “WHAT IN THE…! IS…! IS THAT…!” “Yep. Cryo trapped him in a bubble after destroying his mech, and in a hilarious fashion, somehow shrunk him down. I was laughing for about 5 minutes when I saw such a “Big man,” shrunk down to a bite size shrimp like this.” “BUT…! CAN THIS…!? CAN THIS BE REVERSED!?” “Cryo said he can reverse the spell. I don’t know exactly how he plans to do this, but… I believe him.” “I… I hope so… As much as this… man is evil… I’m… not sure I’d… want him to be like this forever. I mean… That dragon scares me a bit with… what he can do…” “Ahh… Don’t worry about it. Let’s go.”

They made their way out of the base and soon entered the airship and headed back for winterfell, while the other troops moved the iced prisoners to be ready to be dethawed and detained back home. Artemis looked at Cryo, as he sat down and placed Cryo on his lap. “Man… How long was I there… But thanks to you… I can finally see my family again. Thank you… Cryo the dragon.”

Chapter 44

Future Fight…

Cryo opened his eyes slowly… He gave out a yawn. He saw he was somewhere familiar. But not exactly what he expected. He saw he was at the dragon temple from his dream at the camping trip. His ancestral home… Strangely, he realized he woke up on the dragon alter this time. “Back here, huh? Well… This obviously means something… important is coming up.” Cryo thought. He picked himself up and jumped off the alter. He looked around. “Hmm… No one seems to be around right now. Wonder who I’m meeting this time? Dad? Wave? Or any of the others perhaps? Well… Nothing I can really do but wait until they’re ready for me.” He looked around the room. As he did, he saw that… his painting in the room had changed a bit… He headed over to take a look. He observed the painting. It seems that more key moments of his life had been painted on the wall. He saw several events now displayed next to his statue in the corner. He saw that detailed his kidnapping that brought him to Winterfell, the fixing of the Comms tower, his training at the dojo in his dreams, his rescue of Sara at the burning store, and his most recent event: the final battle against Mick and his associates. He continued to observe the walls and saw that there were still many areas where there was no paint… But he knew exactly why… “My story is clearly not done yet. But… something tells me another portion will be added soon. But I wonder what that will entail? As he continued to observe, he heard a familiar voice behind him… “Ahh… There’s my brave and powerful son. Back from his most recent victory against that… Wretch of a human. Reminds me of some of the old troublesome ones back when I first arrived on Earth.

Cryo turned around and saw his dad, Servant, approaching the him. He also saw his many other family members behind him. Cryo smiled as they approached and headed towards them himself. “My family… Its nice to see all of you again.” Cryo said. Inferno stepped forth and smiled at him. “Oh… It’s nice to see you too, my little Nipper. Wave has been telling me how successful you’ve been with training your Ferrin dragon abilities! Yet… We’ve seen quite a few surprises ourselves! Seeing your abilities when used outside their natural environment is quite amazing! I almost wonder if the transformations are even necessary?! You were able to use all your abilities without them!” said Inferno. Quake turned to Inferno and nodded. “No kidding! I have never seen any dragon perform certain dragon magics without being in a certain transformation! Dragon magics in the base form of a dragon are usually limited to slight manipulation of their natural element energies. I don’t know if this is the effect of the Flo Lily, or you have some… special qualities about yourself that even we haven’t considered!” said Inferno. Lightan scratched his chin a bit as he thought about it. “I wonder that myself. I mean… our precious Nephew’s Flo Lily was manipulated through special means. His bandanna contains the special dragon magics within. This is the first flo Lily I believe will never run out of power. We always had to… well… make a special ritual dish to eat it to gain its power, and it came at the cost of the Flo Lily eventually being digested and the power being lost. Yet… my good brother’s ingenuity managed to manipulate the ritual dish and instead used it to create a special fabric to wear around the neck! I was skeptical about the idea when he came up with it, but… I’m firmly a believer now,” Lightan said. Steelstrike chuckled a bit and smiled. “I still don’t understand how we never thought of using fabrics like this. Dragons only used fabrics for decoration. To use it to warm up the body in cold areas, keep us dry in rain or snow, or even used for more causal fun, seems like a rather amazing idea! But it seems my guardian child got the best part of the entire thing! To think that dragon scales themselves could have a rather interesting effect of fabrics! Your human caretaker, Greg, is a GENIUS for figuring out how to do this!” Tornado smiled and nodded “Quite! If I can… regenerate my body one day, I hope I can create a few for all of us! I did make a few fabric decorations in my free time, but I really would like to learn how to make a couple sweaters!” Servant gave a calmed sigh. “Ahh… The joys of being young I suppose. The young always carry the torch for the future. And… speaking of which…”

They each gave a nod to each other and looked Cryo with concerned eyes. “Cryo… It’s about time…” Servant said. “Time? Time for what?” Cryo asked. “They are here, Cryo… They are looking for you…” Cryo’s eyes shot up and he began to breath heavily!” “W… Wait…! You mean…! “That’s right, grandson… The visions of the future… They are going to come to pass pretty soon….” Wave said. Cryo shook his head and took a couple breaths in… “The dragons… from home… The one that was taken over… They are looking for me and mom…” Cryo said. “Unfortunately Yes, my guardian child…. There is… something else you should know, Cryo. About the slipspace jump your mother made to make it to Cyriss…” said Tornado. “W…What is it?” Cryo asked.

“When your mother… jumped in… there was… a slight altercation with the path set by the portal.” said Inferno. “What was it?” Cryo asked. Lightan stepped forward. “When your mother stepped through, an explosion was set off at her lab. The explosion… caused the portal to destabilize when she travelled through. This is the main reason… we didn’t try to use a portal to flee the planet, like she did. We expected we’d be found out and even if we stepped through, we’d be ripped apart if the portal was damaged. We saw your mother, Tide, step through. But the thing is… she didn’t emerge again… until 1000 years later…” Cryo’s eyes lit up in shock! “Wh…! WHAT?!” Servant came forward. “My darling Tide… She didn’t just travel through space… she travelled through time itself…” “But…! But…! HOW?!” Cryo asked. “Like I said, Cryo… The portal destabilized on the trip through when the lab blew. But… it seems that instead of the… unthinkable happening, she instead was accelerated through time 1000 years into the future on Cyriss. That is why… we have been on Earth for… so long. All of us had seen the human race before this. We saw them leave. They… tried to harness our power before this, but… it didn’t go well… It’s no surprise they had to leave us behind. But honestly… that was for the better. I remember… the day she emerged… When I could feel her heartbeat again through the bond I had with her… I never had been happier in all my life. And it wasn’t just she who survived… My precious boy… My loving son, was able to be born as well. And look how he’s grown up after everything. Though… I’ve noticed lately that he’s… been acting a bit… too young for a certain someone, but… that’s not my business to argue with. I know why you do it. Loneliness is… a killer. When she didn’t come out of that portal, that is all I felt for more then 1000 years…” “I… see… dad…” “Here’s what you need to know… They had 1000 years to track the portal’s path and develop new ships and such to travel to it. They are here now. They want the both of you. They won’t leave until they have you.” “That’s… a scary thought…” Cryo said. Servan closed his eyes and nodded. He opened his eyes again. “There are certain points that the future must head on. If you want the people of this world to be safe, you have to let them… take you…” “Wh…! What!?” “I’m sorry, my son… But if you fight them off like this right now, you could end up attracting an ENTIRE DRAGON FLEET to Cyriss! You don’t realize this… but there have been… tales back on our world about humans. A good portion of dragons are terribly afraid of humans, due to a… certain weapon created by them that was told in dragon myth. They may end up causing a ton of destruction out of fear of retaliation! But… it doesn’t have to be this way. And there’s something more…

There’s a part of the future that I believe can be changed to give us a better chance, and to… prevent someone close to both of us from getting involved in this any more then she is now.” “You… You mean…?” “That’s right… Our most loved treasure. Tide… I have an idea on how to save her from being taken. But… I need you to listen closely. I’ve only seen one outcome of the future, which I’ve already shown you. But… its not written in stone. It can be changed! But this must be done carefully… Now. Are you ready to listen?” “Y…Yes… I’m ready to listen… Dad…” “Alright. Hear every word I say, and think carefully about every action you make when they finally arrive to take you. I can’t give you every solution. Some you’ll have to think of on your own. Now then. Here’s what you need to do…”

Chapter 45

News for the Nipper

Cryo slowly opened his eyes then gave a yawn. As his eyes began to focus on his surroundings, he saw he was somewhere familiar. He was in the cradle in his nursery at the mayor’s house. He could hear the sound of naptunes playing in his ears. He also had his pacifier in his mouth. He let it go and let it hang down his neck. “Well… I assume I the military finally came and picked me up. Guess it’s to be expected I’d be at “Mama’s,” house.” Cryo thought. He pulled the covers up on his bed a bit and saw he was already in training pants. He also saw he was dressed up in his favorite superhero costume. “Seems Sara didn’t waste any time caring for me before I got back. The fact she could change me, cloth me, and place me in my cradle without me waking up… She was either REALLY gentle or I was too tired to wake up while being handled. She wasn’t happy knowing I was risking my life like that. That call with the people back home and the people here was… a little hard for her to come to grip with. But… I couldn’t live in fear of that madman forever. I had to do something. He would have caused even more problems had I prolonged a confrontation any longer. I can’t imagine how’d she feel if I told her Mick legitimately try to… destroy me. He gave a sigh and began to lean up in his cradle. Not long after, the music for naptunes cut out, and a familiar mechanical voice beamed out of it.

“Ahh! The young Superhero, Avalanche, awakens after his first major battle with a diabolical Supervillain! You’re favorite partner wished he could have been there when that was going on! He climbed up the cradle and snuggled with you in bed right now!” said Craft. Cryo chuckled and turned his head towards his Tidal the Stormfall plush. He had been carefully manuvered under the covers a bit, next to him. Cryo still liked the silly superhero costume Sara made for it. He grabbed it and began to hold it close to him. “How are you today, Master Avalanche?” Craft asked. “Haha. I’m fine, Craft. Man… What time is it?” “It’s actually 9:15 A.M.! A bit later then when you normally wake up, but your precious Mama thought you needed a bit more rest after saving the world!” Haha. Yeah. I assumed that after I realized Naptunes was playing when I woke up.” “That’s good. Why don’t you wait for a bit. Breakfast has been held back until you were awake. Oh… And do I need to remind you…? ” “I know, Craft. I know. I remember what I need to do every time I wake up.” “Good! Now… Stay in you cradle like a good young dragon.” Alright. I promise I’ll wait, Craft.”

Cryo began to wait for Sara to arrive to pick him up for breakfast. Soon enough, he heard the door to his nursery open, and Sara stepped in, with a huge smile on her face! “There’s my favorite Superhero! Did you sleep well last night!?” Sara asked. “Yeah… I slept really soundly, Mama.” Cryo replied. “Haha! That’s my little hero!” “Yeah. I… hope your not too… mad at me for having to leave the safety of your home and freeze that bad man. He hurt my dragon mama and tried to turn me into a supervillain!” “Oh… I was at first, my baby boy. But… I knew I had to step aside. I can’t keep you locked up in this room forever! You need to go out and see the world! And you need to stand up for yourself when nasty villain’s try to hurt you or someone close to you!” “Aww… Thank you, Mama.” “Yeah. Now… I bet your hungry, little guy.” “Oh Yeah. I’m VERY hungry, Mama.” “Good! Breakfast is already getting ready to be made. Now that bad bad man is been taken in by my brave little superhero, I… suppose I’ll have to… send you back home with Eli soon.” “Oh… I know Mama… But like you said. I can’t stay here forever. But… I still promise to come over every weekend! I know I need love from Mama!” “Oh… Thank you, my little boy. Now… Before we get to breakfast today and play time, why don’t I check and see if you need changed, my little boy. “Alright mama. I think I’m leaky again…” “Well. One way to find out, huh!?”

Sara took Cryo out of the Cradle and pulled his training pants forward a bit. And sure enough… “As I expected! Look’s like your a wet little boy again! Let’s get you over to your blubberbon and I’ll change you real quick! Breakfast should be ready by then. “Ok, Mama.” She took Cryo over to the changing table in the room, and began to change him. As she ripped off his training pants, she realized something she forgot to mention.

“Oh. I almost forgot to tell you, my baby boy. Your… going to be going back home pretty soon…” “Back… home? To Uncle Eli?” “No… Back to your REAL… home… Grandma… made a call to your own dragon mother back home after I tucked you in. She… told me they finally have new model ships made to withstand cold areas and have rebuilt their plane yard. They… plan to come take you home, very soon… In fact… It’s just in 3 weeks, after preschool ends for the semester for my precious baby boy…” “O… Oh… I… I guess I’m finally ready to see my REAL mama again.” “Yeah… I… I’m going to miss you my little superhero…” “Oh… I’ll miss you too, Mama. But… It had to happen one day. I have my own home to go to. And… I can guess you’d want me to stay until then, but… Seth back with Eli has been pretty sad his “big brother,” had to spend so long away at the mayor’s house for protection. I promised him I’d come back as soon as that super villain, Mick, was finally defeated, on Monday. I can’t disappoint him now.” “Oh… I know my baby boy. You have your own responsibilities as well. We all do. But… I at least get a chance to care for you for at least 6 days of those 3 weeks.” “Yeah… Don’t be sad, Mama. I’ll always be your little dragon boy at heart. And… I have a computer now. I promise I’ll… try to talk to you again one day. Hopefully soon, after I return home.” “That’s right. Now then…” She finally changed Cryo into a new pair of training pants and picked him up, and carried him out of the room. She rubbed his back as she began to carry him out of the room and through the halls. “Hey… You know what were doing after breakfast, my little boy?” “Umm… I don’t know? What are we going to do, Mama?” “You’re going to be put through a little training…”

Chapter 46

Home Again and Hopeful

Cryo stood at a runway at an aircraft base in Winterfell. Cryo was finally heading home. His ship would arrive soon to take him back to Military Research Lab Omega. Many of the people Cryo knew stood behind him to see the dragon off back to home. Among those were Eli, Arianna, Seth, Sara, Nia, Wake, and many of the kids from school. He gave a calmed sigh as he saw the new ship from home beginning to come into view far off in the distence. He smiled, though he felt a bit sad that many of his new friends and caretakers have to stay behind. Even with the CompCall app on his computer, they’d still be far away… But… He had to go home at some point of course. But more importantly, he would probably be there for only a short while, knowing the future events at play here…

“Is that your ship, Cryo?” asked Eli. “That should be it… It’s a newly designed Coldstreak Aircraft carrier. Made and donated to Cryo’s family from our very own stock. It’s the first time my company ever commissioned a military ship. I think it turned out pretty well.” said Wake. “Looks pretty big! Bet it could hold quite a lot of people, Huh?” said Artemis.” “Y… Yeah… No kidding… dad…” said Tanner.

Artemis looked at Tanner and knew he felt the weight of the things at hand. Cryo saved his dad’s life. Artemis knew he didn’t want to see Cryo go… Cryo looked back and gave a nod. “I know, Tanner… I know. Don’t think I hold any grudge against you. We all have our problems in life. I’m just glad I could help you with one of yours.” Cryo said. He gave a faint smile and nodded. “Th… Thank you… for…” “I know. Just stay safe with your dad. I must say… they REALLY kept Mick’s trial quiet for such a… nasty fella.”

“Haha! I know! Glad your… umm… Tech wizard of an AI could tune into it! I remember how the prosecution literally HOUNDED him at trial! He had to be dragged out in heavy chains because of how mad he got!” said Miles. “Man… Hearing all those charges he did! Several accounts of kidnapping, terrorism, treason, violent assault, conspiracy, AND attempted murder!? That guy was NUTS!” said Warren. “You are telling me… I haven’t heard of ANYBODY being THIS CRAZY since humanity left earth in the distant past! He must really hate you for all the trouble you and Craft caused him!” said Christina. “I heard Cryo shrunk that man to bite size! Is that true!?” “Haha! Yeah he did alright! Shrunk him to about… 6 inches I believe. I’m surprised you didn’t keep him that way forever!” said Artemis. “Well… I shouldn’t be THAT cruel… He may have been many things, but its probably not a good idea to fuel that fire any more then it needs to be.” Cryo said. “Well… He probably would have deserved it. That man will never see the sun again. Not after all that he’s done,” said Nia.

“I’m going to miss you, big bro… I’ll have no one to play cowboy and bandits with me…” said Seth. “Oh… I know, Seth. But… I have to… saddle on back to my own home now. I have to get back to the people who care about me. Mick may be gone, but I don’t think its safe I stay in town forever. I don’t think the rest of the world is ready to learn about dragon’s being… well… more then a fairy tale.” “But… do you think you’ll… come back one day?” asked Sara. Cryo thought for a moment. But he nodded. “I believe I will. I don’t think I’ll be gone forever.” “You promise?” “Haha! I promise, “Mama” “Mama? Huh?” asked Tanner. “Oh don’t worry about it. Ahh! They’re about to land!” Cryo said.”

They saw the ship descend slowly onto the dock in the front, and they saw the back door to the hanger open up. And soon, Cryo’s companions came into view. He saw Greg, Susy, Noble, Ty, Gerald, Cameron, and most importantly, his mother, Tide. She was wearing a large green jacket as she began to come forward from the ramp and come down. She soon stood in front of Cryo. “Hi Mom! I…” Tide soon embraced her son with a big hug! “Aww! Your so cute together!” said Sara. “Oh… I’ve waited to be able to see you again for so long!” exclaimed Tide. “Mom… Come on. Your embaressing me…” “It’s been AGES since I could see you with my own eyes, my little boy! Seeing you through a small computer screen is not the same. I was so worried that… AWFUL HUMAN would find and have his way with you! I’m so glad your safe… and ready to return home, where you belong.” “Yeah… I… I know mom…” Cryo shuddered at the thought of having to leave her again. But… he knew… there was a course that must be set for the future… If there was a chance to save her from being taken… he would have to leave her… on Cyriss… She’d be… alone… The thought felt awful to Cryo, but he quickly buried it deep down. He didn’t want to look worried in front of her. It was either this, or risk terrible things being brought upon her by them… She then let go and patted his shoulder a few times. “Alright. Let’s go home, my son.” “Alright. But first…”

Cryo turned back to the others and began to wave to them. “Bye everyone! Thanks for everything!” “Bye Cryo! Be safe and happy back home!” said everyone! He smiled and nodded and they docked onto the ship. They soon stood in front of the others as the hatch closed and the ship began to take off. They began to walk through the hanger. So… how was it in Winterfell, Cryo? Was it fun to be in your… natural element?” asked Greg. “Haha! Yeah. I’m not typically one for cold, weirdly enough, but the snow and ice wasn’t all that bad to be honest.” Cryo said. “Well. It seemed like you were well loved by the townspeople. I really wish I had the time to thank them for… keeping your existence secret from the rest of the world.” said Ty. “Well… Mick being out and about was enough for them to decide to keep me under watch and protection. I don’t think they’ll reveal my existence until the world might be… more ready to accept dragons into their world.”

“Yeah. I must say, Craft. Your really are a great AI! You were instrumental to the takedown of that… greedy mans ambitions. The files you pulled allowed us to take them down. It’s too bad they kept their main base of operations completely off record. We would have found them sooner. I guess they realized that they would be found if any files existed that could give away where they were operating from. And really Craft… I would have never thought your hacking skills could infiltrate mech and drone security! I not sure there isn’t ANYTHING you could hack! I remember in the report you sent to me detailing the entire little operation you and Cryo pulled on them. They were soo blinded by finally having their prize, they never realized they were playing into your hands!” exclaimed Gerald. “Thank you, Gerald. “I’m very pleased myself with the relative success of the mission. I was quite worried when that… shall we say… inhuman monster decided to try their new mech on the young creator. The odds were stacked quite against us! I suppose… maybe I myself had underestimated what the young creator was capable of,” said Craft from Cryo’s Craft Console.”

“I’m just glad your FINALLY back home with us, now. It’s nice knowing my brother will be safe and snug with us back home! No one is going to take you again!” said Noble. “I… uhh… Y… Yeah… Noble. I… won’t ever have to worry about kidnapping again…” Cryo began to lower his head down. He knew the truth. One he knew he couldn’t tell to the others… It felt bad to keep this from them… “Hey… something wrong, Cryo? You look a little down,” said Cameron. “Oh… don’t worry about it. I… think I’m just a little tired right now…” said Cryo. “Well… Why don’t you go with Tide to somewhere where you can rest. Ok?” said Greg. “Y… Yeah. Thanks Greg.” “Alright. Come on, my son. Let’s get you somewhere comfy. A personal quarters for you and me on the ship was made by that nice human, Wake.” Cryo nodded he and Tide split off from the others. She soon led Cryo to a small bedroom on the ship.

Cryo looked around the room. The ground was green carpet, and the walls were made of light blue Cyantran Steel. It made Cryo a little nervous, but he gently reminded himself it wasn’t meant to seal him into the room. To the right of the room, were two beds. One large with a plain red blanket and white sheets, and a smaller bed with a blue blanket and white sheets. There was a large window that showed the beautiful snow and ice covered mountains and glaciers outside as they flew on forward. Tide smiled at him and patted his back. “So… Cryo. Will I need to worry about any… accidents while you rest?” “Wha…! I…! Oh… That’s right… oversoul… You… saw that?” She chuckled a bit and nodded. “Oh Cryo… I find it funny some of the decisions you make for others. I can’t imagine it was fun to be treated like a human hatchling.” “Well… Sara wasn’t all that bad, Mom. I mean… I learned a few neat things from her.” “Really? And… what would that be?” “Well…”

Cryo began to balance himself on his back two legs. Then he began to stand up on them and walk around! Tide’s eyes lit up!” “Cryo! Your…” “That’s right mom! “Mama…” taught me how to walk as a human! Oh don’t worry… I’ll STILL prefer to crawl, like a dragon. But… there’s a certain charm to being able to use both your front paws freely. I’m sure I’ll use this neat little trick at some point. And… I’m going to have a certain… something added to my washroom later on. Hopefully soon. I think I should take my breaks in a different way from now on.” “Umm…! Uhh…! Well… I suppose that IS something, my little boy.” She began to smile and chuckle a bit. She then patted his head and picked him up. “Well… I suppose I shouldn’t keep you from your nap any longer. Ready to be tucked in?” “Yeah mom… I’m ready…” “Alright. Come here.”

She picked up Cryo and began to carry him over to the bed. She gently pulled back the covers and placed him in, and pulled the covers over him. She kissed him on the cheek, and then went to a drawer in the room, and took out a radio. She placed it on a cabinet next to Cryo’s bed. “Craft. Do you think you could tune this radio to naptunes for Cryo?” asked Tide. “Of course, Tide. Craft console connecting… Standby…” After a few moments of static on the radio, Craft’s voice beamed out of it. “Turning on Naptunes.” A soothing melody began to ring out of the radio, and Cryo smiled as it flowed into his ears! Soon… the music worked its magic on his hazy mind, and he fell asleep.”

Cryo’s New Abilities:

Note: Certain abilities will be enhanced and more effective in his other transformations.

Flash Freeze: Cryo shoots condensed beams of ice from his hands to freeze things at longer ranges and at multiple targets. Good for crowd control and small groups, but requires focus and aim.

Opaque Outlaw: By wrapping his bandanna around his snout like a bandit, Cryo can go invisible. However, quick movements will cause him to become less opaque. Will also keep his cloths invisible if wearing them.

Sea Screech: The underwater variant of the sonic screech. This one sends out a water pulse from the gaping mouth, which is very accurate and very long range. Good for single targets and for a quick strike.

Sea Slicer: Sends out blades of HIGHLY pressurized water by focusing energy into his paws and then slashing forward towards his target. IMMENSELY EFFECTIVE against most metals and technology, but must be handled VERY CAREFULLY in order to prevent others from… well… being sliced in two…

Frost Force Fury: An offensive variant of Frigid Fury. An dome of ice forms around Cryo, and he shoots a LARGE ice laser forward, freezing EVERYTHING in its path and plowing itself through doorways and such. With a little more manipulation, he can use it to form a tunnel of ice to allow safe passage through it. Good for a powerful attack against a single powerful target, or a group of targets clustered together. Also good for escapes. However… this one will take a good amount of elemental energy. It may leave Cryo exhausted after…

Bubble Bind: Allows him to encase targets in a bubble and trap them. He can then condense the bubble to constrict the target inside even further. Though the use of certain manipulations of power, he can instead send out a bubble that can shrink his target instead to better manage and transport a captured target. Excellent for taking targets captive (Which will be important in the future…)

New Gear:

Craft Console: Cryo’s new personal tiny data assistant computer attached to his wrist like a watch. It contains Craft inside of it, so he can keep a closer watch over Cryo. It can allow Craft to hack nearby computers and devices, attach data uplink modules to computers or weapon devices to allow Craft to better hack or take control of them, create maps of the facility as they travel through with the use of ultrasonic waves, and track possible friendly and hostile targets.

Future Gear:

Rig Armor: Made to better interact with environments and dragon abilities.

Modes:

Speed: Underwater boosters used to maneuver quickly and efficiently

Offense: Booster are instead used for evasive actions instead. Made for combat situations.

Attachments:

Shock Stringer: A electric wire similar to a spider’s thread shoots out and can be used to restrain, grapple, and throw targets around.

Frigid Freezer: Shoots Ice missiles at multiple targets. Excellent for crowd control and opening up opportunities for further attacks.

New Likes:

His school and new school friends

Sara’s Idea of fun (Being a pirate or Superhero while being “Babysat.”)

His new bank card

Being a hero

His new tech inventions

His new abilities

His training

Playing with Seth

Artemis

New dislikes:

Making mistakes that could put others in danger

His personal issues he’s been dealing with for a LONG time…

The Big conspiracy with his kidnapping attempts

Mechanical Contraptions meant for destruction and war

The soon to be coming future (and the risks it carries for his mother, Tide)

Epilogue

“Your not serious… Right?! You’re really going to go through with this Javelin!?” said a large dragon in HIGHLY advanced smooth black armor suit with blue visor where his eyes were. “What other choice do we have!? The Kaosotic (ka-sot-ic) have spent more then a LIFETIME trying to track her down! That portal… WE NEED THAT DEVICE! And she is the only one who ever built it!” said a red dragon in an dark red rigid, pointy, and intimidating armor, with yellow trimmings around the joints and a visor that covered across both his eyes. “BUT SIR! We don’t even know if she’s EVEN ALIVE! The report long ago that detailed that incident indicated a shot rang into her back as she jumped through! We’ve been watching and we’ve found NO trace of her coming out of ANY of the buildings there!”

“But… That other dragon! The small blue one! That one must be her son!” “BUT HOW CAN IT BE? ASK YOURSELF THAT! He’s only looks… less then 10 years old! He’s very young! He wouldn’t be THAT SMALL after 1000 years!” “Don’t lecture me, Trace! I know its her son! It has to be!” “YOU DON’T KNOW THAT! WE DON’T KNOW THAT! NO ONE KNOWS IF THAT DRAGON IS HER SON!” “QUIET TRACE! You are really going to talk down to your commanding officer!?” “Yeeessssss… For shameeeee, Trace. For Shameeeeeee,” said a dragon in a light green armor suit with a dark green trimmings around his joints and his paws had some type of alloy that seemed to shake the ground a bit…

“Rapture… SHUT IT! YOU REALIZE WHAT CREATURES OCCUPY THAT PLANET, RIGHT? YOU’VE SEEN THEM! Even the Kaosotic don’t want to have ANY interaction with humans! THEY FEAR THEIR ULTIMATE WEAPON! EVERYONE DOES! Your going to kill the Kaosotic AND THE REST OF US!” “The… weapon was… only spoken of in myth! We… have no confirmation its real!” “WE CAN’T TAKE THAT RISK! Everyone knows the story! Everyone! Their ultimate weapon… The… poisonous war missile…” Each of them turned to each other and began to shudder at the thought. “A missile of… ultimate destruction… It does something FAR WORSE then destroying a planet! It… poisons it… with fire, and an unseen substance that… consumes and turns flesh to rot and any exposed will suffer a slow, horrid end… And it isn’t just FLESH that’s poisoned! It’s blast is SO POWERFUL, it LITERALLY poisons technology! All systems shut down! Everything! No electricity, life support, air, water, ALL OF IT WILL BE GONE AND POISONED! SHIPS SHIELDS DON’T DO SQUAT AGAINST IT! THEY WOULD FALL FROM THE SKY AND CRASH INTO THE GROUND LIKE A METEOR! They’d… punish ANY survivor in the most… HORRID ways! THIS IS INSANE! WE CAN’T POSSIBLY TRY TO TAKE HIM! They love him! I can tell! We’ve spied on them for a while! We tried to… manipulate a ship trying to… extract him to who knows where, but… I STILL DON’T KNOW HOW OUR OWN CODEBREAKERS COULD… GET LOCKED OUT OF THE SHIPS CONTROLS!? PLEASE! IF WE PROVOKE THE HUMANS, NONE OF US WILL SURVIVE! Because that place is NOT ONLY the dragons home, ITS CLEARLY A MILITARY COMPLEX! THEY WILL GO TO WAR WITH US IF WE TAKE HIM AND YOU KNOW THAT ITS FORBIDDEN FOR ANY AND ALL UNITS UNDER OUR KAOSOTIC OVERLORDS TO GO TO ANY PLANETS OCCUPIED WITH HUMAN LIFE!”

“I… know that… But… this is far too important to just ignore! We’ve spent A TON OF RESOURCES trying to find them! I’m not just going to waste ALL THAT TIME AND dedication just to abandon it because of some old legends! Not all human legends were about that ultimate weapon!” “Please! I beg of you to reconsider this! Besides… That dragon is ONLY A KID! I’ve seen what happened to a lot of the other dragon kids! Pyra in particular was… I… I don’t want to think about it… I STILL hate these experiments your performing on her!” “SHUT UP! Look… If things go well, we… can probably get in and out without causing… too much damage.” “Huh? That’s a first… Your usually haphazard with a trigger finger! And EVEN THEN! WE’RE STILL KIDNAPPING THAT DRAGON! They are NOT going to be happy!” “I… just shut up Trace! Really! Everything will be fine! I promise you! I wish this wasn’t such a bad situation to be in, but… if that… Tide… is still alive, we need to find her! If not, we’ll have to rely on the child to build the portal instead!” “Y… You’re REALLY going to go through with this!? I DON’T WANT TO BE INCINERATED IN EITHER POISONOUS FIRE OR A CRASH!” Heck! I don’t want to be poisoned IN GENERAL!” “Trace… We are DOING THIS! Now… We need to start planning on how to extract them. Come with me to the war briefing room. And I DON’T want ANY MORE ARGUMENTS from you about MY decision! UNDERSTAND!?” “But…! I…! I…!” “Stop being such a coward Tracccceeeeee. This will be a eeeeeeeesay operation! Grow an actual Sssssssspppinnneee.” “Yes… Now come on. Let’s get started with planning…” Javelin X said.

Javelin X and Ravager headed into the war room on their ship. Trace gave a sigh and shook his head. “I… Why did I join the dragon military… This was such a huge mistake… Day in… day out… I… I can’t do this anymore… I… I need to get out of here somehow… Those kids… Ugh…” Trace slowly held his head down and headed into the ships war room.

Prologue:
Part 1

In the last book, Cryo and his mother, Tide, had finally returned after being kidnapped and on the run from their captors in a forest for about a month. He had a dream on the night of his return, with the bugs from back on Earth. In the dream, he just woke up from a major incident. He had been bandaged up and was being escorted to a hidden facility to stay safe. When Cryo asked what had happened to him, he was informed that they had been attacked by the armored dragons, who were after Cryo. Cryo, despite his previous leg injury from his dreams, managed to thwart an attempt to take him captive, while also saving the lives of several of the bug warriors looking over him. After learning of the events, Cryo decided to go back to sleep, while the ship transported him to his new location.

As he woke up, he would be properly greeted back by his friend, Cameron. Tide (Cryo’s mother) had just made breakfest for the two of them. After eating a healthy meal, they played a board game and Ty came in to check on them and see if either wanted to take a break. Cryo decided he needed one, and began to head outside with Ty.

As they walked, Ty mentioned the kidnappings and that he shouldn’t have trusted someone. Thinking a bit, Cryo rembered a name that came out a bit as they made their escape through the forest. Mick… After asking Ty, he confirmed that Mick was indeed the one who had been the mastermind behind the kidnapping. He apprently was the same commander who was responsible for the original operation to move Cryo to the research facility. While he show’d little interest in Cryo at first, due to his behavior at the time. But that changed after Cryo began to repair tech. He had apprently wanted Cryo to build weapons and advanced technology for war efforts. He also wanted to have Cryo trained in combat so he could also be a valuable military asset. When the people at the base refused, he had convinced his own unit to kidnap both him and his mother for their own nefarious efforts. After hearing this, Ty asked how Cryo managed to pull through such a bad situation. He gave his story as Cryo as they went outside.

After telling his story, they both headed back inside, and decided to watch a movie. After the movie though, Tide mentioned something about her homeworld. Curious, Cryo asked Tide about the home world of the dragons. Hearing the story was an eye opener for the little dragon. While Cryo was pretty nervous, but Tide reminded Cryo that it they have a wonderful home here now, and what happens back there doesn’t matter.

Cryo decided to repair some items after hearing the story. His first item would be a computer with a malfunctioning hard drive. While getting a replacement, his eye wandered to a drawer that contained a prototype hard drive made and programmed from scratch by Cryo. After mulling it over for a bit, he decided to test it on his clients computer, hoping it would work much better then before. He began to test it a bit after installing it. Things were running smoothly. But as he began to test the computer, some strange happenstances seemed to happen. There were a few bugs with the computer, which it was able to fix by itself. Cryo didn’t intend to program this in. After testing it for a bit, Cryo began to think that the computer seemed to now be thinking on its own…

It didn’t take him long to realize that he had accidentally programmed a very smart ai that now was running in his clients machine. Very concerned now, he began to ask the computer some “personal,” questions with the hope it wasn’t a mad ai. It’s responses seemed genuine and seemed to not hold any ill will towards dragons or humans. It even disconnected itself from the main base security and main servers to give Cryo a sense of safety. While Cryo was very worried something might go VERY wrong, he decided he would look more into this later. After this tense conversation he decided that he needed to listen to some calming work music to calm himself. But before he could turn the radio on, it turned on by itself, and the ai asked if he wanted to listen to music. Cryo realized it must have uploaded itself into Cryo’s other items. While really tense now, he was able to continue working as the radio played its tune.

After working for awile, he decided to take another nap. He would end up back on Earth again, in s personal living quarters for himself, though his leg was still broken. After eating something, Zeke and Stinger Spider came in to check and discuss with Cryo some things. Cryo continued to inform his friends of his life on Cyriss. They then started to discuss a strange happenstance with what was apparently a set of cloths with BIZARRE qualities that was believed that Cryo wore that were discovered close to where he had impacted the ground. They then began to discuss with Cryo some occurrences that had happened since he had been here. The dragons who attempted to take him were now trying to not only find him, but a group of other young dragons, who had been rescued by their bug forces. But more importantly, they wanted Cryo himself to be better trained in combat to form a dragon fighting force to combat them. He would be the commander in charge of them, as his previous experiences would prove invaluable to their efforts. He agreed to the proposal, and decided that he wanted to go back to sleep. As he closed his eyes again however, he would have one last vision.

The black dragon from one of his first dreams about Earth, Servant, would contact Cryo again. It was here that Cryo learned that Servant is actually his Dad! He had been the one giving Cryo these dreams, as Black lunar dragons have a limited ability to see the future, but for some reason, he couldn’t see any further after this moment. As the vision ended, he told Cryo that he would continue to watch over him and guide him on the right path, while looking forward on the day he could look upon his son himself.

Part 2

After waking up, Cryo decided to ask his mother more about his dad. She told him that his dad, Servant, was sent along with other dragons in his squad to watch over the portal project for the dragon race during the intense war. However, his dad had fell in love with Tide, and began to act a bit strangely around her. After being called to command, when he returned, he began to act very irrationally around her and began to argue commonly with his commanding officer. One night, he approached Tide with news. They were going to “commission,” her into the war, and if they didn’t leave, they would come for her and her portal project. Tide realized he truly cared about her, so they made daring plan to escape together, while also destroying the portal project and all the data. But she decided to download the data and put it on another drive, in the event it might come useful later…

After a while, the two dragons were able to find a group of dragons willing to take them in and help them try to stop the war and the evil creatures responsible from it. But eventually, they realized the futility of the efforts, and decided on a different plan to escape. Using special meteors, they would transfer their body and souls into them and launch themselves deep into space, hoping to land elsewhere in the universe where they could bond with kind and pure hearted lifeforms and hopefully eventually reform their own bodies and find a world where they can eventually live peacefully with the species of that world. But Tide of course, made her own plans. With Cryo ready to be born pretty soon, she needed to keep him protected and safe, so she decided to try one last time to build a portal, but this one being designed to travel into VERY deep space, where she could hopefully find a home amongst the stars to take care of her child. Servant though, had doubts it would work, so he decided to instead transfer himself into a meteor like others. But before he left the one he loved most, he promised that some way, he would find a way to see Tide again… Hearing the story about his dad made Cryo feel happy that his dad had been a hero to his mother.

As Tide finished her story, it was time for Cryo to eat. But it was here, Cryo would be told terrible news. Tomorrow would be his seventh birthday… Being reminded of his birthday coming tomorrow made him sad, as it was the day he had been taken from his adopted parents. She told them they had a big surprise waiting for him, but it didn’t seem to cheer him up at all. Knowing the sensitivity of the project, Cryo, Tide, and Cameron decided to try to go outside to cheer Cryo up.

Outside however, as they were playing catch with each other, Cryo was given an interesting proposition by Tide and Cameron. One of the people working at the research base was responsible for a program called the explorers scouts, a continent wide organization that taught survival skills and teamwork, did fun outdoor activities such as camping, earned badges to show off your prowess in the program, and had fun with your peers. Tide and Cameron thought that Cryo would be a perfect fit for the program, since he was able to survive with Tide out in the wild with the limited resources at his disposal. While concerned that his kidnappers might make another attempt to take him, he decided that he should be safe. since the ones responsible for his kidnapping had been forced to flee the base after the incident, and it would be difficult for them to know when he would be outside the base on trips. He agreed to join and continued to play for a bit.

They eventually went back inside to watch a movie. As he started to get the movie ready, his tv immediately reacted. Cryo realized that If he told the others about his ai creation, he might get in trouble, since it at one point was connected to most of the security and main servers, and there in no telling how they would take it if they knew that Cryo had accidently programmed a very smart ai. Thinking quickly, he was able to convince Cameron that he simply upgrade his items programming. But he knew he’d have to talk to his new “ai buddy…” later about not being so obviously sentient.

After taking a little bit of time preparing for his party tomorrow, he decided to go to bed early. He would have a very strange dream however… He dreamed that he was in a dark room, with a giant birthday cake in front of him. A strangely familiar voice called out to him to make a wish. But Cryo didn’t believe in wishes, and tried to leave the room from a darkened door. The door wouldn’t open though. As the voice called to him, he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave unless he made a wish and blew out the candles on the cake. So he climbed the wooden staircase to the top, and blew out the candles, making the same wish he always made on his birthday. He wished to see his adopted family again…

But after candles were extinguished. They begen to light up brightly and then shot up into the air one by one, detonating and releasing a beautiful array of fireworks. As Cryo watched the spectacle above, Cryo’s body became very weak. He collapsed to the ground, unable to move himself. But then something picked him up carefully and began to carry him away. He opened the door to another room with a white haze. Cryo’s eyesight couldn’t make sense of who the figure was, as his eyesight had become hazy. He could only see it as a dark silhouette. He brought him over to a table, where an array of items had been folded up neatly on it. It began to unwrap each strange object one by one. The items seemed to be a very warm shirt, a strange scarf, and a blanket, which he carefully wrapped Cryo in. It then seemed to place Cryo on a very soft bed, and turned on an item that played very soothing music. As Cryo’s mind succumbed to the strange spell, he heard one last set of words from the figure. “Happy birthday, little brother.”

Part 3:

When he woke up the next mourning, he realized he was alone. He was going to head out, but his ai buddy seemed to be trying VERY hard to keep him in the room. Feeling very suspicious, he quickly headed for the door, before Tide came in. She told Cryo that she was the one who convinced his ai buddy to try to keep him in the room. While concerned that Tide knows about it, she promised to not tell the others. She then told Cryo that she needed him to stay in his room for awhile until they’re ready for his party. He agreed, and then she told him that there was some cloths for him to wear for the party, that he’ll need to put on before the party. She then left the room, leaving Cryo to need to decide what to do before then.

He decided to work on a eat and work on a few repairs. After washing his hands after the fact, he found a note on the door that told him they were just about ready, and that they wanted him to change into the cloths they made for his party. After taking out the cloths, he quickly realized that the cloths themselves were almost exactly identical to the ones he wore on his first birthday. Nearly crying, he quickly took in some deep breaths and reminded himself that it was just for today. He quickly put them on and took a look in the mirror. As he looked however, he began to realize something strange. The cloths he was wearing were made with the same formula that his adopted family used to make his own cloths with… After mulling it over for a bit, he decided that the researchers had simply figured out how to make them themselves. With his cloths on, he decided to listen to some music on the radio while he waits for his mother to pick him up.

As he listened to music, his ai buddy began to notice quickly Cryo’s stress and anxiety. It asked Cryo if he could tell it about what happened on his birthday. While Cryo was confused as to how it didn’t know, it told Cryo that their is more to learn from an experience then to read a simple document. It wanted to get a better idea from Cryo himself as to what had happened. While concerned that the ai would get the wrong idea about the people at the base if he told them, he reminded Cryo that it would not form a wrong opinions on one experience. It was also not connected to the base’s security, except for a single camera in the room. With these words, Cryo decided that it might be therapeutic to tell his story.

Cryo started by telling of what happened before the day of the party. About how his “big brother,” was running late. About how he left the house to find him, despite his adopted parents, warning him not to wander away from the house. About how he saw his brother being bullied and how he sprayed them down with a powerful gush of water. And about what happened after they got home. The ai asked a bunch of questions about what Cryo was like a hatchling, which Cryo thought to be amusing as he talked about it. Then, Cryo talked about the next day, and the party itself. Cryo told simply the plans of going deep into the forest by a lake to have a picnic. But then he told him what happened when they showed up…

But the ai pressed for more detials about the party, reminding Cryo that he seemed to be focusing on the more negative aspects of what happened. It wanted to hear what some of the fun things he did during it. Cryo, then began to think and then began to tell him the parts he thought was fun.

One thing brought up however, was his adopted fathers clothing formula. Cryo mentioned to it that the cloths he was currently wearing were made from the same type of materials, look, and qualities of the cloths his adopted family made for him. Cryo mentioned that they probably just figured out how to make them, the ai told the little dragon an oddity with the situation.

The people at the research base DID try to copy his adopted fathers clothing creations, but were not able to even come close to what he managed to create, thanks to a set of research documents it had downloaded pertaining to his creator. When Cryo mentioned that maybe that somehow listened to a news program or something, the ai mentioned that there is NO program that had ever discovered a way to make cloths like with Greg. Confused as to how they managed to make them, he continued on with his story.

He recounted the many fun things at his party. The trip with a view of the beautiful forests from the long drive. Playing hide and seek and flying for the first time. Playing catch with his big brother. About his big birthday feast. He also told his ai buddy about the… concerning dream he had after needing a nap after his meal. His ai was quite dismayed that his dream went so bad, even commenting a few times that the excessive behavior of the armored dragons in his dreams were overblown to the point where the dragons in his dreams were heathens. After that, he finally would get a chance to swim, before everything turned on itself.

After the telling his story the ai reminded his dragon buddy that his first birthday wasn’t a complete loss. He reminded his creator that he was able to remember some really happy moments in it. But more importantly, he reminded him that he shouldn’t dwell on the past. It was best for him to leave the past where it was and nover give up hope that he’ll see his family again one day. Hearing these words, Cryo realized his ai friend was right. He spent his life remebering that dreadful day, he never tried to focus on the good things that happened. And he realized that his ai buddy was right, in saying that he shouldn’t give up hope on seeing them again. Renewed with a sense of happiness, he heard his mothers voice from behind him. They were ready for his birthday.

They walked together down the hall. Tide immediately noticed that Cryo didn’t seem to be very tense. Curious, she asked Cryo if he was ok? He told her that he was fine and that today’s party would be fun. Seeing this strange turn of events of what was supposed to be a very hard day, she began to wonder what had happened beforehand. She decided to ask later.

Part 4

As they headed to the field, they saw a VERY large crowd of people from the research center had gathered for todays party. Tide told him however, that it was not his main surprise. She gestured Cryo to sit down with her on a picnic blanket. She gave Cryo a couple of white chocolate treats to help keep him a little busy while they both waited for his surprise. Cryo was surprised as he had only recently learned this recipe from having his dreams about Earth. He had written it down and placed it on his desk not too long after he had woken up from it. As he continued to nibble on the treat, he would be shocked when someone very special would come from behind and tap him on the shoulder…

His big brother, Noble, had come to see the little dragon, long with his adopted parents, Greg and Suzy. Even better news, they were allowed to stay with them at the research base to help care for the young dragon. With tears in his eyes and his heart lit bright, Cryo, his mother, and his old family went to the field to discuss what had been going on since they last parted ways. After a while, it was time for the little dragon to have his cake. He realized that the one thing he’s always wished for had already come true and didn’t know for what he could wish for. But after a bit, he began to realize he had just one other wish. With the thoughts of the future, he wished that when THEY arrive, that everyone he loves would be safe.

After that, it was time to open his gifts. His first gift would be from his adopted family. When he opened it, it seemed to be a very strange scarf. But Noble told him it wasn’t a scarf, but actually and bandanna. He felt around the material, and realized it was far softer then anything he had before. And it smelled very relaxing and clean. His big brother, helped tie it behind his neck. Cryo immediately felt very relaxed from its comforting scent and incredibly soft fabrics. But strangely, Cryo thought that just for a single moment, it seemed to glow a bit… Very happy from his gift, he thanked his family for it. He would get many other gifts from the other party goers, upgrade parts for his items in his room, tons of different fabric items like cloths and blankets made from Greg’s special design, even a computer. Yet despite all of this, Cryo knew that somehow, that bandanna was FAR more special then everything else, but he couldn’t understand why he felt that way…

After opening his gifts, night was beginning to come around, and he was beginning to get very tired from partying most of the day. Noble carried his “baby brother,” back to his room, while the party goers carried Cryo’s large gift stack with them back to his room. After setting it on the work bench, they wished Cryo good night and left one at a time, Noble changed Cryo out of his party cloths and into some comfortable night cloths to sleep in. Cryo looked back towards his bandanna and could smell the pleasant aroma coming from it.

But when Cryo mentioned it to his Noble, he told Cryo that Greg had discovered a way to create an even better set of fabrics and made that very special bandanna. When Cryo asked about it, Noble told him he used a flo lily, a plant that is considered impossible to transport or keep alive out of its natural habitat. Curious as to how Greg managed to get one, let alone use one in creating it, he asked his big brother. But he didn’t know how Greg managed to transport it either.

It was here that Greg came in and informed Cryo that his scales were the key. Greg told the story to Cryo on how and why he made his special cloths, using his grinded scales, soulfire petals, and waterproof fabrics to design them. But more importantly, he told that a few days before he was informed about Cryo’s bithday plans, they went to the lake where they last saw the little dragon to remember him. It was here Noble found the flo Lily attached to one of Cryo’s scales in the lake and brought it to Greg. But the thing is, the flo lily did not wilt and die when removed. It had survived despite being out of the water. Something about Cryo’s scale gave it life. He then transported to his house to study this further. The day after though, they would told that they could finally be with Cryo again, and there was a big party to celebrate his birthday. The people at the research base would tell Greg their plans for the party, while greg would give them the secret on how they made Cryo’s cloths, so that he they could be made by different people at the research base as presents for Cryo.

But at that night, as he slept, he would have a dream… It seems that Cryo’s father, Servant, had contacted Greg. He told Greg he had a VERY special item in his possession. Something that can be used to make a VERY special gift for the little dragon. A Bandanna… Servant gave Greg a set of instructions on how to correctly use the flo Lily to make it. Before he left, he told Greg that he wanted Greg to let Cryo know that he wished him a happy birthday…

After hearing his bedtime story, Cryo thought that there might be more to the bandanna then simply comfort. Tired though, he decided that he would look into this more later. He then went to sleep with the radio playing its soothing musical spell on Cryo’s hazy mind…

Ch 1

Starter Scout

A small bus hovers its antigravity jets across the ground as it goes across the road through the large forest. It eventually turns off of the paved road off towards a dirt path that headed deep into the forest canopy. The small bus goes deep in for a little over an hour, until it finally makes it to its destination. The area was pretty open, yet the forest canopy above still shielded most of the ground below from the sun, with a few splotches of light shining onto the ground. The bus’s engines began to calm as it slowly lowered itself to the ground. It’s engines then fell silent as it powered down. A few moments later, a side door slid open. A large figure stepped out. He had smooth black hair, white skin, brown eyes, and looked pretty strong. Wearing a scouts uniform with a cap and gloves, decorated with a bunch of badges, the figure put his hands at his sides and looked around the site a bit. He turned back towards the open door of the bus, and called in. “Alright scouts. Come on out and line up.” One by one, a bunch of kids in scout uniforms came out and began to line up side by side. The scout leader began to pace in front of them a bit to get a look at each of them. He realized that one of the scouts, wasn’t outside the bus yet…

The scout leader headed towards the bus again and stuck his head inside the door. “Come on. The coast is clear, bud. You can come out…” A head poked itself up from the side window. It looked around outside the window itself a bit to get an better look at the outside. It grabbed his backpack and slung it over its back. It then got out of its seat and headed towards the door to the bus. It began to go down the steps towards the outside of the bus. Cryo stepped outside the bus, wearing a scouts uniform and a cap, green finger less gloves, green toe less socks, and his favorite bandanna wrapped around his neck. He also had a medium sized green backpack on his back, with some of his important camping items and belongings he decided to bring with him to camp.

“Alright, Cryo. Stand in line with the other kids,” said the figure to Cryo. “Yes, Scoutmaster Kyle,” Cryo replied back. He gave a smile and a quick scout salute and walked over to sit in the line with the others. Kyle paced a bit in front of the line of scouts and stood a little ways in front of the line. “Atten…tion!” The scouts quickly began to stand straight up and salute. Cryo quickly saluted and smiled, as the scoutmaster looked upon his juniors. “Very good, my troop. Very good. Now. I’d like to welcome all of you to the wilds of Shepard’s forest. You juniors ready for some time in the wilds. “Yes, Scoutmaster!” each of the kids called out. Kevin smiled and nodded his head. “Very good, my young scouts. Very good. Now… hands down everyone.” Each of the scouts slowly put their hands to their sides, with Cryo placing his paw on the ground. Kyle began to head towards the his most recent recruit into his troop. He looked down upon him with his hands on his hips. The young recruit looked up and made eye contact.

“Well junior scout Cryo… What’s it feel like being back in the wilds again?” “Feels good to be outside again, scoutmaster!” said Cryo. Kyle turned his head to face the other scouts. “Everyone remembers, right? Our little junior scout here was taken. Kidnapped right in our own homes by a group of corrupt personnel who wanted to abuse our junior here. Force him and his mother to build for them. But, with a little ingenuity, and bit of cleverness, he managed to escape from his restraints, force their escape aircraft to land, make a call for help, despite being in the enemies grasps, and escape through the forest…” Cryo turned his head to face the others. He could see some of them looking towards the little dragon, with a slight look of concern. He thought they also were breathing a little more slowly. Kyle then began to turn towards the scout next to Cryo, making eye contact. He then turned to the scout next to him. “Cameron… How long was our little junior lost?” “Almost an entire month, scoutmaster,” Cameron said back. Kyle nodded. “That’s right Cameron. Nearly a month, alone with his mother in Geyser forest. Only 350 miles close to the upper hemisphere of Cyriss, where its always cold. No food. No water. No supplies. Nothing. All the while being hunted by their adversaries.” The other scouts seemed to dip their heads a bit. Kyle looked back at Cryo. He placed his hand on Cryo’s shoulder and nodded, then looked back to the other scouts. “Yet, despite all odds, he’s here with us. He was able to return safely home. Quite a little survivor our little junior is.” Kyle then paced forward and turned back to face his troop. “I’m expecting quite a bit from you on this trip, Cryo. Don’t let us down. Understand?” “Yes scoutmaster!” Cryo replied back. “Excellent everyone. Now scouts. What’s our motto?” “Explorers scouts survive and thrive! Explorer’s scouts will never die! Explorer’s scouts work as a team! Explorer’s scouts are never mean! Explorer’s scouts can’t be beat. Explorer’s scouts wont face defeat!” The young recruits shouted aloud.

“Excellent. Let’s get started with the basics everyone. Now. The first thing were going to do today, is split up everyone into several groups. Each of you will have to get along and work together to succeed here. Your success here will all depend on everyone’s ability to work together. You might even walk away with some nice badges for your uniform…” Cryo looked at his scout uniform made by Greg. He looked toward the only badge he currently had, the Beginner’s badge, earned by memorizing and reciting the entire scouts motto. He smiled at the thought of getting his uniform more “decorated.” “You’ll all be paired in groups of 3. Alright everyone. Now then… Group 1 will be Steven, Chris, and Cameron. Group 2 will be Daniel, Darrel, and Noble. Group 3 will be Johnson, Mason, and Reed. And our final group is Praydeth, John, and Cryo.” Cryo looked back at Noble and Cameron. While disappointed that he wouldn’t be grouped with his friend or big brother, he understood why his scoutmaster didn’t pair them with him. “Now then everyone. Why don’t you go around with your groups and chat for a bit to get to know each other. Remember to grab your backpacks.” “Yes scoutmaster!” they all yelled.

Ch 2

Interesting Introduction

Each of the kids began to disembark to each of their groups. Cryo watched as his friend and brother looked back at Cryo as they walked away to chat with their groups. He could see a disappointed look on both faces. “Kyle wants me to be able to work with the others. Make new friends. It would probably be too easy to work with people I already know very well,” thought Cryo. Cryo turned towards John, who had short black hair under his cap, white skin with red splotches throughout it, and brown eyes. He then turned to Praydeth, who had long brown hair under his cap, white skin, and brown eyes, with a brown birth mark covering a bit around his left eye. “Hey. Come one Cryo. Let’s talk over there.” said John. Cryo saw he was pointing toward a large group of trees towards the back of the campsite. Nervous a bit, he nodded. “Alright,” Let’s go… um… partners…” said Praydeth. Cryo looked towards Preydeth and could see he seemed a bit… nervous.” “Alright. Let’s go, guys.” Cryo said.

They walked over towards the back and stood together in a triangle to talk to each other. Cryo has been with the scouts for a few weeks now and had a bit of time to get used to being in a scout troop and in front of the others. He always saw the other kids staring at him as he went about doing his duties. But he knew that he was quite different from the others, so it was to be expected. He knows some of the scouts from school. But some of them he didn’t. “I didn’t expect scoutmaster to pair me with you, Cryo.” said John. “Is there a problem with that?” asked Cryo, a bit concerned. “No! No! Don’t get the wrong idea, Cryo… It’s just…” John paused for a moment. “It’s just that… well… it feels weird a bit, being paired with you after your whole ordeal…” A thought began to appear in his mind. “…and after how we’ve treated you…” “Don’t worry about that guys. I’m home again. I’m fine. Don’t need to worry about me.” “Well… alright then. So…” “So what?” “How did you do it Cryo?” “How did I do it?” “Yea. How did you manage to get out of that mess?” “I… think its a story best told by a campfire. I’m sure everyone here wants to know, including the scoutmaster…” John gave a sigh. “Well… alright then.”

Cryo noticed that Praydeth hasn’t said much since they began talking to each other, he was a little ways away sitting against a tree trunk, with his hands clasped together and his head held down. “Hey Praydeth. You haven’t talked yet. You ok?” asked Cryo. Praydeth began to scratch his clasped hands a bit. “I’m… fine. I’m fine…” Cryo began to think a bit. He began to slowly creep a little closer. Preydeth began to scratch a little faster. Cryo laid himself down to him a little ways away. Cryo spoke in a calming, low voice. “Hey… I can understand if your nervous… I’d be nervous too if I was in your shoes. I promise I won’t bite. We’ll be a great team. I know it.” Praydeth stopped scratching his hands and looked up a bit. While still a bit nervous, Cryo could see just the faintest smile come up. Cryo gave a small smile back, and backed up a bit. John walked over.

“So… I know you… fix things, Cryo.” “Yes I do.” “Do you… get paid an allowance for it?” “Oh no. I do it because I like it.” “You… like fixing things?” “That’s right. I don’t really have much of a need to buy things. Most of the stuff in my room is custom built or modified by me, with a little help with some of the other engineers back home. Mostly with spare parts. Stuff that isn’t, mostly come from holidays. And also… well… it’s not like I could go out in the public anyway, considering I’m… a dragon.” They both looked at each other. “Do you think you could… build like… computers and gaming consoles and such?” “Maybe. But there’s still a lot I need to learn about programming. Maybe one day. But not right now.” Cryo gave a smile and they both smiled back. “So… what type of items do you typically fix?” asked John.

Ch 3

Rope Ready

After about 10 minutes of discussion, the scoutmaster yelled again. “Atten…tion! Come back scouts! Line up in your groups!” Each of the groups began to line up side by side a little ways from each other, quickly picking up their hands for the scouts salute. “Alright. Good everyone. Hands down.” Each of the kids lowered their hands down one by one. “Now then. I hope everyone gave a nice introduction to each other. You will be working with your team for the 3 days we’re camping here. If you can’t work together. You’ll never succeed here.” He then took out a small rope and showed it to his scout troop.

“Now then scouts. The first thing we’re going to do, is to learn to tie a “campers tie.” This is what we will be using later to put up our tents. Now then. Everyone take out one of your ropes.” Each of them put their backpacks on the ground and took out a rope. Cryo took a look at it for a second. He began to get a little nervous. “Ugh… Looking at this kinda makes me remember being strapped to a bed…” he thought. He took in a couple of deep breaths and shook his head. He looked back to Kyle. “Alright everyone. Watch carefully.” Kyle began to tie the rope, carefully threading and weaving the rope as he made the knot. Soon enough, the rope was coiled and tied with a loop on top and coiled tightly around the lower part. Cryo watched carefully and smiled. “Alright scouts. Let’s see you all try it.” Each of the scouts began to try to tie the knot. Cryo began to quickly tie the knot, making sure his trimmed talons didn’t cut the rope.

“I’m done, scoutmaster Kyle,” Cryo said. “Really?” The other scouts halted and looked back at the young dragon. “Yes. Come take a look.” He walked over to Cryo, who held the rope forward. He took it out of Cryo’s hands and observed it. “Very good, Cryo. Not many junior scouts can get this right first time.” “This isn’t the first time I’ve tied this knot, scoutmaster.” “It… isn’t?” “No scoutmaster.” Kyle scratched his chin a bit. “And where shall I ask did YOU learn to tie this?” “I watched the show, Will in the Wilderness, Scoutmaster.” Kyle looked at Cryo with a slightly surprised look. “You watched a survival show?” “Yes scoutmaster. I learned it from there. I actually took interest and decided to try to do it myself. It took me quite a lot of tries to be honest. I think a couple of the times, I almost bound my own paws together. But eventually, I got it right. The knot was very useful when I was out in the wilderness with my mother to make shelters and carry certain supplies, like my fishing net.” Kyle chuckled a bit and smiled at the junior. “Well scouts. It seems our junior here has a bit of experience. Seems like our little “survivor,” here managed to learn a very valuable skill from just watching TV and putting in a little practice.” Cryo looked at the other scouts, and could see them smiling at the young dragon. He smiled back. “Alright scouts. Why don’t you get back to tying the knot?”

Ch 4

Rules and Regulations

A little bit later, it was time to move to a new activity. “Alright scouts. Come with me this way please.” Each of the scouts began to follow Kyle within their groups. Cryo saw his scoutmaster was carrying a small bag. They went a little ways down the path forward to what appeared to be a set of wires and pulleys tied together tightly against the trees and stairs heading high up towards several platforms within the trees. Cryo looked towards them and felt a bit thrilled. “This activity looks pretty interesting. I wonder what it is? This kind of gets me pumped!” he thought.

“Alright scouts form a line around here with your groups.” Each group began to line up near a staircase that lead up to the trees. Kyle turned forward in front of them on the staircase and patted the rim a few times. Kyle placed the bag next to the staircase and faced his troop. “Now scouts. Some of you might be familiar with what has been set up here. Chris. What has been set up here?” Kyle asked. “This is a set of zip lines, scoutmaster,” Chris replied. “That’s right scouts. Zip lining. As I mentioned before the trip, our camp grounds here are a “personal,” area on the trip for the scouts at home. This area has several thing and items built around it just for our trips here. There are several different activities set up around here. This one is zip lining.” “Zip lining, huh. I remember Cameron telling me about this,” thought Cryo. “Now then everyone. Why don’t I go over the basics on how this works,” said Kyle.

Kyle went towards very large metal locker near the steps leading up into the trees and platforms next to the zipline. He took a key out of his pocket and placed it into the keyhole. He gave it a quick turn and took the key out. Grabbing the handle to the far left, he pulled it and opened the locker. In it seemed to be a bunch of vests, with a 2 straps. One with a clip on top of it. The other seeming to be a strange handle connected to the clip. “These are your safety vests, scouts. You’ll need to wear these to stay safe while zip lining. Now then everyone. Watch and listen carefully…” He walked over to a wire attached to the set of trees in the back. He then turned back to face his scouts.

“Now then everyone. The first thing we do, before we jump off, is to put on the vest of course. That’s self explanatory. Kyle put the vest on and zipped it up. “Zip it up ALL the way. Then, once the vest is on, we’ll need to clamp it to the wires above tightly. Now. Here’s how you open it.” He began to open the cylindrical clamp by pressing a metal button of the front and back ends of the clamp. The clamp opened up and he continued with his lesson. “Now then after you open it up. You’ll need to attach it to the wire above. A potential mistake a junior makes here, is putting the clamp in the opposite direction. You need to be facing forward when doing this or you could potentially get really hurt. Take a look here.” He pointed at the clip, which had a small arrow engraved into the metal. “This arrow here, points to the front. When your zip lining, this arrow should be facing FORWARD, rather then backwards when you attach it.” The scoutmaster began to take the clip and maneuver it over the wire. “When its in the right direction, all you have to do to lock it in place, is to maneuver this metal part over the rest of the mechanism. Watch here.” He closed the cylindrical locking mechanism over the wire and locked it into place. “There we go. Does anyone have any questions?” Cryo thought for a moment, then raised his hand.

“You have a question, Junior?” “Yes scoutmaster.” “What’s your question, Cryo.” “Well. I… noticed the vests in the lockers are… well… non dragon based. Will I be able to participate in this activity?” “You’d think we’d forget about our little junior scout here?” Kyle stepped off the staircase and unzipped the bag at the bottom. He reached in, and pulled out a small vest, in Cryo’s size and body shape. Strangely, it seemed to have a second handle on it, connected to both the strap and the vest. “Here is your vest, junior. I made this myself. Greg’s special clothing designs are quite adaptive to make even equipment like this.” Cryo smiled and gave a nod. “One thing Cryo. I’ll need to give you some “special,” instructions for this, since your body and size is different from everyone else here. We’ll need to do things a bit differently.” “Yes scoutmaster,” replied Cryo. “Now then everyone. Here are basics and rules of zip lining. First off. Very important. Everyone go ONE AT A TIME. No scouts should be going down on the same zip line at the same time. Second. Do not fall off the railing. That’s self explanatory. Third. The brake…”

Kyle took the vest and pointed it at the handle attached to the clip on the vest. “This my friend, is your brake handle. This is important. We have set up signs on the trees as you travel down them. They will be placed in specific areas across from the wires around here. They look like this.” Kyle walked up towards a tree with a sign on it. The sign was an orange square with a black border that seemed to show black silhouette of someone riding the zip line and holding onto the handle. The word “Break!” written on it. “This sign is posted on ALL sections of the zip line. When you pass the sign, this is absolutely important. Pull the handle!” Kyle pulled the handle down. Cryo looked toward the clamp and saw it seemed the it seemed to have tightened down on it. “This will slow you down as you make it down to the other side. Going full speed to the other end of the zip line could get you hurt pretty bad. It also could break the wire and have you fall flat onto the forest floor. It is absolutely important that you break after passing this sign. Does everyone understand?” “Yes scoutmaster Kyle,” the other scouts said in unison. “Good. Now then. Your group is free to go ahead after all 3 of you make it to your platform. The groups will go in order. Now then. Everyone put on your vests. Make sure to zip up tight.” Each of the scouts began to zip up their vests. Cryo looked at the rather thick black vest for a bit. He put his arms through the sleeves and zipped the vest all the way to the top. “There we go. This should be good.” He felt the soft fabrics within the thick vest. He gave a rather strong tug to test its strength and scratched them a bit with his trimmed talons. Not a single strand came off, nor did it have a single tear. “Greg’s fabrics never disappoints,” thought Cryo.

Ch 5

Zip and Zoom

Each of the groups began to head up the steps towards the first zip line. Cryo’s group began to head towards the back. “So… Who wants to go first?” asked John. “You guys can go first.” said Cryo. “You nervous about going first, Cryo?” “Oh no, guys. I thought you guys would rather not have to wait for me. Scoutmaster told me I’ll have to handle things a bit differently.” They both nodded and continued up the large wooden staircase.

Soon the scouts came to the first wire. Each person lined up and looked towards the other side. Cryo saw the first one was a bit short. He could see where the break sign further on the path. “A warm up wire I suppose. Something to get the newer scouts like me a better understanding of zip lining,” he thought. “Alright. Which one of you 3 wants to go first? “I’ll go first, scoutmaster,” said Cameron. “Ahh, Cameron. Good. This is your second time doing this, correct?” Kyle asked. “Yes scoutmaster.” “Good.” He looked toward his junior scout and gave a smile. “Cameron. Why don’t you show your friend what zip lining is like. Come forward Cryo.” “Am I cutting in line?” Cryo asked. “Oh no. Just want to give you a taste of what you’ll be doing.” “Well… Alright then scoutmaster.” Cryo positioned himself to look through the wooden railing on the platform. “Alright Cameron. Now show us what how set up your vest on the wire.” “Yes scoutmaster.”

Cameron grabbed the metal clamp on the vest and pressed down hard on the metal buttons. The cylindrical lock released. Cameron observed with careful consideration and reached up towards the wire. Cryo began to get a little nervous. “Is this really safe?” Cryo began to wonder. Cameron secured the clip onto the wire, with the arrow pointed ahead on the wire. He began to grip the break in his hand. He then looked back towards his scoutmaster. “I’m ready, scoutmaster,” said Cameron. “Good. Now. On the count of three, I want you to jump forward off the ledge with your legs up. Ready.” Cryo gulped and began to get really nervous. “1… 2…. 3! Jump!”

Cameron jumped forward off the ledge and as the wire began to bounce up and down. Cryo looked ahead as he zoomed quickly down the wire, concerned he might not make it to the end.” Cameron then passed the break sign and immediately pulled the break on the equipment. Cryo heard a loud screech as the break began to work, which he then plugged his ears. He continued looking ahead. “He’s not going to make it. He’s not going to make it!” thought Cryo. He began to quickly debate if he should try to fly ahead and catch up to see if he could help. Kyle realized that Cryo had began to sweat and seemingly panic. “Cryo. Relax. He’ll make it.” Cryo turned back to his scoutmaster and began to try to breath slowly to calm himself as he looked ahead. As the breaks continued to screech, Cameron began to slow down much more quickly. Cryo’s concern began to fade. Soon Cameron had come to a slow and easy pace and arrived at the next platform, safe and sound. “Phew…” thought Cryo. “See junior. There’s nothing to worry about here. You and everyone here will be fine. Just remember what I tell you and everything will be all right. Let’s get our next scout on the wire.”

So time passed as each scout one by one zipped from the first wire to the next. Soon enough. It was group 4s turn. Cryo looked at the wire again as his partner, John, began to prepare himself to go on the wire. “You… go pretty fast moving down the zipline… It might be faster then me flying around… I’m getting pretty nervous…” thought Cryo. Soon John lifted his feet and began to quickly go down the zipline. Now it was Preydeth’s turn. He began to attach the clamp to the wire, when Cryo seemed to notice something strange with his vest. “Umm… Prey…?” Cryo tried to say, but Preydeth immediately lifted his legs and began zooming down the wire. Cryo immediately went over the side to of the platform to watch him. “His vest wasn’t zipped up all the way!” Cryo thought. But soon he made it to the other side, and Preydeth and John looked back at where Cryo was standing on the platform. “Phew… He made it. But…” Cryo looked at the wire and back at his own vest. “Gulp… It’s my turn now.”

Ch 6

Light Leap

Cryo turned back towards his scoutmaster. He could tell his little junior scout was nervous. “You ready, junior?” “Yea… I’m… ready…” Cryo said “Now this is a big leap from what you’ve done in scouts before, Cryo. It takes a lot of courage to jump from this high up and trusting a single wire and a handle to pull you safely to the end. But, you’re brave, right my junior scout?” Cryo thought for a moment. “You’ve been in some pretty rough spots before. Don’t tell me a little bit of speed and wires will scare you enough to not make a leap. Don’t you fly for fun?” “Y-yes scoutmaster.” “Then what is this little challenge for you. You can do it.” “Yea… Your right. Alright then. So… What do you need me to do?” “Now then Cryo. I’ll need you to jump up and grab the wire to pull it down a bit. Once down, clamp this on the same way I showed you earlier. The strap from the clamp is longer then the other scouts, so your going to be suspended a bit more downward.” “That doesn’t make me feel much better,” Cryo thought.” “Now when you jump, you’ll be suspended with your tail facing back and your body facing forward and your upper and mid body feeling the tug from the vest. Make sure you HANG ON to the break with your right paw and your left paw should be gripping this handle second handle right here to keep you facing forward as you go down. Keep a firm pull on it so you don’t start spinning around. Got it?” Cryo gulped again. But then he took in a deep breath and relaxed himself a bit. “Yes scoutmaster. I… think I’m ready.” “Good. One more thing. When you make it to the end, you’ll be suspended from the wire. It might be a good idea to have your partners help detach you and take you down from the wire. Now. Get yourself ready to leap. “Al..Alright scoutmaster.” Cryo made a leap and gripped the wire and pulled it down to his level. Checking for the arrow on the clamp he found it and looked straight down the wires path. He then looked back to the wire and placed the clamp on it and locked it correctly in place. He now stared down the path ahead. He took a quick look down and gulped again. He then looked back to his scoutmaster. “This is nerve wracking. But… I need to do this… I can’t back down now.” He slowly closed his eyes and took in a couple of deep breaths again. He slowly opened them and looked forward. “I’m… ready scoutmaster.” “Alright. Ready in 1” Cryo gripped the brake and the straightening handle on his vest. “2…” Cryo began to hunch himself back, getting ready to leap. “3! Jump!”

Cryo leaped forward and immediately began to travel fast down the wire. His heart began to beat really fast. “I REALLY AM going fast! Cryo thought. As he looked ahead, he saw his partners on the other side. They shouted. “Pull the brake! Pull the break!” Cryo’s eyes shot up and he realized the adrenaline rush had made him miss the sign. Thinking quickly, he tugged on the break handle as hard as he could and began to slow down. He was still going pretty fast and it was getting close to the end of the wire. “Come on. Slow down. SLOW DOWN!” Cryo said. Finally, Cryo began to see his speed die down quickly and made it to the other side of the wire. He hit the end of the wire with a slight swing forward, but soon he stable. Cryo thought for a minute and smiled. “That was AWESOME.” he thought. “You ok, Cryo?” asked John. He began to help detach Cryo from the zip line. “Yea. I’m fine. That was exciting!” “Just keep in mind the sign next time Cryo. You could have been hurt.” “Sorry guys. I’ll be much more mindful on the next one.” “Alright. Let’s go. The next one is quite a bit longer.” “Don’t worry guys. I’ll be ready this time.”

They made their way across the platform to the next wire. It seemed to be twice as long as the last. “Well. I’m probably going to get some speed on this one. He began to get a tiny bit nervous. But he then smiled. “Guess I’m going to be speeding through this one!” he thought. John quickly went down the wire all the way to the other side. He turned towards Preydeth who was about to clamp himself to the wire, when Cryo remembered something. “Hey Preydeth. You haven’t zipped up all the way.” “Umm… Don’t worry Cryo… I’ll… I’ll be fine.” He locked himself onto the clamp. “You probably should zip up nonetheless, Preydeth.” Preydeth looked towards Cryo. “Well… The zipper… seems to be broken on mine.” “Broken?” “Yea. Right here.” Preydeth pointed towards the area. Cryo could see the zipper had indeed been bent and damaged somehow.” “It may be best to go back to the scoutmaster then. I’m sure he can give you another vest.” “D…Don’t worry. I’m going to be fine.” “Preydeth… I don’t think thats a good…” but as Cryo said that, Preydeth had already jumped and was traveling down the wire quickly. Cryo leaned over the side watching him intently. Cryo looked concerned and began to pull the wire quickly down and the began to clamp himself on. But as he looked forward, he saw something was wrong. The zipper on Preydeth’s jacket had began to break apart as he went down the line. Cryo’s eyes shot up. “Preydeth!” Cryo said.

Ch 7

Crash Course

Thinking quickly, Cryo leaped as hard as he could off the zipline toward Preydeth, whose zipper had almost fully given out. Not long after, his zipper gave out and he began to fall to the forest floor. Thinking fast, Cryo, looked up towards where his strap was connected to the zip line. He quickly covered his talons in a layer of ice and slashed the strap, which then began to make him fall as well. Picking his wings up, he began to fly at high speed towards Preydeth as he fell, as the other campers watched in disbelief. As Preydeth was closing into the forest floor something strange began to happen around Cryo. It seemed everything was… slowing down… The world seemed to be going in slow motion, Even Preydeth seemed to be falling so slowly now… Confused, he disregarded it as there was something more important happening.

As Cryo continued to move forward with his wings, Preydeth was close to hitting the ground. Cryo leaned forward quickly, and managed to catch Preydeth with his back talons, before he hit the hard forest floor. “Gotcha!” said Cryo. But he saw he was still going pretty fast forward. Thinking fast, he began to try to slow himself down by spreading his body and wings out. He began to slow down but was still rushing forward and would soon hit the forest floor hard!

Thinking quickly, he decided to do something bold. “Ugh… this is going to really hurt.” thought Cryo. Taking in a deep breath he quickly swung Preydeth up and caught him around the waist with his upper paws, he then turned himself facing his back towards the ground. “Hang on Preydeth! This is going to be a rough landing!” Cryo said. They both soon collided with the forest floor, with Cryo landing directly on his back and Preydeth’s fall cushioned by Cryo’s body. “AGHH.” said Cryo. In just a split second after, Cryo then pushed Preydeth forward and he hit the ground softly. He turned back to Cryo. “CRYO!” he yelled. He saw Cryo toss and tumble over and over and over again as he rolled across the ground. He soon came to a stop, a little ways away from the crash site. Cryo tried to pick himself up, but was hurting all over. “Hurts… so much…” he thought. His mind began to get foggy. His eyes began to lose focus. He felt he was drifting off… “Oh my god. Cryo! Are you ok?! Cryo!” said a voice. He thought he could see the others rushing towards him, but soon, he couldn’t stay conscious, and began to fade into darkness.

Ch 8

Afterlife or Afterthought?

Cryo slowly opened his eyes. He saw he was somewhere… strange. Cryo looked around and saw nothing. All around him was a black void. “What’s going on? Am I… blind?” He began to pick himself up, and realized he wasn’t in pain. More importantly, he could move around. “Strange… I remember falling hard on the ground… But I feel fine right now. I can’t see anything though. I guess I’ll have to feel my way around to see where I might be.” Cryo began to try to slowly walk around, carefully placing his paw around the dark area. He began to see a strange happenstance just up ahead, as he saw a light coming towards him. “That light… what is?…” The light began to take shape around the entire area, creating a scene.

Cryo now saw he was looking at what seemed to be a temple, with ornate dragons along the entrance. Some looked like Ferrin dragons when they swam in water. Around the area seemed to be a magnificent city made of stone and marble buildings, combining a bit with some interesting technology and metal panels. “A… dragon temple?…” Cryo thought. Cryo began to think the fall put him in worse shape then he expected. “Please tell me I’m not…” Suddenly a very soft feminine voice called to him. “Walk inside. We have something for you.” “Who are you? Did I…?” “You have not expired. Please head in. We have something important for you.” “Well… if that’s the case.” Cryo walked into the temple to look around.

He saw magnificent marble statues that appeared to be of great dragons. “This place looks pretty neat I must say. I wonder who all of them are? They look pretty strong and cool.” He kept walking while admiring the architecture towards the center room. This room was a large octagon. The walls painted with magnificent works of art with and a dragon statue next to it. Gemstones adorned certain parts like eyes, armor, and more. He saw the works of art seemingly showing what appeared to be some type of story, each one different. He began to walk around the entire room to get a better look at each of the wall paintings.

The first on the bottom left seemed to tell of a green dragon. This dragon had seemed to participated in a battle against a massive beast, who seemed to had attempted to take control of the world. This dragon had taken his troops and headed into the final battle, where the creature was defeated with a heavy blow from the green dragon.

The next artwork seemed to be about a yellow dragon, who seemed to had taken in and protected a group of young dragons who were being hunted by some unknown entity shrouded in a dark aura. It seemed these kid dragons had some type of importance, and the yellow dragon had nearly given its life to defeat their pursuers and save them from a fire. There seemed to be hints and traces of different technology shown in the picture, making Cryo think he might have had some type of skills in engineering. The last picture shown that the green dragon from the previous picture seemed to have found and taken in the yellow dragon in and nursed it back to health, in which the two then fell in love with each other soon after.

The next artwork showed what appeared to be an argument between a dragon with a seemingly dark aura and an silver dragon. Then, the silver dragon looks at what appeared to be orders to track down and capture another black lunar dragon. The silver dragon had went along with it at first, but then it was injured by a group of other dragons and left to die. But then a white dragon seemed to had found him on the field and saved his life. The white dragon took the injured dragon in and nursed him back to health. It appeared quite some time had passed after, and his injuries had mostly healed. He was going to try to contact his unit to tell them he was still alive. When they arrived however, the white dragon apparently had info on the missing lunar dragon. When she refused to talk, his unit was ordered to fire on her, including the silver dragon. But the silver dragon managed to convince most of his unit to turn against this dark dragon commander, and escape with the others in tow, including the white dragon, to find the black dragon they were sent to hunt, who they knew could help them now that they were fugitives as well.

The next artwork showed what appeared to be a red dragon and a ferrin dragon working together to evacuate a settlement under attack by some sort of green creatures with darkness coming off of them. They seemed to have fought an entire army of them together serving as a distraction while the city was being evacuated. The next part showed them defeating some strange spellcaster that seemed to be covered with a black shadow. They then seemed to be seen helping rebuild a settlement after together, embracing each other and having a single child. A ferrin dragon…

The upper right wall showed another dragon duo again, but this one seemed… strange… The picture seemed familiar, along with the statues. It showed at first a lunar dragon and a ferrin dragon working on some type of project together. It then seemed to show them embracing each other and conspiring to escape a group of other dragons. “This story seems… familiar. What is this exactly?” Looking further down, it showed the dragons eventually joining a dragon on some type of advanced spaceship and attempting to fight back against dragons who seemed to have some type of dark aura around them. Strangely, it almost looked like in some of the art that the dragons were attempting to somehow remove the dark aura coming from them. It eventually went through a sequence where the ferrin dragon seemed to be saying goodbye to the lunar dragon, who seemed to be encasing himself in some type of crystal. It then showed the ferrin dragon seemingly building and stepping through a blue portal to somewhere else, with an egg in tow… She seemed to had been found by something that looked familiar.

“Wait… are those… humans in this? He kept looking at the art. The “humans,” in the art seemed to take her in, but later the ferrin dragon seemingly stopping a tidal wave and a storm with a flash of light that would have destroyed an entire city. Cryo was immediately reminded of what happened with his mother. “This… Is this… Mom and dads story?”

Cryo turned to the last picture on the bottom right. It showed a small blue dragon, hatching from an egg on what appeared to be a yellow substance. It showed a group of vehicles chasing the young dragon, in which the young dragon seemingly stopped those people using his abilities at a young age. Cryo’s eyes shot up. “This… This is… me!” As he looked upon the painting, it seemingly detailed very important parts of his life. His relocation. His swim trip. His time in the forest and escaping his pursuers with his mother. It seemed to be telling his story. “How is this…? What is this place?” He saw that the story seemed to stop, right at his recent birthday. But the story seemed to be only a small part of the wall. There was a large portion of the entire wall, not painted at all. There didn’t seem to be a statue of him either. “…Am I… important?” Cryo stepped away and took in a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

Above the room were magnificent stained glass works of dragons of many different types. Below, right in the very center of the room, seemed to be some type of alter. The alter seemed to be a large rectangular marble podium decorated with what appeared to be dragons carved out on the 4 edges. There were also gemstones, aligned in strangely, the pattern of a flo lily on the longer sides of the alter. There seemed to be a headrest made of a cushiony, blue speckled mass. Cyro didn’t know what it really was though. There was a array of different colored crystals lining on poles surrounding the alter. There was a red, blue, yellow, green, black, and white crystal on poles. As he continued to observe the room, the voice called to him again.

“Lay yourself down on your back on the alter of awakening. “Umm… Why? What’s going to happen?” “There is only so much time to explain. Please… Lay yourself flat onto the alter.” “Um… Ok then?” Cryo began to climb onto the alter and began to maneuver himself on his back, on the stony alter. He laid his head on the blue substance and clasped his hands together towards his belly for a bit. “I must say. This cold, hard, stony marble doesn’t really feel good to lay down on. Though this strange blue thing feels pretty warm and rather soft for my head. Similar to a pillow. But what is all of this for?” He began to take a couple of deep breaths and then began to relax his paws down forward and flat on the alter. But suddenly, right as his paws touched down on the alter, the blue substance suddenly formed around Cryo’s wrists and lower ankles, pinning him to the alter! “What in the world!? What’s going on! Let me go!”

Ch 9

Ritual Refresh

Cryo began to try to struggle to try break the substance, twisting and turning himself as he tried to wiggle free. “Relax little dragon…” the voice called out. “Relax? Are you kidding me?! What are you doing to me!?” “For this process to work, we can’t have you moving around. Please relax.” Maybe I would if I KNEW what was happening! What’s going on?!” “Your special item, attached around your neck…” “What? My bandanna?” “It carries something very special in it. A very unique and rare item. Only a few have ever been found. That special item can give you new abilities. It can make you strong. It needs to be on you for this ritual to work… Please take a deep breath… Calm yourself… and settle down…” Cryo, still a little hesitant on the situation, gave out a sigh. “Well… Alright I suppose. I hope this isn’t a trick…” he thought. He began to take in several deep breaths, and began to relax and and stay still while strapped to the alter. “Alright. I’m… ready,” he said.

“Good. We’re ready to begin the dragon ritual. The Birthright Bond ritual, to give something special from beyond the stars. Something our little descendant, Cryo will need for the future.” the voice said. “Descendant? The future?” questioned Cryo. “Now little Cryo. Just relax and hold still. This may frighten you a bit at first, but try to stay calm and let the crystals work. This will only take a little bit of time. We’ll be here for you to support the process.”

Cryo began to get more nervous, but took in another deep breath. “Let it rip, I suppose…” “Begin the ritual.” The crystals on the poles began to light up brightly in vivid colors matching the crystals, with what seemed to be an aura of energy beginning to focus around them.” Cryo maneuvered his eyes to get a look at the light show going on with the crystals. “Just relax Cryo. Just relax… Everything is fine. Relax…” he thought to himself. He took in another deep breath. The crystals began to turn on their own an point down toward the alter, right at Cryo. “Just relax Cryo. Just relax…” he thought. “Be still Cryo. Your doing well. Just take a deep breath and let the crystals do the work.” the voice called again. The crystals began to focus the aura, into the pointed bit at the tip. “Gulp. I… I can’t look!” “Cryo closed his eyes tightly, bracing for whatever would come next. Then the beams began to light up brightly toward the tip one last time, and all 6 beams shot, straight at Cryo’s neck with a loud booming sound. “Here it comes!” he thought.

The beams travelled from the above and in a flash, connected to their energy, right on Cryo’s bandanna. Cryo, closed his eyes as hard as he could for a few moments, thinking he’d be in great pain. But something felt off about what was going on. “Huh?” He slowly opened his eyes, and saw the beams sending a continuous stream of energy through, right at his bandanna. He realized the beams were not causing him pain at all. The beams strangely felt warm for some reason and he felt the warmth going through his entire body, right from the entry point with his bandanna lighting up as the process continued. It felt like the energy itself was blanketing his body like an actual blanket, trying to give him some comfort. “This is… odd. This isn’t nearly as bad as I expected. This feels… a little comfy strangely…”

“Very good Cryo. Just relax for a little while. The crystals will send their energy through your special item and into you body. It’ll be done and you will be released in just 10 minutes. We are here for you as the process continues.” “10 minutes, huh. I suppose this won’t be that bad.” He began to take in some deep breaths as the energy continued to funnel into him. Cryo began to think of something. “I’ll be here for 10 more minutes… I wonder if whoever is talking to me would be willing to answer some questions?”

Ch 10

Quality Questions

“Um… Excuse me?” said Cryo “Yes, little one?” the voice called back. “Am I allowed to, well… ask questions while this is going on? I’m just, a little curious about a few things. I would like really like some answers as to what is going on, and perhaps a few other things… It would help me through this process.” “We can help answer your questions. Please ask away.”

“Ok then. Umm. First of all, what exactly… is this place?” “This place is the gathering place for creatures with strong bonds. A place of new beginnings. A place called, the temple of Riis.” The temple of Riis?” “Yes. This is a temple within the dragon world. Its a home for an entire family of dragons, who have done great acts and have a large lineage of heroic and powerful dragons. “A lineage of dragons, huh? Could this be Mom or dads home on the dragon world?” Cryo thought. “It doesn’t seem like a place for a home dwelling. “This temple has a living area further in from the alter. Unfortunately, there won’t be a chance for you to come see it, little Cryo. I’m sorry.” “Oh. That’s alright. Um…” He began to think again about something else.

“If this is a home for members of my family and ancestors, does that mean I’m really on the dragon homeworld? How did I get here if I was on Cyriss? And my adopted parents and mother… Do they know I’m here? I don’t want them to worry about my disappearance.” “This is a manifestation of your families ancestral home inside your head.” “Its.. a dream? Does that mean everything happening here is not real?” “The ritual being performed here, while in your head, is being performed by a group of powerful dragons who used a great amount of their own will and power to connect each of their minds together and yours and send all the spirits, including yours, to your ancestral home with the goal to attempt to draw the powers of each other to perform the ritual.” “I… don’t really understand what you mean.” “While this may be a dream, the ritual being performed here is nonetheless, real.” “Well… I suppose that shortens it…” Cryo took in another deep breath, as energy continued to pour into him. He began to feel a little tired for some reason, but began to shake it off.

“Umm alright then, so… I’m really still back on Cyriss? “Yes. While your spirit is here, your body remains on Cyriss.” “Do… you have any idea of what my condition is back on Cyriss. I kinda… had to use my body as a cushion to save someone. I know the crash was pretty bad. I’m… worried that I might be hurt really bad. I’m not sure if you know. I’m on a “camping trip,” and people there are probably worried sick about me right now.”

“We are aware of your heroic action taken back on your home. Relax. While your roughed up pretty bad, you’ve suffered no broken bones, and your more serious injuries are being treated even as we speak.” “Really?” “Yes. Your human caretakers fabrics had protected you quite a bit from the fall.” “Wait… Really?” “Yes. The fabrics themselves had taken most of the exertion from the crash. The fabrics cushioned most of the fall and protected your body from suffering far worse injuries. While the concept of clothing seems a bit strange to us, we’ve seen through you only a handful of advantages of it. I have to wonder myself how Dragons never thought of using fabrics to keep warm and stay comfortable in, create items to help sleep comfily at night, make it easier to carry smaller items, and with your human caretaker’s particular skills, protect your body from a very hard impacts. “I never knew Greg’s fabrics could do that…” “Yes. This is something we ourselves didn’t expect.” Cryo began to feel a little stiff from laying on the alter from the position he was laying in, but he shook his head and took in a deep breath. He then had one more question.

Ch 11

Forever Family

“Um… ok then. Um… who exactly are you?” “This question is better resolved in person, rather then in your head. Look toward the hallway towards the front.” “Huh?”

Cryo maneuvered his head slowly, careful not to move his neck too much to face the direction of the entrance. He saw that a rather large group of figures were coming down the long hallway. “Huh? Who are…? Cryo continued to watch as the figures walked forward. As they closed in, he could see that they seemed to be other dragons, of many different types. “Huh? Dragons?” Cryo continued to watch as they approached the alter, stopping a little ways away. One of the water dragons came close to the alter, and gave a smile at him.

“We’re your family, Cryo. My name is Wave. I’m your grandmother.” “Gr…Grandma?” “That’s right my little grandson.” Cryo recognized her voice as the one speaking to him before. She smiled again and then stepped back. She began to face the other dragons.

“These dragons over here are all of your relatives who still survived the cosmic horror that took our home. The red Ignis dragon here is your grandfather, Inferno.” Wave said. “Hello there, my young grandson. It’s nice to finally get a better look at my brave little nipper.” said Inferno. He smiled at Cryo, stroked his head a few times, and stepped back. The green dragon stepped forward.

“My name is Quake, Cryo. I’m your uncle. I’m an Eras dragon, who can manipulate the ground, earth, and life energies of the planet. I’ve been waiting so long to meet the most recent member of our family.” He chuckled a bit and rubbed Cryo’s belly a bit. He stepped back and the yellow dragon stepped forward and began to speak.

“My name is Lightan, my little nephew. I’m a yellow Zape dragon. I’m your aunt, and have the powers of electricity and the clouds above. I see my little ferrin dragon nephew has been quite a heroic little fighter, even at such a young age,” She smiled at Cryo and rubbed a bit under his chin. She then stepped back, as the silver dragon began to step forward and began to speak.

“My name is Steelstrike, my little guardian child. I’m your godfather. I’m a metalmix dragon with scales of hard metals. My abilities come from absorbing metals around myself to increase my defenses or to manipulate light energy from suns to shoot power beams from within. I’m pretty sharp, both in scales and personality, but I’m still very protective to people I love. I’m a very good friend of your father and mother. They said that if anything happened to them, me and my lover could take care of you in your time of need. We’re still very much part of this wonderful family.” He lifted his metal claw up and began to seemingly flatten the edge on it. He began to stoke Cryo’s arm up and down a bit, before stepping away. The last white dragon stepped forward now, and began to speak.

“My name is Tornado. I’m a white Windsor dragon. You can probably guess my abilities rely on wind and movement. I’m your godmother. I must say my little guardian child. You seem to get yourself into quite a bit of trouble. But you always make it out safely. Nothing makes me and your uncle happier then seeing you happy and safe. We’ll always be watching over you.” She began to flap her wings a bit, and Cryo began to feel a bit of warmer air cloaking his body a bit more, which made him a bit more comfy. She began to step away. “There’s one more dragon here Cryo. Someone you know quite well…”

The dragons began create an opening between their groups, as a large lunar dragon began to walk close to the alter as well. “Your father. Servant.” Tornado said as Servant stepped close to the alter. “D… dad is here too?” thought Cryo. “Ahh my precious boy. Still a brave little fighter and hero, even to this day. It’s quite fun to watch over my precious son as he grows. Quite the clever boy, like his ol dad.” He gave a small chuckle and both him Tornado stepped away. “This is… my family… From beyond the stars itself.” Cryo felt comfort knowing that many of his loved ones had managed to survive the disaster in his home world. Servant began to speak.

“You have questions my son. We’re more then willing to answer them. The process will be done soon enough, and you’ll have a part of all of us in you.” “Huh? What do you mean?” Servant smiled at his young son and began to hover close to the side alter. He looked down to face his son and meet eye contact. “Do you know what these crystals are, my son?” “Actually… That IS one question on my mind, dad…” “My boy… These crystals, are a part of us.” “They’re… a part of all of you?” “That’s right my son. Each of these crystals, have a piece of us in them. They are funneling gifts from each of us to your body. Powers each of us wish to give, to you. To strengthen you for the unknowns coming into the future. To make you something far more then what you are now. More then any other dragon known. And to help us watch over you and keep you safe, in even the darkest of moments. As long as these pieces of us circulate through you, we’ll always be with you, no matter how far apart we are.” “That’s… deep,” thought Cryo. He began to tear up for a second, but quickly sucked it back in took a deep breath in and out. He smiled at his dad, and he smiled back.

“We’ll never leave you Cryo. Nothing will separate us from you. This ritual is a gift from all of us to you.” The other dragons began to surround the entire alter, sat themselves down to watch it as it happened. Cryo could strangely feel all of their warm feelings and positive energy circulating in his body from the crystals. “Now, my son. Do you have any other questions for us?” “Actually… Yes. I do dad.” “What is your next question?”

Ch 12

Bandanna Bond

“Well… It’s just… my bandanna. This item… You told Greg how to make it, correct?” “That’s right, my son.” “Well… What exactly… is it? You wouldn’t have Greg just make this for me as a birthday gift. I know that there is something really special about this. How… did you even know what was needed for the bandanna to… well… work correctly? Greg needed quite a lot of strange ingredients to make it, including my own Saliva and the flo Lily. What is this bandanna really?”

“Ahh… Quite observant my son. Your instincts are quite spot on. That bandanna you could say… was an experiment.” “An… experiment?” “That’s right. You might not realize this my son, but flo Lilly flowers are… quite special to dragons. I suppose you might be thinking your home planet is not the only one they grow on. Well… Your correct my son! They are quite ancient and legendary back on the dragon home world. Like on your world, there are only so many that have ever been found. Typically in times of crisis for the dragon race, at least on our planet. These particular plants don’t just grow in water, my son. They can grow in a multitude of environments and in different places. Even on lava! These plants have a particularly strange effect on dragons.”

“Strange effect?” “That’s right, my boy. Ingesting one was said to make a dragon much stronger, faster, and more capable of using abilities. It’s been even said that ingesting one could give you remarkable abilities beyond that of a normal dragon. But… there was one particular problem.” Servant opened up his paw, and saw that he seemed to have a flo Lilly in it.”

“The effects were only temporary. Granted… the effects lasted more then a few years, but the energies eventually dissipated. Dragons had for some time had tried to find a way to allow the flo Lilly to permanently give powers. But the main problem was, dragons couldn’t find a way to essentially keep the flo Lilly from being fully digested eventually. And of course very few have ever been found. But then… you and your human caretakers introduced us some rather “interesting,” ideas with fabrics.”

Servant clasped his paws together with the flo Lilly between them. “Your human caretaker had made what they called, cloths for you, from your dragon scales and an ingenious formula of what apparently was a cloths cleaner or whatever it was called and another little plant. The result was… far more interesting then any dragon could have expected.” Servant began to spread his paws out a bit. As he did, it seemed that a cyan dragon shirt was now extended and held between his paws. “These cloths had quite a strange set of effects on you. Keeping your body temperature properly regulated, keeping away dirt, grime, and precipitation, serving as an emergency cushion during falls, and offering a bit of protection from attackers. The dragon species would have done anything for a technological marvel like this.”

Servant then took the shirt in his large right paw. He made a rounded grip his large left paw and began to seemingly slowly push the shirt through the opening. “Then your original human caretaker finds a flo Lilly… Coincidence? No… I don’t exactly think so.” Servant then opened his left paw, and now there seemed to be nothing in it. “I always believed that dragons who find a flo Lilly, were chosen by the lily itself. Deemed worthy to harness its power. When he found it… I knew that he found it for you. And then, an idea began to take shape in my mind…”

Servant took his right paw and tapped it a few times on top with one of his left talons. He then turned his wrist and opened it up, revealing a lit birthday candle, standing up in his hand. “You did ask about the strange array of items needed to properly make that bandanna. The truth is that ingesting the flo lily on its own is not enough. These type of ingredients are needed to be mixed together and ingested to make it work. Transporting them also requires a dragon scale. The ingredients needed is different for each type of dragon, but nonetheless, the process would be successful. But with you and his fabrics, I wondered… Instead of ingesting it, would it be possible to try a different route for the flo Lilly. Perhaps, maybe the need to eat the silly thing might not necessarily the best way to harness its power. Could adapting the original process to these simple fabrics eliminate the need to ingest it, therefore eliminating the problem of digesting it entirely?”

Servant then closed his eyes and maneuvered his paws in a pinching position close to one another. Concentrating, something appeared between his hands. Cryo realized it looked like his bandanna! “And so… I contacted your caretaker, as I knew about his invite to your celebration coming up. I guided him to create the item. Though I had to decide quite quickly what would be the right type of item that would be easy to carry and wear around. Something you’d always want to wear.

Then I remembered a certain type of theater performance I watched on this world a few times. I saw you had watched few movies based on the concept yourself. I believe they call it, Westerns? Granted… On this world, they were reenacted in both plays and movies by the sentient species here based on their research of ancient Earth and its mythology. I found it rather silly how very old earth seemed to work in the deep past. Barbaric society, I suppose, but that’s beside the point, I thought that type of scarf those types of humans wore would be the best way to keep it close to you. Not to mention it being a good source of comfort and warmth. Then, I watched and waited for that very special day, where you’d receive it, with high hopes. And sure enough…”

Servant dissipated the bandanna in a wave of energy and then placed his paws back on the ground. “The results were perfect. The item did indeed allow you to harness the strange effects of the flo Lilly. This success is quite a bit huge, my son. As long as you keep that very important gift close to you, you’ll always have the powers given by the flo Lilly. It’ll never run dry, or lose its powers.” Servant smiled back at his son, and Cryo gave a smile back.

But then, the sounds of energy quickly began to wane, Cryo looked back up at the Crystals, and saw the beams coming off them thinning out. Soon the energy beams were gone. “Well, my son… The process is complete.” The substance holding Cryo down had quickly retreated back into the alter. Cryo began to lean up and roll himself around. He shook his entire body a few times. He lifted up and looked at his paws for a second. “I… don’t feel much different right now, dad.” “It will take some time before our gifts will be awakened in you. Be patient, my boy.” Cryo smiled at his dad and then a light began to envelop around him. “Wha… What’s going on?” “It’s time for you to return home, my son.” “What? But wait. I really haven’t got a chance to get to talk to all of you! There’s so much I want to know about all of you!” “Perhaps one day, we can share our lives with you. But for now, you have your own life to get back into. Goodbye, Cryo.” “Wait dad! Wait! No!” Then a flash of light overtook Cryo. “Dad?! Dad!”

Ch 13

Returned to Reality

Cryo’s eyes began to slowly open. He felt a bit dizzy and could not focus his eyes for a bit. “Ugh… I don’t feel too good,” Cryo thought. As he blinked a few more times, he thought he could hear a voice. “Cryo… Cryo… Can you hear me…? Cryo…” “Huh who’s… Ugh. Where…? His eyes finally began to focus. He could see someone hovering over him.

“Cryo. Can you hear me?!” “Huh. Oh… John. Hi. Ugh… I can hear you.” “Cryo! Thank goodness. Your finally awake!” “Where… am I?” “Your in your tent, buddy. Everyone has been worried sick about you!” “Ugh…” Cryo turned his head around a bit and could see the red frames of his tent. He saw the entrance at the farthest side of the tent. Cryo tried to get up, but felt quite a bit of pain around his body. “Easy buddy. Easy… You shouldn’t try to move too much right now.” “Note taken…”

“How long have I been out?” asked Cryo. “About zero five hundred hours.” “5 hours, huh?” Cryo looked towards his body and saw that he was wrapped up tightly in his scouts blanket, which was green like his uniform and showed a large symbol of the scouts on its front. He saw he was in his sleeping bag as well. “I see Noble and Cameron must have been here. They both know I huddle up tightly when I sleep,” Cryo thought. “Hang on Cryo. Stay here for a bit while I go tell the scoutmaster your finally awake.” “Ugh. Alright. I’ll… be here.” John quickly left the tent as Cryo watched. “I wonder how bad my injuries are?” he thought. Cryo began to maneuver the blanket off of him a bit. He began to see that his body had been bandaged around the lower waist, chest, back, and around all 4 of his limbs. Thankfully, he saw he wasn’t in a splint. “I’m bandaged up quite a bit. He felt around his head a bit, and felt that the top of his head had also been bandaged up. “At least my grandmother was right about no broken bones. That would have been a quick end to this trip.” He gave a sigh and huddled himself up again. “Everyone at home’s not going to like hearing about this…” Cryo began to huddle himself tightly again in his blanket.

Cryo waited for a few minutes, taking in some deep breaths. He then started to hear rustling towards the entrance of his large tent, and saw that the scoutmaster coming in. He looked towards Cryo. “Thank goodness, junior. You alright?” “Yes scoutmaster. I’m… fine.” “That was quite a nasty fall my young scout. I’m glad your awake though.” He walked over to Cryo and sat himself next to Cryo’s bed. “That was quite a stunt you pulled, junior. It takes a true scout to put yourself in harms way to save another. Your incredibly brave, Junior.” “Hehe… Thank you scoutmaster…”

“How do you feel?” “Pretty beat up I suppose.” “Well… Don’t worry. You’ll be back at home tomorrow mourning.” “Huh… I’m… leaving?” “Yes. Your not in any condition to continue with the camping trip. A transport will arrive tomorrow to take you to the hospital wing to rest up and get you back into shape.” “That’s… disappointing.” “I know junior. I know. You’ve been really looking forward to this trip. But you’ll more likely be bed ridden for all 3 days that were here. It’s best if you go back home.” “I… understand.” Cryo gave a sigh, and nodded. “Yes… Just rest tightly, junior.” He began to leave the tent., but then he stopped a few feet away from the entrance. “Oh… I almost forgot to tell you.” He faced towards Cryo. “Your bravery won’t go unnoticed Cryo. There will be a very special badge waiting for you when you are better.” “Really?” “Yes. The golden heart. This badge is given only to those who willingly risk their own lives in the service of others. You will be given this badge when your better. I plan to honor you in front of the others back home. You should be honored, Junior.” Cryo smiled back at his scoutmaster. “Thank you.” “Yes. Now rest easy now. Save your strength. It’ll be a long ride home tomorrow.”

Ch 14

Feeling Foolish

A couple more hours passed and as the sun began to set. Cryo was listening to some music with a rectangular radio next to his bed. “Ahh… It’s nice the scoutmaster allowed me to borrow his radio to listen to some nice soft rock while I rest. I wish I had completed my experimental portable radio for the outdoors before the trip. It would have nice to test it with an actual outdoor experience,” he thought. He began to turn the volume down a bit and picked up his backpack. He began to very carefully open it, trying to move as little as possible. He rummaged around a bit, and and pulled out his favorite author’s large visual novel series, Dragons Against the Darkness. He was about to open the book from where he last left off reading it, when he began to hear rustling from the entrance and saw someone entering the tent. “Cr… Cryo… You ok?…” “Huh? Oh Preydeth. I’m fine, bud. Don’t worry about me..” Cryo set the book on the lap of his bed and began to sit back a bit. “I’m… glad your… ok. I… thought you might be hungry. So… I brought you some jerky.” “I could use a nice bit of meat right now. Thanks. Come on over.”

Preydeth began to slowly walk over. He seemed to be very nervous and couldn’t bring himself to look at Cryo directly. He sat himself besides Cryo’s bed. He took out a piece of jerky out of his backpack, and held it towards Cryo’s mouth. “Here… umm… partner. E… eat up. “Cryo slowly maneuvered himself forward out of his blanket, and took a small bite of the jerky. “Mmm. Good stuff.” “Y… Yea Cryo.” Cryo took another bite, and then looked back at Preydeth, who still seemed to be facing away from him. “He must feel bad for what happened to me.” Cryo then began to turn to Preydeth.

“Preydeth… Don’t feel so bad about what happened. Things like this happen. I promise you, I’ll be fine.” “But. It’s… all my fault. I… should have listened to you. And now… Your being sent home. I…” Preydeth gave out a sigh “I… should have been the one to get hurt. Not you.” “I’d do it again if I had to. So what if I got a little hurt over a fall. I’m tough. I’ve probably been in worse situations before.” “Still… I… I shouldn’t… you deserve better.” “Preydeth…” Preydeth left a couple pieces of jerky on Cryo’s bed, and began to walk out. “Preydeth… Don’t leave… Don’t beat yourself up over this. I’m not mad at you. I promise.” “Even now, I… all I do is hurt you. I already carry the weight from before. I… I’m sorry…”

He left the tent through the entrance. Cryo gave a sigh… “He’ll beat himself up over the entire trip if this continues. I have to do something. But what?” Cryo closed his eyes for a bit, but then he could hear some type of crackling outside his tent. He got an idea. “I did promise a campfire story, right? Why not? Maybe telling my experience might make him realize I’ve been through some really rough situations and this fall is nothing compared to it…” “Cryo began to try and pick himself up. He felt pain all over him. “Ugh… Come on Cryo. Come on. Get passed the pain. You can do it.” Cryo took in a deep breath, and began to walk towards the entrance. “Hurts… But… have to keep going.” Cryo gritted his fangs, and kept walking towards the exit of the tent. He pulled the zipper and limped out, to see the other campers sitting around a fire. The scoutmaster immediately noticed his junior out of his tent.

“Cryo! What are you doing?! You need to be resting tonight!” The other scouts turned back at their injured friend with a look of great concern. “I… promised my squad mates that I’d tell them what happened to me when I was kidnapped by a fire. Please… Ugh… allow me to tell my story.” All of the scouts looked back at the scoutmaster. “Your in no condition to be out here right now. Please Cryo. Let me help you back to your bed.” The scoutmaster began to stand up to walk over, but Cryo began to step forward again. “Please scoutmaster. Please! I beg of you. Preydeth should know,” “Preydeth?” “Yes. Just… allow me to tell it. Just this once. I promise… I’ll be fine.” “Scoutmaster. I can take Cryo. He can sit on my lap in his blanket while he tells us his story. It’s what Cryo wants,” said Cameron.

Kyle turned towards Cryo, who was breathing heavily as he stood. “Please scoutmaster… Just this once…” “Alright Cryo. I suppose Cameron can take care of you. Cameron?” “Yes scoutmaster. I’ll get Cryo’s blanket and get him comfy.” Cameron quickly rushed into the tent to get Cryo’s blanket. He quickly came back out and wrapped Cryo up. “Alright scoutmaster, I think Cryo’s ready.” “Good. Come on Junior. Everyone’s dying to hear your success in the wilds. “Thank you…scoutmaster.”

Ch 15

Campsite Creature

Everyone huddled by the fire as Cameron came over and sat down on wooden log seat. He sat Cryo carefully on his lap forward, in front of everyone else. “Alright. Where to begin…” Cryo said. He thought about it for a moment, then he smiled.

“So there I was… in my room, ready to start the day. I remembered right as I woke up that 2 days ago, there was an attempt to kidnap me on the open ocean during my first trip outside the base. The experience left me paralyzed from head to toe, as one of the kidnappers had stuck a nasty dart in my back right leg, leaving me bed ridden the next day after I was rescued.” Cryo could feel the tension of the other campers as he paused for a second. “I shook off the experience, and decided that I should put on a nice silver jacket that day, as it was a little chilly outside and in my room. It was 9:45 A.M, and I realized that my, umm… caretakers were not in the room. This was strange, as they always were in my room by 9:00 A.M. So I decided to go tell them myself that I had awakened. So I crept towards the door, and began to turn the knob slowly, to find…” Cryo paused for a moment.

“That my caretakers were right there about to open the door themselves. I was about to go on with my day, but they then told me, that there was a special surprise for me that day. And so they led me outside of my comfy room, towards the medical building. But when I walked in… I saw something strange seemed to be going on within area.” Cryo paused again.

“There seemed to be a large amount of medical personal in the building that day. Much more then I usually see when I needed a checkup. I realized immediately that something was out of place… But I disregarded it, and headed towards the elevator in the far back of the facility. Towards the more secure areas of the medical wing. The door shut on the elevator and went down. This was however, strange as well, for they seemed to be leading to a part of the hospital that I’ve never been to before. And when the elevator opened, things became even weirder.” Cryo could hear the breaths of the other campers increasing in frequency.

“I saw a long, claustrophobic hallway, leading down to what appeared to be a security checkpoint. Heavily guarded by a large metal door, looked after by a small group of security personal. My caretakers had to have their items scanned before they would let us through. My tensions began to raise quite quickly. I started to get… suspicious. And I began to get a bit… paranoid. Why did they lead me hear? Why? What were their plans? But, I stood my ground, and headed through the door, passed security checkpoint, to something even weirder. I thought I’d find a vault filled with dangerous chemicals or diseases being researched. But I did not find that. What was inside instead…” Cryo paused again.

“Was a simple little room. Instead of chrome walls and a drain on the ground to protect against spillage and toxic messes, I found myself in a calming room with a relaxing set of walls painted in a manner similar to my room. And single light lit the room from above. But in the back, was a large bed… There seemed to be something under the covers. And on a small drawer next to the bed, was a 2 sets of one of my favorite meals, chillin tenders…” Cryo took in a deep breath.

“What was going on, I wondered? But then my caretakers told me… to approach the bed to see what was in it. I began to think to myself… Is this a trick? Are they trying to get me away from the door to lock me inside this tiny room forever… having nothing but a bed for comfort for the rest of my life. A precaution to prevent another attempt to kidnap me? I thought to try to make a run out the back towards the elevator. But… I knew that I’d get in big trouble if I tried to leave now… I had to make a choice. So…” Cryo saw the other campers were breathing quite fast now.

“So I steeled my courage, and walked towards the bed boldly. I knew this might be the last time I see the light of the sun, but continued forward to find…” Cryo smiled at the other campers, who he could see there looks of concern at what would happen next. “My mother… Nestled in the bed. You might not know this, but my mother had been in a… umm… deep sleep for almost 7 years. It happened not long before I hatched. She had saved an entire city of people and stopped a massive storm that would have pulverized an entire city. But she fell asleep after that. And here she was in the bed, finally awake, and happy to see me. I nestled her head against mine, and my caretakers left me to spend some quality time with my loving mother.” Cryo looked towards the other campers, who each seemed to breath a sigh of relief, and were smiling at the heartwarming moment. “So time passed, eating and talking with my mother, learning a few things about dragons and hearing how happy she finally to meet me herself. But as the conversation went on, trouble was brewing, right outside the door…” Cryo could hear them begin breathing faster again.

“My mother realized something was going on outside. I had suspected nothing at the time. And suddenly, she exclaimed to me, “Freeze the door Cryo!”” Cryo could hear a few of the campers gasping at the change of events. “I didn’t understand what was going on, but I obliged with my mom, and darted to the door and froze it with a big stream of ice from my gaping maw! Whoosh!…” Cryo breathed a small stream of ice on the ground. “And I froze the door, preventing it from opening! I asked my mother why I should do that. But then… I heard something outside. I leaned my head against a non frozen part of the door, and I heard… a conversation going on outside. They seemed to be REALLY wanting to get in. They tried to convince me to open the door, but me and mom knew something was up. But those bad guys decided that they weren’t going to leave, and so…” Cryo saw the faces of the campers seemed to be tense now.

“And so they decided to BLOW THE DOOR UP WITH EXPLOSIVES to get in!” The camping crew let out a gasp! “With little time, I hid under the bed and covered my eyes with my wings and my ears with my talons. My mother was able to create a wall of ice to block the shrapnel of the explosive. And now the timer was counting down. 5…4…3…2..1! KABOOM! The door was blow forward and smacked the wall, leaving a massive dent into it, and now, they came swarming in!”

“They were in black military gear and had some tranquilizer guns with the same nasty darts as before! They used a flashbang to try to disorientate us, but we were prepared. Using my wit I rolled to the left from under the bed. In a surprise attack, I blew a stream of ice, encapsulating a couple of the nasty folk. They tried to shoot me with their tranquilizer guns, but I created a wall of ice to take cover behind. So they decided to try and beat me and mom with shock strikers. But, as one swiped at my head, I quickly ducked and rolled to the right, and tripped him down with a quick swipe of my wings!” Cryo maneuvered his out of his blanket wing and made a sweeping motion with it in the air. “Another tried to quick jab at me. But I jumped in the air to dodge it, and with a flap of my wings and a fist full of ice,” Cryo covered his left paw with ice. He maneuvered it out of the blanket. “I smacked him a good one, right upside his head!” Cryo swung his paw in a sweeping motion which the campers looked in awe. “But now, another one of them tried to smack me right from behind. But with a quick roll forward, a shot a big gush of water at the assailant. WHOOSH!” Cryo released a small steam of water from his mouth at the ground. “I knocked him for a loop, and sent him crashing right in to his frozen friends in the back. The ice shattered and sent all of them flying towards the entrance, sending all of them in a daze!”

“Wait. Are they dead?” asked John. “Haha. No Dragon ice works differently then what you’d normally see. Shattering someone in ice only releases them from the ice. Its a painful and shocking feeling, but it doesn’t literally shatter them to pieces.” “Really? Why is that?” “I think mom told me that it works due to something called Cryogenic freezing. I don’t have the best understanding of it right now, but it basically just encapsulates creatures and things without causing permanent harm or damage to them. Mom told me dragon ice can be used to put something to sleep for a very long time.” “That’s interesting. I didn’t know that’s how your freeze abilities worked, Junior,” said the scoutmaster. “Yea. Thankfully too. I don’t know how I’d feel about legitimately… um… ending some ones story, so to speak.” Cryo looked at his scoutmaster and nodded.

“Anyway. Those bad guys were REALLY mad now. They began to surround me.” Cryo felt like he could feel the ever increasing tensions of the other campers at the site. “But I was ready to fight all of them off by myself. But then, to my shock, he pulled out his ace in the hole…” Cryo thought he could hear the sounds of gulping from the other campers. “It turns out these guys had a back up plan in case they ran into trouble. The leader of the group pulled out a remote detonator!” Cryo heard several gasps. “They told me that they would blow up and bury EVERYONE in the building, if me and mom didn’t cooperate with them!” Cryo saw the look of extreme concern at all the other campers.

“With no other options, and many lives at stake, I knew there was nothing I could do. Me and mom surrendered to them. They brought in heavy duty medical strap beds for really unbalanced psychiatric patients at the clinic. They grabbed me and slammed me hard right on it! Mom too!” Cryo lifted his paw up and then dropped it towards the ground. The campers seemed really tense now. “They pinned our limbs down to those medical bed with those nasty straps. They muzzled the both of us, and walked out, right into security. But they had placed bombs on OUR beds, too, willing to blow up EVERYONE who tried to stop them now.” Cryo could hear the other campers gasping again. Cryo saw many of them had become really tense at the devolving situation in the story. “With these bombs, they carted us away to a medical ship in the hanger, and flew away with us in tow. It seems they had won.”

Cryo began to yawn. His eyes were starting to become really heavy. It seems he was starting to get really tired from telling his story. “Hey guys… I think thats enough for now. Cryos starting to really doze off. He needs rest,” said Cameron. Cryo could hear moans of everyone from leaving the story off at such a cliffhanger. “I agree. It’s about 9:00 P.M.. Our little junior will need to be ready to be taken back home tomorrow. I know all of you are probably REALLY anxious from hearing such a story. But I think its time to call it a night.” Cryo gave out another yawn. “Yea… sorry guys. I… really need some rest. I’ll… tell you the rest maybe when you guys are home. Have a good night everyone…” “Yea… You too Cryo…” said the other campers. “Alright. Let’s get you back in your sleeping bag.” Cameron carried Cryo slowly back to the tent and nestled him very carefully in his sleeping bag. “Goodnight, my very brave friend. Sleep well… Even after hearing the story again, I still can’t believe you went through all that,” said Cameron. Cryo yawned again. “Goodnight…” John and Preydeth looked at Cryo one more time in their own sleeping bags, as Cryo’s mind began to quickly drift off and fall into a deep slumber.

Ch 16

News at Nine

Cryo slowly opened his eyes. He gave out a yawn. His vision seemed blurry for some reason. He heard a low ringing in his ears. He shook his head and blinked a few times. “Oof… Still don’t feel good…” Cryo thought. As his eyes began to focus, he saw he was back in his tent. Naptunes was playing through his ears. “Huh. I didn’t turn on naptunes last night. I guess the scoutmaster turned on Naptunes at some point to keep me asleep. I don’t think the others really like sleeping music like me.” Cryo began to maneuver his right paw out of his blanket to switch the radio off.

“Funny dream last night. I guess I’ve played a little too much capsule creatures lately. I can’t imagine my actual reaction if I actually somehow transformed into one of them. Especially a Froza… Then again. I suppose… I’ve woken up in some weird situations before… technically.” Cryo chuckled a few times. He looked around and saw that John and Preydeth were not in the tent. “Hmm… Neither of them are here. I wonder what time it is?” Cryo thought. He yawned again. “I better let the others know I’m awake.”

Cryo lifted his head up and turned it towards the entrance to the tent. “Scoutmaster? Scoutmaster! I’m awake!” “Oh! I hear you Junior! Hang on for a second! I’ll get to you in a bit.” “Alright Scoutmaster!” Cryo set his head back down, and took in a deep breath. “I… suppose this is it for my trip. It’s disappointing that I have to leave due to my injuries. But… trying these activities with my current condition probably wouldn’t be wise. Sigh… I suppose it’s fine though. Better safe then sorry. I just hope Preydeth doesn’t beat himself up due to what happened. Its not helping him or me…” He huddled himself a bit more tightly in his blanket.

A few minutes after, the scoutmaster came into the tent. “You feeling ok, Junior?” “Yes scoutmaster.” “What time is it scoutmaster?” “10:00 A.M.” “Ahh… I slept in about an hour late.” “Yes. I wanted you to get some more rest, so I didn’t want you to awaken. I’m surprised your up, considering your injuries. I was hoping you’d stay asleep a little longer.” “Why?” “Your ride home will not be here for another hour. I didn’t want you stuck in your tent doing nothing but leaving you to your thoughts.” “I’m sorry, scoutmaster.” Kyle walked over to Cryo’s bed and sat next to him. He began to rub Cryo’s back a bit. “Is Preydeth alright? I… know he’s feeling pretty bad about what happened. I hoped my story last night might help.” “Oh… Um… Cryo. He’s… going home with you. John too…”

“What! Going home with me!?” “Yes…” “But… Why!?” “Preydeth… He wants to make sure you get to the medical staff at home. He… seems to be thinking about quitting the scouts.” “Quitting the scouts!” “Yes. He feels responsible for what happened. I’m not sure why. But he feels he needs to get you home to get better. I tried to convince him to stay. But he’s made up his mind. “But what about John? Why does he want to leave?” “He wants to see if he could convince him on the trip home for him to stay in the scouts. Its unfortunate to see so many campers leaving, but I don’t think they’ll change their minds at this point.” “Ugh… Things have gone a lot worse. I didn’t think my teammates here would want to leave with me.” “Yes… In any case junior. We need to get you home. You need rest in a good environment. I’ve already arranged for the other campers to go with you.” The scoutmaster began to head towards the entrance to the tent. “Just rest up for now, Junior. We’ll get you back home to speed safely.” “Yea… Thanks Scoutmaster.” “Good. Be safe and well, my little junior scout.”

He left the tent, leaving Cryo alone to think.” “Ugh… Things are far worse then I thought. As if I didn’t have enough bad news. Can this get any worse?” Cryo gave out a sigh. “I should take time during the long drive home to try to convince him not to quit. He shouldn’t do this for me. I’m not angry at him. Maybe if he sees that, he’ll reconsider. In any case, All I can do now is wait for the medical vehicle to arrive.” Cryo gave out a sigh, and laid his head down. “Let’s hope nothing else goes wrong.”

Ch 17

Scared Stiff

An hour passed as Cryo waited patiently in the tent. He had been reading in the tent for awhile, when Cryo could hear the low whirr of the emergency hover transport somewhere outside. “Sigh… I guess… this is it. Time to go home. Ugh… I don’t know how I’m going to explain all this to mom and the others. I hope they haven’t been informed already…”

Cryo listened to the outside to hear equipment being unloaded. “That sounds like a medical bed… with straps,” he thought. Cryo began to dip his eyes down a bit, and breathed a little faster. He closed his eyes and took in a couple of deep breaths and shook his head a few times. “Get a grip, Cryo. Get a grip… Its probably just a standard one. Just two straps to keep me stable on the bed…” He slowly opened his eyes and continued listening. He could a squeaky wheel approaching the tent. He could hear it behind the tent at first, then in front. He then began to hear someone coming in.

“Junior? You ok in there?” “Yes, scoutmaster.” “Ahh good.” The scoutmaster stepped in hovered over him. “Your ride has arrived, Cryo.” “I realized it. I could hear the sounds of the medical vehicle outside.” “Yes… In any case, let me call them in to pick you up.” He stood back up and headed back to the entrance. “Alright. Bring in the bed. I’ll help get him on. Cryo watched as 2 medics in uniforms came in. Cryo recognized them. “Oh. Hi Nancy. Hi Darrel. I… didn’t expect you two to come here.” “Well… I’m your primary physician, Cryo. When I heard the news, I couldn’t just stand there and wait for you to arrive at home. I thought it would be better if I came myself.” “Its been a while since I had last seen you, Darrel. Your looking well. He approached Cryo and began to stroke his back a little bit. Cryo looked at him and could see a bit of his shaved brown hair under the medical cap and his brown eyes, and dark skin. He smiled at him. “Since your here, does this mean you finally passed the exams and became a physician at the base, like your mom?” “Oh no. I’m still in training, buddy. Mom thought bringing me on the trip would be a good way to learn how transport and treat patients who are being transported home. “Haha. I guess thats one way to learn. I know I’ll be in good hands with the both of you here. I’ll probably be fixed up by the time I’m home!” Cryo said. Each of them gave a chuckle.

“Alright, bring in the stretcher, Kyle.” “Alright Nancy. Here it comes,” Kyle said. Kyle brought in a medical stretcher. Cryo recognized that it seemed to be a new type. It looked like that it dipped inward a bit. “Is that a… new medical bed?” Cryo asked. “Yes. We’ll have to lay you on your back during the trip. The bedding is curved inward a bit, to give some of your back scales a little more room and comfort.” said Nancy. Nancy folded the wheels in to lower it flat on the ground. “Alright. Let’s get you on, junior,” said Kyle “Alright… Uh… Thanks scoutmaster.”

Nancy and Darrel Carefully picked up Cryo and placed him on his back back on the stretcher. “Alright. Let’s strap him on.” said Nancy. “Umm… Uh… Will my arms be… strapped down?” Cryo asked. “No. Your arms will be allowed to move freely. Though I suggest that you don’t try to move them too much until we get home.” “Uh huh… Um thanks? Heh heh…” They placed the straps on around his lower waist and around his upper body, under his armpits. Cryo began to get nervous.

“Is something wrong, Cryo?” “Oh! Um… No. Nothing is wrong. I’m uhh… perfectly fine.” “Are you sure?” “Yes… I am.” “Well Alright. Let’s get the wheels up. Darrel?” “Got it, Mom. They began to unfold the wheels under the stretcher. They lifted it up and placed the wheels on the ground. Cryo began to sweat a bit. “Hmm… Cryo. Are you hot? It’s not that warm out this mourning.” asked Darrel. “Oh! um… yea. I feel a little bit hot. Hehe.” “Do you think Cryo might be running a fever Mom?” “Perhaps. We’ll take his temperature in the vehicle. Let’s roll him out.” “Alright. Relax junior.” said Kyle. He turned towards Nancy. “I’ll pack up his gear and bring it to you to the vehicle once its ready to go.” “Thank you Kyle. Alright. Let’s head towards the medical vehicle,” said Nancy. “Yea… Let’s head out.” said Cryo.

They began to wheel Cryo towards the medical vehicle. Cryo saw a large, bulky, medical transport with its hover jets turned off on the ground. It was red around the side and hood of the vehicle. The was strips of blue bending across the from left side and going all the way right. Cryo saw the large symbol of the medical vehicle. A heart bandaged up across the center. Cryo started to whimper a bit as the began to swing around the back. He shook his head and took in a deep breath. “Cryo?… Are you sure your ok? Is something wrong?” N… No! Nothing is wrong! I promise you… I’m fine!” They both could see that Cryo seemed to be very anxious. Nancy and Darrel looked at each other. “Well… Alright Cryo. Just relax. Don’t worry. We’ll get you home ok. I promise.” Cryo didn’t reply back.

They opened the back of the vehicle. Cryo could see both his camp mates were in. “Cryo. You… ready to go home?” asked Preydeth. Cryo didn’t give an answer. He looked down towards his waist and clasped his paws together on his belly and began to scratch them a bit. “Cryo?” “”Don’t worry guys. I’m…” Cryo took in a dep breath. “I’m fine.” The both of them could see something was wrong with the junior scout. They looked at each other and back at Cryo. “Alright. Move out of the way, you two.” They moved away from the center and to the sides of the vehicle. Cryo closed his eyes lifted the stretcher up into the vehicle, and strapped it in place in the vehicle. “Alright. It’s time to go guys.” Darrel and Nancy closed the back of the vehicle and the engines began to start up. The medical transport begins to hover off the ground and began to head out. “Be brave, junior.” said Kyle as he stepped over to the other campers. The engines began to light up on the vehicle, and soon began to move off towards home.”

Ch 18

Scared and Scarred

The van travelled down the dirt road for a short amount of time. It soon picked up on the main roads and continued on. In the back of the vehicle, Nancy was preparing to attach a heart rate monitor to Cryo’s chest, while John and Preydeth looked on. “Alright. Hold still Cryo. This will only take a second.” she said. “Y… Yea, Nancy,” Cryo replied back.

She attached it to Cryo’s chest, and he looked forward, with his eyes narrowed down. “Alright. Should turn on in a… huh?” She saw that his heart rate had gone up quite a bit.” “Cryo. Your heart rates 148. Your heart rates a bit fast right now.” she said. “I’ll… be fine, I’m sure. Its just a little high. I’m sure its nothing…” Nancy began to rub Cryo’s arm a bit. “You seem a bit nervous Cryo. Is something wrong?” “Its nothing. I promise.” She looked at Cryo. “Something is wrong with him. His behavior has been a little strange, even before we put him on the stretcher.” She gave a smile at him. “Lets check your temperature.”

She grabbed a electronic thermometer and began to hover it over him. “Open your mouth, Cryo, and put the tip under your tongue.” “Al…Alright.” Cryo slowly and nervously opened his mouth, with his tongue extended up a little bit. “Alright Cryo, Just keep this under your tongue and relax.” “Alright…” She placed the thermometer under his tongue and he slowly closed his maw. After a few moments, she took it out. “Hmm… 69.4*F. A little higher then your normal temperature.” “What’s his normal temperature?” asked Preydeth. “Its typically 68*F,” said Nancy. Preydeth nodded. “I’m… running a fever?” asked Cryo “Hmm… So it seems. Just a low one though. Here. I’ll get a dragon cold pad for your head.” “Ok. Um… Thank you I suppose. I didn’t think you’d uh… bring one…” She began to open a small medical refrigerator in the back. “You should know by now I always will come prepared for any situation for you Cryo.” She walked back over and lifted Cryo’s head from the pillow. She began to carefully place the dragon cold pad onto Cryo’s head and placed the strap on. “There. The cold should give you some nice relief.” “Th… Thank you.” “Alright. Just rest up Cryo. We’ll be home soon enough.”

About an hour passed. Cryo had began to get a bit fidgety in the bed. “You ok, Cryo.” “Ye… Yea. Just, trying to get a bit more com… comfy.” But not long after he closed his eyes, and began to twist a bit more awkwardly in the medical bed.” “Cryo? What’s going on? Your very restless right now. “I’m sorry… I’m fine! I promise. I I…”

Preydeth looked over Cryo. He lifted lifted Cryo’s paw up and held his hand. “Cryo. Look at me…” Cryo looked towards Preydeth. “I know what going on… He’s restless because he’s terrified…” he said. “Terrified?” asked Darrel. “Yes just look at him. Look at how he seems to be struggling on the bed. Like a trapped animal…” “Trapped… animal?” said John. “Yes. At first I though his reactions were just being upset because of what… what pain I caused him.” “What do you mean Preydeth?” asked Nancy. “Cryo’s in this condition because of me. He saved me from a fall. A fall that could have been completely avoided if I had just listened to him.” He began to stroke Cryo’s arm a bit.”

“But his reactions right now don’t follow anger. It shows fear. Like his own mind is struggling to grasp his own more feral instincts and reality. And so I asked myself… What could he be so afraid of right now. And then… I remembered something the night before. Do you remember, John?” “A couple things happened that night. You going to be more specific.” “That night, Cryo told us a story. Despite being injured and hurt, he willingly came out of his tent to share a bad part of his life. When I thought of the story, I began to piece everything together.”

He began to rub Cryo’s belly a bit. “He was kidnapped. Right in front of everyone in the hospital building. He was slammed onto his back and strapped to a bed. Muzzled so he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. Can anyone here actually imagine what would be going through some ones mind like Cryo was forced to. And they even used one of the medical vehicles to escape. And now there is something strapped around Cryo’s head. But more specifically, right under his neck. Piece this all together and look at Cryo now.” They all looked at Cryo. “This type of experience leaves scars. Right now… He’s being transported in a medical vehicle, strapped to a bed, with something making it a little harder to speak. Doesn’t anyone here think that he’s reliving what happened? He’s reliving some of the worst moments of what happened.” Preydeth clasped his hand around Cryo’s palm, showing his support. “While the situation is not quite the same, its similar enough where his mind is reacting very negatively. He’s terrified, and feels like he’s going through that awful mess all over again.

“I see… What you say makes complete sense,” said Nancy. She came over to Cryo, and began to rub his head a bit. She thought she could see a small tear in his eyes. She began to rub his belly. “I don’t think anyone here can imagine what he went through. To be reminded like this…” said Nancy. “Cryo needs support right now. He has to be reminded, that he’s not being kidnapped. He’s not being taken hostage. He needs to know that everything will be fine. And we have to reaffirm that he’ll never be put through something that horrible again,” said Preydeth. They looked at each other and nodded. They positioned themselves across different sides of the bed. They began to stroke him in different parts of the body. Preydeth pulled Cryo’s paw a little ways away from his heart. “Your brave. Braver then anyone I know. You can pull through this. I know it. Look at us, not where you are. We’re here for you.” Preydeth nodded, and Cryo gave a small smile and nodded back. “Th… Thank you everyone.” “Hey Cryo… You never told us the rest of your story… Why don’t you tell it to us while going home. I want to hear how such a brave and noble dragon like yourself and your loving mother managed to outsmart and outwit a whole group of bad characters who wanted to terrorize and abuse a loving friend, and make it safely home, back to everyone who loves you.” Cryo smiled at Preydeth. “Ok. Well… After we were taken aboard the medical ship, I…”

Cryo continued to share his tale with his new friends. As he told his story, they stroked him in different parts to comfort him. They always kept themselves into his field of view, working together to keep him calm and keep him hydrated. After a little over an hour, Cryo began to get very sleepy. “Hey, Nancy. Cryo’s looking tired. I think we should try to help him sleep,” said John. “Yes. A little bit of sleep should help him,” replied Nancy “Yawn… Your not going to sedate me, are you?” “Oh no, Cryo. I don’t think that’ll be necessary. Let’s just get you comfy. We should be home in about another hour.” She smiled at Cryo and got his scouts blanket and placed it over his medical bed. Cryo began to get a bit nervous again.

“Cryo… Look at me,” said Preydeth. Cryo turned toward him. “Remember. The blanket here is not meant to hide the straps. It’s meant to keep you warm and comfy. To be able to rest peacefully in. Just keep looking at me. Stay calm.” He took in a deep breath as he began to relax himself. He smiled back. John fluffed his pillow a bit, and his eyes began to droop. “There we go. Hey, Nancy. Is that a radio over there? He sleeps to soothing music, right?” asked John. “Yes he does.” replied Nancy. She looked back at Cryo, who’s eyes seemed to be drooping down. “Here you go, Cryo.” She began to fiddle around with the radio a bit. A voice came over the radio. “Hello, fellow snoozers. This next song inspires dreams of the cosmos. of sailing through the void and explore the universe and the many mysteries surrounding it. The song is called, Galaxy Gateway.” A soft, orchestral medley began to play and ring into Cryo’s ears. “Focus on the music, Cryo. Let this music help lull your tired body and mind to sleep. Slowly close your eyes, and listen. Your mind will drift off soon after,” said Preydeth. Cryo nodded to Preydeth. He slowly closed his eyes, as the tune began to work its magic on Cryo’s hazy mind. His mind fogged up, and fell under the music’s deep spell. “Rest easy, my very brave friend.”

Ch 19

Rest and Relax

Cryo’s head felt fuzzy, as his eyes slowly opened up. He felt something very comfortable huddled around his sore body. Wh… Where?” As his eyes began to focus, he could see he was in a small room. He yawned for a bit. He saw the couple long lights beaming down around the room. The ceiling was white, and the walls were a calming blue, all round. He saw that there was a window also pouring light to the left of the room. Outside, he saw a familiar architecture. A vast complex for research and the military spread below, with a couple of shrubs and plants dotted around the outside in a few places. “I know where I am now. This is… home. I’m… back home.” He smiled and looked around the room some more.

He saw to the right, was the entrance, attached toward the far back right corner of the room. It was a standard wooden door with the medical symbol was painted on. “I’m clearly in the medical building. Hmm…” Cryo looked towards his bed, and saw he was very carefully nestled in a bed with what seemed to be a new quilt on it. He looked at it, and saw what appeared to be a picture of him resting in a warm dark blue bed with a green dragon cold pad on his head, and a thermometer in his mouth. The words “Get well soon, Little Dragon,” were stitched under the picture on the blanket. The bed itself was quite different from his hay bed. He saw it seemed to be similar to a bed a human would sleep in, but the bedding itself seemed a bit… different. “This blanket is new. I think it was personally made for me for my hospital stay. It feels like its trying to tighten a bit around my body. Cushion me against itself more, yet its not restricting my movement. It also feels a little cooler. And the bedding below seems to be doing something similar. Its not enough to make me too chilly. I do like to huddle up tightly in beds. Interesting.”

He pulled the blanket up a bit, to see his body. He saw his body had its bandages changed, with a few places parts of his body also having medical gauze. “I’m hurting a bit still. But it looks like they done a good job treating my wounds.” He turned towards his upper right arm, and saw a small bit of medical gauze and a bandage wrapped around the area. “It looks like they did sedate me at some point. That part of the arm is usually where an iv goes in.” Towards his close right, and saw something he didn’t expect. He seemed to find what appeared to be gifts for him. Boxes and bags with encouragement to get well soon. “What are these? Are these… presents for me? But why? My birthday was only 4 weeks ago.” He peaked to the entrance of the room. “Well. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a peek at one.”

He grabbed a bag from the pile. “Hmm… Theres a card inside. From… Preydeth?” Cryo carefully opened the card to look inside. “Dear Cryo. I hope your well. You’ve been asleep since we first arrived. I hoped whatever dream appeared in your head while out, was something happy. Not something that you’d rather forget. Your special. You’ve been through a lot. Rest is the only thing you need now. Don’t let old scars bring your down. Remember that you made it back. That’s all that matters. Please recover soon. I hope to see you at some point when your awake. Enjoy the present I got you. I hope you can find time to use these to help heal some old wounds while your new ones get treated. Thank you. I hope to see you back in the scouts soon. From Preydeth.”

Cryo smiled and nodded. “He’s not quitting after all.” Cryo reached inside the bag. He began to rummage his hand a bit until he seemed to find something inside. He began to pull it out. He looked at what appeared to be a chew toy, in the shape of a blue ball. “A… chew toy? I haven’t chewed on anything since I stopped chewing on my pacifier.” He looked a the tag. It read “Stress ball.” “Stress ball. It’s… a ball to help with stress? But… how does it work. Do I chew on it?” He looked at the tag again. “Squeeze this tiny ball in your hand. Do it as many times as you need to help deal with stress and anxiety. Continue to squeeze to help calm yourself down.” “Huh… I… squeeze it in my paw?” He took the ball in his talons and began to squeeze it. The ball began to flatten and spread out as he began to spread it in his paw. He let go of his grip, and the ball reformed into its round, spherical shape. “This… seems like a strange way to deal with stress. I do like the rather smooth and fabric like texture the ball has, but I don’t understand how it deals with issues like this.” He placed it to the side of his bed. “Hmm… I think there is something else in here.”

He rummaged around the bag and took out what seemed to be a cube with 9 different colored squares on each side of it. The squares seemed to be connected to each other, yet were also split off from each other. He began to fiddle with it a bit, and saw that the squares could be twisted to change which sides the colored squares were on. “This is an odd toy… What is it?” “That’s a puzzle twist cube, Cryo, said a familiar voice. “Huh?”

Ch 20

Future For Friends

Cryo turned his head toward the entrance. He saw Preydeth in the doorway, with Cryo’s mother standing close behind. Oh! Preydeth! And… Mom. Uh oh…” Preydeth came in, wearing a cyan shirt and blue jeans, while Tide was wearing a dark blue sweater. They walked over and Tide sat down next to Cryo near the bed, while Preydeth pulled a chair over and sat down. “You like that toy Cryo?” “Its… interesting. But I don’t know exactly know what its for.” “The goal is to twist the cube is to twist the segments on it enough so that every side of the cube has only one type of color on it. Its a simple puzzle game, yet it can take a ton of time to figure out if you can’t figure out how to align the colors together,” Preydeth said. “That sounds pretty neat.”

“Cryo, honey?” said Tide. “Gulp…” Cryo looked at his mother, with a slightly concerned look on his face. “How are you feeling?” Tide asked. “Umm… I’m a little, er… stiff in bed. Maybe a few places hurt a bit. But… I’m fine I suppose.” She smiled and nodded at him. “Your… friend told me what happened?” Cryo’s eyes shot up.

“Wait Mom! Wait! Please! It was only a little mistake! I know I’m pretty beat up, but…” “Relax, my little boy. I’m not too upset at what happened.” “Umm… You aren’t?” She nodded at him. “Yes… A pretty bad accident did happen and someone close to me got hurt in the process. But… everyone makes mistakes. Besides, he told me what happened on the ride back.” “Oh… yea.” Cryo began to sit up a bit in his bed. He looked towards his mother with a slightly worried expression. “I’m sorry mom. I…” “Don’t be. We both went through that horrible ordeal. We both probably have scars that will remain for a while. But… that’s what family and friends are for, right?” She gave Cryo small kiss on the forehead. “Your friend helped you though a very difficult situation. He may have had been responsible for you being hurt in the first place, but he didn’t leave your side when you really needed help.” Cryo looked at Preydeth and gave a smile.

“The items I gave you are good for dealing with these types of issues. The stress ball can help ease you when feeling anxious and stressed, and the puzzle cube can help distract your mind and focus on something else if you get into a similar situation in the future.” “That actually sounds… good. Thank you Preydeth.” “Your welcome. Nancy says you shouldn’t have to be in the hospital long. You wounds are healing rather quickly. You should be out in less then 2 weeks.” “Thats good news.” “In any case honey. We’ll be here for you if you need anything else.” “Thank you.” Cryo looked at the puzzle cube and began to twist it a couple times. “This puzzle is a bit more complex then I thought. It’s going to take some practice and thinking.” he thought.

“By the way, Cryo. How did you move so fast?” asked Preydeth. “Huh. What do you mean?” I talked to the scoutmaster. He said that as I was falling, you suddenly picked up speed. In fact, you were so fast, you almost could not be seen.” “Wait! Really?! “Yes. How did you do it?” “Umm…” Cryo looked at his bandanna, who had been carefully placed next to his other scouts cloths on a table in the upper left corner of the room. “Umm… Maybe I… just got lucky?” “Lucky?” “I don’t really know what happened. I’m sorry.” “That’s alright. Maybe it will be revealed in time.” Preydeth stood up. “You hungry, Cryo? The cafeteria menu has chillin tenders today.” “Umm… Yea. I could use some.” “Ok. Come on Tide. Let’s get Cryo some food.” “Can you give me a moment alone with my son. I’ll come with you in a second.” “Ok Tide. I’ll see you in a bit.” He walked out of the room and closed the door to wait outside. Tide looked at Cryo with a slightly concerned look on her face.

“Cryo… Are you keeping secrets?” she asked. “Um… secrets?” Cryo replied. She nodded. “That ability wasn’t you going quickly, was it? That was time slowing down…” “Huh? Time slowing down!?” she nodded. “That’s not normal for a Ferrin dragon, even with the flo lily. That’s something a well trained Zape dragon is capable of…” She looked at the back table. “And that bandanna…”

She walked over and took another look at it. She picked it up and took it over to Cryo. She then carefully tied it around his neck. They both could see it glow for a second. “How in the world was Greg able to find a flo lily. And more importantly, know how to transport and use it in a way that prevents its power from degrading. This is bigger then you or me could possibly know, Cryo.” She began to feel the soft fabrics of it a bit. “I think there’s far more to this bandanna then I know. Cryo… Is there anything you want to tell me? Is there something your hiding?”

Cryo thought of it for a moment. “N… No mom. I… I don’t understand it either. Maybe… Maybe theres a reason for all of this happening.” Tide gave a sigh and began to walk out. “The last thing I want to think about is a reason for my son to have a flo lily’s power, especially one that may never expire.” She nodded. She began to walk towards the door. “Perhaps in time, we might discover the purpose. Though to be honest, honey. I’m afraid of what the answer might end up being.” She gave one last look at her son and gave a smile. “Rest easy honey. I’ll be back soon.” She walked out the door and left.

“Mom’s suspicious. There’s no telling how she would react if I tell her what’s been going on. This is dangerous to think about. I’m going to have to be more careful of what I do from here on out.” He looked back at the puzzle cube and began twisting it around again.

New abilities:

Time Twist: Slows down time while allowing Cryo to move at a normal speed while slowed.

New Likes

The Explorers scouts

His new friends, Preydeth and John

Ziplining

His extended family

New Dislikes

Crashes

Friends feeling guilty

His mothers suspicion

Being in situations similar to when he was kidnapped

Prologue

Cryo the dragon and his mother, in the last book, had been taken captive by a unknown group of mercenaries, who wanted their technological prowess for unknown means. He and his mother were strapped down to medical beds with heavy straps, and taken aboard a large medical ship to be transported to an unknown location. Cryo, using his wit, managed to use his ice coated talons to break out of his medical bed. He then used his talon to pierce a hull through the ship straight to the fuel tank, forcing the ship to make an emergency landing. He managed to send out a call for help on the radio. But he didn’t know if they received the message or not, so he and his mother were forced to make a run from their captors into the forest on the mountain range.

Using his wit, he managed to evade his captors and rest up for the night with his mother using a divot covered up by bushes and felled trees. He then put his survival skills to the test, creating a water filter with a tire from an old bike and stones from a nearby river. He also made a compass from a nail from the bike and a piece a magnetite nearby in a group of rocks by the waterfall in the lake, and later on, a fishing net made of very sturdy vines and a sturdy tree branch frame. With a direction to go, an array of items for survival, and a group of evildoers to evade, they began to try to head through the wilds to the long trip home.

During the time he spent in the woods, he would have more dreams about the bugs of earth, with his bug friends in the dream continuing to show interest in the humans and in him. His leg was still injured from his previous dream experiences though. But his last dream, would end with bang (literally)!

As they travelled, Cryo would continue to use his wit to outsmart his pursuers, create shelters using the items around him, build fires to cook fish and keep warm, and surviving with the limited resources at his disposal. After about a month of travel, he and his mother would finally be rescued by Ty and his military escort. They flew on a ship back to home, washed up from their long journey, ate dinner within their home rather then by a campfire, and would tuck in for bed, as a new day would rise again, back at home…

Ch 1

Hero Heart

Cryo’s head spun a bit as his eyes began to focus on his surroundings. “Ugh… I don’t feel so good…” thought Cryo. He coughed a few times. As his eyes adjusted, he saw that he was somewhere else again. The room was mostly dark, with a small lamp hanging above him, shaking around a bit. Cryo was in a standard bed, with a white blanket over him, laying on his back, and had an iv going into his upper right arm. The room seemed to shake a bit as he laid down. Cryo looked to the right of his bed and saw that he seemed to be under heavy guard by a bunch of armored bugs. Many he could recognize. “You ok, Cryo?” A familiar voice asked. “Huh. Oh, Zeke,” replied Cryo. Cryo tried to pick himself up a bit, but felt a sting across his body. “Hey. Relax Cryo. Don’t move too much right now. Your roughed up pretty bad.” “Huh? Cryo pushed down the covers on him a bit, and saw his body had been bandaged up across most of it. He also saw that his cast on his back right leg had been damaged quite a bit as well. “How did this happen?” Cryo asked. “You don’t remember?” “Not really…” Zeke took a seat next to Cryo and leaned forward.

“We were attacked by something that wanted to take you.” “We were attacked?” “Yes. They resembled Dragon’s, like you. Only much bigger and decked out in highly sophisticated rig armor.” Zeke took something out of his pocket. He showed it to Cryo, which seemed to be a small microchip. “What is that?” asked Cryo. “This is a tracking implant we found in your back. It seems they had implanted this into you at some point. They used it to track your location after you arrived. They traced it straight to the military hospital. We found this when we scanned your body for shrapnel after the attack was thwarted. I must say, you were quite the hero when they came in, even with the leg injury and the fever.”

“I was… a hero?” asked Cryo. He coughed a few times again. “Yes. They jammed our comms and we didn’t realize they got in. They blew the door to your room open. Firestorm was injured from the explosion. If it wasn’t for you, he would probably had been killed when they came in.” “I… saved him?” “Yes. They were about to discharge a weapon on him, when you froze it solid. You fought off their entire group. They were eventually forced to retreat when help arrived. You got hurt pretty bad from the fight. But you saved firestorm and several others. They tried to use a grenade to help their escape. You froze it which contained most of the explosion, but you got launched headfirst into the wall when it detonated. It would have been a lot worse had you not reacted so quickly.” “Huh I was launched into a wall?” Zeke took a small mirror and held it in front of Cryo. Cryo could see that the top of his head had almost been completely covered in bandages. “I look like a mess…” said Cryo

“It’s probably why you cant remember anything that happened. Thankfully, its not full blown amnesia. I’m just glad your awake. You’ve been out since we had begun moving you to a new location.” “Huh? Your taking me somewhere?” “Yes. You’ve been compromised and we’re taking you to a secret secure facility where you’ll be safe. Whatever these enemies want you for can’t be good. We need to keep you safe.” “You won’t lock me up in a small room, right?” “Don’t worry, Cryo. You’ll be given free movement throughout the facility. We’re not going to lock you up like a prisoner of war.”

Zeke went to the back of the room and opened a small fridge and took out a large, plastic green bottle. He then went to a cupboard in the room and took out a plastic cup and poured the liquid in the bottle into the cup. He went back to Cryo and sat down. “Want some soda?” Zeke asked. “Yea… I could use some.” “Alright. Let me help you drink it.” Zeke carefully lifted Cryo’s head up with his upper right arm. Zeke moved the drink to his upper left arm and moved it before Cryo so he could sip it. “Alright Cryo. Take short, easy sips.” He slowly tipped the cup forward and Cryo began to sip the fizzy drink down. After a several gulps, the drink was gone. “That’s probably a little better now,” said Zeke. “Yea. It still tastes good.” “Now now, Shadowshot. That’s enough.” said another familiar voice. “Hmm?” said Cryo.

He looked to his right, and saw Patch, with a few places bandaged up across his arms and legs, and his blue medical cloths ripped in a few places. “Oh. Patch. I didn’t realize you were here too. You… ok? I see you have some injuries too.” “Don’t worry about me, my young friend. I’m nowhere near as beat up as you. And I have you to thank for that.” He smiled and positioned himself right next to Cryo’s bed. Cryo coughed a few more times. Patch took notice and pulled something out of his pocket. “Can you open your maw, Cryo? I’d like to check your temperature again.” “Oh. Yea. Hang on.”

Cryo opened his maw and Patch placed an electric thermometer under his tongue. Cryo closed his maw again, and then after a few seconds, it began to beep. Patch took the thermometer out of his mouth and checked it. “Your running a bit of a higher fever. Cryo. 70.2`F. Not really a surprise from all the excitement going on lately. He headed toward the back of the room, to a small medical refrigerator near the far left corner. He took a tray next to the fridge and placed a few things on it and headed back towards his patient. “Here. Take this pill. This will help bring down the fever. It will also help ease some of the pain you might be feeling.” “Alright. Thanks, Patch.”

Cryo opened his mouth and Patch placed his left hand behind Cryo’s head and slowly and gently lifted it up. He placed the pill on Cryo’s tongue and Cryo closed his maw. Patch then took a small cup with water from the tray and helped Cryo drink from it to wash the pill down. “There we go. Let me put this cold pad on your head as well. Bring down the swelling.” Patch grabbed an ice filled bag from the tray and a small strand of white string. He placed it on Cryo’s feverish head, and tied it on gently with the white sting. Cryo gave a small relaxed sigh, as Patch carefully placed his head back down on the pillow.” “There we go, son. I bet that feels better.” “Yea. The cold feels nice.” Patch rubbed cryo’s head a few times and pulled the covers of the bed up a bit for him.

“I think it might be best if you try and get some extra sleep.” said Patch. Zeke picked himself up from the chair, and patted Cryo on the belly a few times. “Yea. Take this time as a chance to rest up and recuperate. We’ll arrive to our Firebase 01 in less then a hour and a half. We’ll have a emergency shrapnel removal operation prepared by tomorrow, so we can get those nasty bits of metal and such out of your body. I hope you won’t mind being asleep for a extended bit of time. It’s best to have you not moving too much so the shrapnel won’t dig deeper inside of your body. Also, you probably wont be feeling too well with your injuries.” Cryo coughed a few times. “Oh… Well. I’m fine with being asleep for a bit longer then usual. If it helps me get better, I’m all for it.” Cryo said. He smiled and nodded at Patch. Patch smiled back and patted Cryo’s belly a few times. “Once were done with the operation, we can get you settled in and moved you into your new quarters while your still sleeping. Don’t worry. We promise not to wake you, bud. Once the sedatives wear off, you should be feeling much better.” “That sounds really nice. Thanks.”

Cryo began to think about what his “personal quarters,” will have inside of it once he wakes up. “Now, my fine scaley friend. Sleep easy now. You’ve had a rough go of it.” “Alright… I’ll do that. Thanks Zeke.” “Here. I’ll turn on some soothing music for you.” Zeke went to the back of the room and took a small radio from a table. He brought it over to Cryo and placed it on the cabinet next to his bed. He smiled at Cryo and turned it on. The radio played a soothing music box melody which flowed through Cryo’s ears. Patch seemingly began to change his iv’s medicine to something else. Cryo’s mind and then strangely his entire body began to feel really numb. Cryo’s mind began to fade quickly. Cryo slowly closed his eyes as his head became fuzzy and his eyes faded to black. “Sleep well, Cryo. You’ll be somewhere safe soon, my friend,” said Zeke.

Ch 2

Warm Welcome

Cryo’s eyes slowly opened up. He heard a ringing in his ear. He gave out a small yawn. He began to pick himself up. “Ahh… Good mourning,” thought Cryo. “Hey there Cryo,” said Cameron. “Huh? Oh hi Cameron.” Camron was sitting next to Cryo, near the bed. He looked at his radio, which was sounding the mourning alarm and read 9:04 A.M. “Alarm off,” Cryo said to his radio, which promptly turned off.

As Cryo leaned up from his bed and began to lower the blanket down, Cameron came close and gave a big hug to Cryo. “Easy Cameron. Easy,” said Cryo. “I missed you so much! You don’t know how worried I was. I thought I’d never see you again!” “I’m fine Cameron. Me and mom are fine.” “Everyone has been talking about how you were out in the wilds surviving off of nothing but a broken tire and sticks and vines!” “I wouldn’t go that far…” “How did you do all that Cryo?” “You have seen me watching that survival show before. I guess I just picked up on a few tricks I could try.” “I think that was MORE then a few tricks. You were outdoors for almost an entire month! Was it hard?” “Yea. I had to make a net to find food, make fires to cook, make a filter for purified water, and travel a REALLY long distance while being hunted by those bad guys.” “That sounds awful.” “I think I enjoyed it a little…” “Really? Why?” “I haven’t really been in any forest or even outside the base since I was just a hatchling. The only place outside I’ve really been is on the swim trip and around the base. I’ve never really been in many “natural,” places.

“Hey you two,” said Tide. “Huh. Oh. Good mourning Mom.” “Good mourning son. I see that Cameron has given you a proper welcome back.” Tide moved over to the dining table and placed down a bowl with a spoon in it and a plate with several pieces of toasted bread with a stick of butter on the side. “Come on, you two. I’ve got breakfast ready. I’ve got nice bowl of Fruity Frenzy cereal and toast.” “Sounds good. Thanks, Mom.” Cryo and Cameron came over to the table and sat on one of the cushions around the table. The three quickly took several pieces of toast each and began to eat. Cryo began to take a spoonful of cereal and gulped it down. “Mmm. Good stuff. I love this cereal,” said Cryo. “I heard its one of your favorites, son,” Tide said, as she quickly took a bite of the toasted bread.” “I like it too, Cryo,” said Cameron. The three continued to eat their food and soon the bowls were empty and the plate had nothing but bread crumbs left on it.

“That was good,” said Cryo. “I liked it too, son,” said Tide. “Hey Cryo. You want to play a board game?” asked Cameron. “Yea. Sounds good. I can play one right now,” said Cryo. “Can I join? I haven’t played one since I was with Greg,” said Tide. “Sure mom. Board games are better with more players.” “Which one should we play, Cryo?” asked Cameron. “Hmm…” “While you pick, I’ll clean up the table son,” said Tide. Cryo went towards a small cabinet near his window and opened it up. Inside was a bunch of board games stacked on top of one another in boxes. “Which one should we do?” thought Cryo. Cryo looked through all board games, until one caught his eye. “Detective. One of my favorites. I wonder if mom ever played this one before. Hmm… Yea. Let’s play this one,” thought Cryo. Cryo took the board game from the shelf and brought it to the table. Tide had already cleaned it off and was waiting there with Cameron. “Have you played this one mom?” Cryo asked.” “Detective, huh? No. I can’t say that I have…” replied Tide. “The game is simple, Mom. 3 cards are put into an small file, containing the 3 main clues. Suspect, weapon, and room. We roll a dice to move around the board to get into rooms and make guesses on a suspect and a weapon used in the room you went to. If someone has a card, they show it to you, and you mark it down. Game is won when you make a correct guess about the weapon, room, and suspect. “Sounds complicated,” said Tide. “It’s easy to understand once you get into it, Tide,” said Cameron. “Well, alright. I’m sure I’ll get it down,” Tide said.

So they quickly set up the board and played. Tide quickly picked up on how to play, and had fun. About an hour and 30 minutes passed as they played. Cryo then heard a familiar voice from the doorway, of his room. “You 3 ok?” asked Ty. “Huh? Oh, hi Ty, I’m doing fine,” Cryo said. “I’m ok, Ty,” said Tide. “Me too, Dad,” said Cameron. “I see you 3 are playing Detective. You having fun?” All 3 nodded in agreement. “Do either of you need a small break?” asked Ty. “I’m good Ty,” said Tide. Cryo thought for a moment, and nodded. “Yea, Ty. I could use a break.” “Alright Cryo. Let’s go outside,”

Cryo went towards Ty and he opened the door and began to escort Cryo outside through the halls of the living quarters. “It’s nice that your back with us Cryo,” Ty said. “You both really had us worried being out in that large forest all alone. To think all this happened. I should have never trusted him…” said Ty. Cryo thought for a moment. He began to think about what had happened. He remembered then about what he heard in the forest when they were running. “Mick. I remember those guys saying someone named Mick betrayed them,” he thought. Cryo began to wonder if Ty knew more about what happened. He decided to try to get answers from Ty.

“When you say that, your talking about Mick, right?” asked Cryo. Ty looked at Cryo in curiosity. “You knew?” asked Ty. “When I was in the forest, they ended up finding and chasing us. We fell into a small divot full of mud. They were using thermal, so the mud hid us from them luckily. But I heard them mention that someone named Mick. Actually… I think I heard the name multiple times while we were out in the wilderness.” Cryo looked forward and continued walking. “Can you tell me more about that, Ty?” Ty looked towards Cryo. He gave out a sigh, and then a nod. “Alright Cryo. I’ll tell you what we’ve figured out.”

Ch 3

Corrupt Commander

“Mick was part of the military detail in the base. He was a head in weapons development here and a commander of a group of military personnel,” said Ty. “Weapons development?” replied Cryo. “That’s right. He was also the commander in charge of the operation when we…” Ty breathed in a let out a heavy breath. “When we took you.” Cryo looked at Ty with a sad look and then looked back forward. “He wasn’t very nice. He tried to hurt my adopted family,” said Cryo. “Yes. It wasn’t supposed to go that way. I admit myself he did go too far…” Ty looked back at Cryo and saw his concerned look.

“His… interest in you ended up causing problems… When you first arrived here, he showed very little interest in you. Seeing as how you spent your entire day pretty much in front of the window, eating and sleeping, he assumed at that point you were really not worth the trouble. A wasted effort on a new creature with little interesting abilities or traits.” Cryo looked at Ty and saw he was looking pretty concerned now.

“That changed when word came around of your knack for repairing technology. He began to more closely monitor you. We found a whole bunch of videos stolen from our security cameras in his room. It seems he always had someone watching you in secret when you were repairing and working with tech.” Cryo began to breath a little more heavily. “When you began to make your own tech and adding upgrades to your items, he began to push us to convince you to build more. And he also wanted to start training you in combat. While we had limited knowledge on your abilities at the time, he saw an opportunity to use you as both a weapons expert and a possible asset in military intervention.”

“He wanted… to turn me into a weapon,” said Cryo. Ty looked at Cryo and nodded. “While we had an interest ourselves from what you and your mother could make, and your own special abilities, we realized that putting you through this would be awful and wrong. Especially at your age and what was written in Greg’s notebook.” Ty turned ahead, with a slightly angry scowl on his face.

“Naturally, we refused to go along with his request. But he continued to try to push us to try to do more with you. When we continued to refuse, it seems he decided to take matters into his own hands.” Cryo gulped and continued walking with Ty. “He convinced his own unit to try and take you and your mother for themselves. He believed we were wasting both your potentials and just keeping you as a pets. As a result, he came up with a plan to take you both and use you to create advanced technology to sell and have you both aid in major military operations overseas,” said Ty. “Sounds awful…” replied Cryo. “He and his unit were responsible for both attempts to take you. But in both attempts, they underestimated you.”

“They… underestimated me?” “Yes. In both attempts, they didn’t realize how crafty you were. Mick didn’t think you’d be such a difficult creature to outsmart. As a result, well… Both his plans inevitably failed.” Ty looked back at Cryo and gave a smile. Cryo gave a smile back. “Now that he and his unit have been found out, they’ll not be able to come even close to this base without serious consequences. He’ll probably think twice before coming after you again.” Cryo smiled again and nodded, and they continued on. They both approached the door to the outside area. Ty opened the door and escorted Cryo out. “Speaking of which Cryo. Could you tell us how you managed to escape and survive in the forest?” “Oh yea. Alright. Here’s what I did, Ty…”

Cryo took his break and sat with Ty on a outdoor bench while telling Ty about what happened. Ty seemed very impressed as Cryo told his story. “…And then we began to travel again after taking down our makeshift tent. After walking forward until near dusk, you found us,” said Cryo. “I must say Cryo. You really know how to survive on your own. I never expected you to know how to do all of this,” said Ty. “Yea… I guess so Ty,” “Well. We’ve spent enough time out here, Cryo. Why don’t we go back inside. Cameron and Tide are waiting for you.” “Alright. Let’s go back in, Ty.”

The two headed back inside and back into Cryo’s room. Tide was talking to Cameron and saw Cryo step back into the room. “Hi son. You were gone a while. Is everything alright?” asked Tide. “Yea. I’m fine mom.” “I was just talking to Cameron about what happened to us in the wilds, said Tide. “I was just talking to Ty about that too, Mom. That’s why it took a while.” “Ahh. I see. Well now that your back, we were going to watch a movie.” “Which movie?” asked Cryo “Legends series, Dragons and Dawn,” Tide replied. “I’ve never heard of that movie before.” said Cryo. “We recently got it. It’s in a 3 part movie collection. The series is supposed to be very emotional. It’s the third movie, in the series,” said Cameron. “Shouldn’t we start with the first one?” replied Cryo. “I saw this one in theaters. It’s really good. I haven’t seen the first two. We can catch up on the first two later.” Cryo tilted his head a bit and then gave a smile and nodded. “Alright. Let’s watch it.”

Ch 4

TV Time

Cryo took the remote to his Tv and used the joysticks to move it towards toward a group of bean bags and a small leather sofa near the right side to his room’s window. With a push of a button, the tv set itself down, extended its plug into a socket, and extended its hilt to meet with the floor. “Voice command,” Cryo said. “Voice command recognized. TV model 9500 Dragon’s gem is ready to receive command.” “Open chip drive for movie.” “Opening chip drive.” The chip drive for the TV opened and Cryo took the movie from its case and put it into the slot. The movie chip slid into its socket and the drive closed as Cryo went to sit in his seat. “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. “Command. Play movie.” “Playing movie.”

The movie played as the three intently watched it. As they watched it, they felt an array of different feelings and concepts. Sadness, willpower, companionship, strength, power, and hope. The movie soon ended as the three looked upon, satisfied with the experience they witnessed. “That was incredible,” said Cryo. “I told you you would like it,” said Cameron “I must say, I’ve never seen anything like this. I wish the dragons in this movie would have existed back on our homeworld. They could have prevented the travesty that took hold of our home world single handedly,” said Tide. Cryo looked at Tide, and became curious. “Home… world?” Cryo said. Tide looked toward Cryo and gave a sigh. “Yes Cryo. You do realize your not from this world, right?” “I’ve… suspected I’m not from around here. But I… never really knew where I really came from.” “They never told you?” “No. They always said to me that my origins aren’t exactly… pleasant…” Tide began to think for a moment. “Should I tell him?” thought Tide. She began to think for a moment. But then she realized that he deserves to know his origins. “Alright Cryo. I’ll tell you a little bit.”

Ch 5

Homeless to Home

Tide began by telling Cryo about their home planet and how a group of shapeshifting creatures had provided technology to them that changed their world. She told Cryo that they had their own plans. How they had taken over and subjected their entire world under their evil influence. How a desperate plan was made. And how she made her own plan. Cryo listened with a worried look. He understood why they never told him before. “That’s scary…” Cryo said. “Yes. Its awful what happened. But its wasn’t all bad.” “Really? Why Mom?”

“Because we came here, Cryo. We we’re travelers from far away. Far beyond the stars. We travelled far in order to find a new place. A place where we could call home.” Tide gave a smile at Cryo and stroked his head a bit. “We found someone willing to help us in our time of need. They took us in. They fed us, helped us, gave us a chance to start anew. A new world for the both of us. While the things that have happened to the both of us hasn’t all been good, I think we both know that we have a home here.” Tide looked at Cryo, who now had a small smile on his face. Tide gave a smile back. “It doesn’t matter where we came from. All that matters is that we’re here now. We’re somewhere where we can call home.”

Cameron came over and gave a smile at Cryo. “Yea. Your not back in a war torn world. Your here with us, now. Your home Cryo. And no one will take it from you, not without a fight,” Cameron said. “Yea, thanks. I do feel better now,” Cryo said. Cryo looked toward his work bench and saw a small pile of technology. “Looks like work has piled up a bit since I’ve been gone,” said Cryo. “Can you give me some time to work on this stuff?” “Alright. We’ll give you some time,” said Cameron. “Thanks. I need to get started.” Cryo went over to his workbench and began to slowly observe the tech. He took one of the devices and began observing it.

Ch 6

Program Prodigy

Cryo put in his magnifying speck on his right eye and prepared to work on repairing the devices. “Alright. Notes here say its… John’s personal computer. Hmm… I never had to do something for one of the kids at school before.” Cryo remembered the note he got last night. He then gave a small smile. “They’ve accepted who I am. Maybe I’ll be able to get along better with them. Now let’s see… A Zealot Shard gaming labtop by the looks of it. Problem seems to be its not turning on. Notes say he accidently dropped it and it bounced on his bed and hit the floor. First thing you check is the power,” he thought.

Cryo quickly used his screwdriver to unscrew the back and take a look at the power for it. “Power system seems good. Maybe the hard drive?” Cryo pulled out the battery and looked inside to find that the hard drive had a crack in it. “Defiantly the hard drive malfunction. Power systems working means nothing if the main computing unit is damaged like this. It will need to be replaced. Good thing the data for all computers at the base for each person has a backup in the system. I’ll be able to transfer the system by accessing the main data storage units at the base. Not to mention I have many different replacement parts prepared for me for cases like this. I should have a new hard drive ready to be installed. Cryo went to a very large and long set of drawers to the left to his work bench. He got up from his seat and combed over them. He quickly found the drawer he was looking for.” “Here we go. This should be the one needed for the laptop.” Cryo opened the drawer and took out the hard drive and started to come back over.

His eye however, drifted towards a drawer above where he keeps a “different,” hard drive. He walked back over and took a look at it. The word “prototype devices,” was listed on the drawer. “Should I?” Cryo thought. Cryo opened it up and took out one of his own custom built drives. Cryo began to think for a moment. “I built this one myself. Programmed it too. I was hoping to use one of these for my own custom modified computer one day but…” Cryo looked back towards his clients computer. “This would be a good way to possibly test this.” Cryo started to walk over to the computer with both drives in hand. “I’ve created multiple drives just like this one that can connect together. I’ve… never tested them before though. It’s supposed to be very advanced, but I needed to test it on an actual device beforehand. If it works, the computer will be smoother, faster, have a voice command system, and be able to hold much more data. It would require me to program a little bit extra, but…” Cryo approached the work bench with both drives and set them down next to the device. “If this fails though, it could damage the entire systems and possibly cause the data from the device to become corrupt. If that happens, I… doubt he’ll be happy. They’ve only just began to like me.” Cryo looked at both devices in his hand. “Should I try it?” Cryo thought for a moment, and made a decision.

“If this fails, I’ll… just replace the entire thing myself. Data, subsystems, programs, and parts. I’ll build one from scratch if I have too. I hope he’ll be able to forgive me. This is risky, and I don’t need any of them to hate me again.” Cryo nodded, took in a deep breath, and picked up his experimental hard drive. “Alright. Let’s give it a shot.”

Ch 7

Accidental AI

Cryo worked on installing the new hard drive for a while, carefully arranging it inside and fixing it to the computer. Soon the hard drive was fitted in and now Cryo needed to turn on the computer. “Alright, let’s boot it up.” Cryo pressed the power button on the computer, which very quickly turned on. “Alright. The computer turned on. Now to download his files from the base’s backup systems to retrieve his computers downloads, files, games, settings, etc.” Cryo typed on the keyboard with the notes on where to retrieve his files. Typing in the passwords and navigating the database servers, the file were quickly retrieved in less then 15 minutes. “Alright. Looks like its working so far. I thought it would take much longer to retrieve his files. Guess the hard drive is working as intended.” Cryo looked at a gauge placed within the socket on the computer telling of the electrical output. “Computer seems to be running fine, power wise. But now let’s test playing a game for a bit. Games usually use a lot of power and overheat a computer.” Cryo opened a game on the computer and tested it out and played it for a bit, keeping his eye on the gauge. “No overheating. Frames are very good. Things seem to be working very well!” Cryo became a little excited to see the his drive doing extremely well. “Let’s test the command system.”

“Voice command.” “Ready to receive order.” “Open chip drive.” “Opening drive.” The chip drive opened up on the side of the computer. “Close chip drive.” “Closing chip drive.” The chip drive slid back into the computer. “Let’s try another command,” he thought. “Check computer diagnostics for discrepancies.” “Checking computers for problems. Scanning.”

The computer began a scan of its subsystems and quickly stopped. “Problem found. Partial data corruption.” Cryo gave out a sigh and began to think he might have screwed up. “Where is the corruption,” “Data system for 3d modeling program, Monet, has several files that have been corrupted.” “Options?” “Already at work repairing.” “Really?” “Yes. Files will be retrieved from storage and repaired in less then 7 minutes.” “Hmm… Thats a little weird.” He thought for a moment. He decided to dismiss it.

“Any other problems?” The computer continued scanning. “Problem found, slight deficiency with power unit sub system.” “Huh? Problem with… power?” “Yes. Computing resources using slightly more power then expected.” “Really?” Cryo looked at the gauge attached to the computer again and noticed that it was right. The computer spoke again. “Advancements with hard drive have had a slight impact on power subsystems. Solution already found, Adding a distributer to main power unit should suffice and properly regulate power through the subsystems. Replacing the power wire connected to the hard drive with a regulator wire should maximize battery life, while also increasing battery lifespan without causing problems to main cpu unit.” Cryo thought for a moment. “The computer itself could figure out a problem with the power? A solution as well? Even upgrades? My notes did say a power discrepancy, though… it seemed to be just the hard drive, right?” He began to think a bit. “Well… I suppose… I should get on it real quick. Cryo shut down the computer and began to disassemble the back so he could add the distributer and the regulator wire. His mind began to drift a bit.” “The command unit is much more advanced then I thought. Seemed… observant. Almost like it had a personality. Wait a minute…” Cryo turned away for a second. He then turned back with a concerned look. “Did I accidently program an AI?” Cryo became worried at the possibility. He quickly assembled the back on. “I need to look further into this…”

He turned on the computer, which booted up almost immediately. “That was a really quick startup. Even quicker then before… I don’t think that could have been just from the new power unit…” Cryo thought. Cryo began to think of a question to ask the computer.

“Umm… search internet for umm… movies about dragons.” “Searching.” The computer screen quickly opened up to a large list of movies going down. “I never programmed a search program for the internet,” thought Cryo. He began to breath a little more heavily.

“Umm… How are you… feeling?” “Calmed. Feeling good to be of service to you. Excited to help and observe. Prepared for more interaction,” the computer replied. “It could tell me how its feeling. I think it actually has emotions. Oh dear…” Cryo began to sweat a bit. He began to think.

“I think this hard drive has… a mind of its own. That… could be VERY bad,” Cryo began to remember some movies he watched. “It… seems friendly. But… I’ve seen too many movies where an artificial intelligence could go crazy.” Cryo thought for a moment. “Can you… um… answer more… direct questions?” “Go ahead with your questions.” “Ok…” Cryo began to think.” “I better ask VERY carefully. There’s no telling how this could go.” He took in a deep breath and looked towards the screen.

“Umm… what do you think about… uh… Humans?” “Humans have had their problems in the past. They have a tendency to cause problems across one another. But there are many good people in this world. A couple of bad seeds do not make a society as a whole, creator.” “Creator?” replied Cryo. Cryo began to really get nervous.

“Umm… What about… dragons?” “Dragons are smart and clever creatures. Based on old Earth ancient mythology. The fact that a kind and gentle blue water dragon stands before me now means there must have been some truth to those stories. I was created by that very special dragon.” “…It knows about me… It knows I created it… Is it… able to see me with the computers camera?” Cryo gulped, and decided to ask one more question.”

“Umm… Do you… have the possibility of… becoming dangerous or uh… really mad at either humans or dragons and cause serious problems? Your… directly connected to our network and I’m… concerned about what that could entail if something goes wrong…” “Your concern is noted. Do not worry. I would never harm the creator, caretakers, or his buddies. If you would like, I could disconnect myself from the main servers of this installation so that I cannot access without your input. Would you like that?” Cryo thought for a moment. “Umm… Yes please.” “Disconnecting main ai connection from main servers. Adding command input for creator, caretakers, and staff safety. Ai unit will be used on this computer and in assistant devices. Would you like anything else, creator?” “Umm… you do realize this computer is not mine, right?” “Yes. I do know creator. I’ll be ready to be transferred to your own computer when you have one.” “What will happen to the command structure on his?” “It will still function normally.” Diagnostics will still run itself and be able to continue identifying problems. The upgrades to your clients computer will continue to function normally.” “Alright. Uh… Thank you.”

Cryo closed the computer and put it into his clients computer bag with a look of concern on his face. “I hope I didn’t create a monster here. It did say it put a command input to connect to the bases main servers, but I nonetheless worry. Sigh… I guess I’ll just have to monitor things from here.”

Cryo then took his next device to repair. A chip drive movie player. “I need to listen to something calming while I do this now.” Cryo placed down the movie player on his work bench, and raised his magnifying speck over his head. He began to head toward his bed. He picked up his radio and took it back toward the work bench in the back. He was about to say something when it turned on by itself.

“You seem tense, creator. Would you like for me to tune the radio to your favorite type of calming work music?” “…!” Cryo’s eyes shot up! He realized that the AI he programmed had inserted itself in his radio and now probably his TV and other custom items. It might even be connected to EVERY electronic item in the room. Cryo gulped. “Relax, creator. Take a deep breath. Clear your mind. And calm yourself. You have work to do. Let me help ease you into it.” Cryo gave out a sigh. “Alright. Play soft rock.” “Playing Radio station 2.1.1., New Generation Rock Radio.”

Ch 8

Connection Curiosity

Cryo began working to repair the chip drive player as he listened to the soft melody from his radio. “Ok. Notes say… movies are freezing sometimes during movie play. Hmm… Normally I would think its the chip itself that’s the problem, but it says here its happened with multiple movies.” Cryo thought for a moment. Cryo carefully took the chip drive player apart and took a look at the chip reader. “Just as I thought. Looks like the chip drive reader is old and starting to corrode. It will need to be replaced.” Cryo went to his cabinet and went to the section where he keeps different chip drives. He took out a replacement drive, and began to work on installing it. As he worked, some thoughts began to wander in his head.

“That whole story about what happened to Mom. It’s hard to believe how crazy things ended up for her. Hmm…” Cryo scratched his neck a bit and continued to work. “To think a bunch of evil creatures took over our homeworld. Subjected nearly my entire species. Nearly took Mom and… me…” Cryo looked back and saw Tide and Cameron having a small conversation. Cryo turned back to his work. “And to think that most of what was left decided to transform themselves…” Cryo scratched his head next. “Its crazy when you think about it.”

Cryo had finished installing the new chip drive reader and put the chip and put it carefully in place. He began quickly put the movie player back together but leaving the chip drive reader exposed. “Now it just needs a little kick.” Cryo dabbed a tiny bit of his talon in his mouth and dabbed it a bit on the chip drive reader. The small electrical charge in his saliva caused the movie player to power on for a second and then turn off. Cryo then placed its remaining parts back together. Cryo was about to head to get the controller from his tv, when he noticed something strange was happening to it. Suddenly, the tv began to hover up and retract its stand inside itself. The tv began to immediately move towards Cryo’s location, and plugged itself into the the power outlet on the wall above the workbench. It slowly hovered itself back down gently and extended its landing frame. Cryo looked at the tv with disbelief. “It’s defiantly in my tv now…” Cryo thought.

“Ready to test the results of your repair, creator,” the tv spoke. It extended it chip drive reader outward. “Ugh… This is going to take some getting used too…” Cryo placed the chip into the chip drive reader and it immediately closed. “Would you like me to skip all previews and menu’s and immediately play the movie?” “Yes please…” “Playing movie.” After watching a movie for a bit, Cryo was satisfied that it was working perfectly. “Movie drive player is operating normally creator. Good work on a job well done,” a voice echoed from his TV. Taking notice, Cryo decided to give another reply. “Um… Thank you, I guess,” “On to your next project, Creator.”

Cryo took his next item to repair, a Medium flat screen Tv. “Ok notes say… a ball hit the screen of the tv. Screeen kept working, but the graphics on TV goes out sometimes. Ok…” Cryo thought for a moment, and began to carefully take it apart. He looked towards the part connected to the screen and found its problem. “Just as I thought. The screen connector is has been damaged. It needs to be replaced.” Cryo went towards his drawers and took out a replacement part and headed to start repairing it. Cryo began to think again. This time, he began to think about the dreams he’s been having lately.

“Now that I think about things. My dreams. Some of them, had dragons… In some type of advanced armorsuits.” Cryo gave out a look of curiosity, and then one of concern. “The first one was when I was young. Not very long before I was taken. I woke up within my own destroyed town. No idea how it happened. Alone and scared. My house was destroyed. Then they showed up.” Cryo began to sweat a bit. “They said that my family escaped, except Mom… But they were looking for me. They chased me, bound me, and blindfolded me, right before I woke up.” Cryo gave out a sigh.

“The next time I had a dream about them was when I was… paralyzed.” Cryo tilted his head and scratched his neck. “I woke up in a prison. Muzzled and trapped. They came in and tried to blindfold me again. But, I was rescued by… a movie character of all things… Things went dark after that.” Cryo gulped and wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead. “They said that… someone wanted to meet me. But who I wonder? It couldn’t have been anyone friendly. I probably would have ended up just like the others who were subjected. Possibly even worse…” He gulped again and shook his head a bit.

He quickly finished up the TV. After plugging it in, he saw that it was working perfectly and began to box it up to be taken back. “Excellent job once again, creator. You’ve done a good job.” said his radio as the music faded in volume a bit so its mechanical voice could be heard. “Umm… Thanks again?” replied Cryo. He picked up his next project, a cylindrical music drive player.

“Let’s see here… Notes say that it stopped playing music. Hmm…” Cryo turned it on to see if it could power on. “Power seems to be working. Must be something with the sound system itself.” Cryo began to take it apart and looked at the sound systems. “Looks like the speakers has water damage. Short circuited the sound systems. I’ll need to replace the speakers.” Cryo got up and quickly got a replacement sound system and began putting it together. He went to work placing the replacement speakers. He then began to think of his dreams again.

“The next time I saw those dragons was when I had that dream about my Mother, only a little bit after she woke up. That was the first time I actually fought them off.” Cryo began to screw in the final few bolts for the music player back in. After plugging it in and testing it. He saw it was working. He began to box it up to be sent back to its owner. “That dream helped me learn to fight. The dream felt different a bit though. It didn’t feel like it was… connected… to what I had before, so to speak. Its felt like, I had it for a different purpose. My mom woke up soon after. Then the whole mess started with those kidnappers. We got away, but… I had even more dreams while going through the forest.” After boxing it up, his radio spoke up again. “Excellent job creator. Another successful repair. Your client will be pleased.” “Yea… Thanks… I suppose.”

Cryo picked up another item to repair, an Ignition portable gaming console. “Alright notes here say… screen damaged from fall. This one is at least is obvious. Though, I’ll still need to check the other systems to see if anything else is wrong.” Cryo got a replacement screen and began to take the console apart. After looking a bit, he found another problem. “Looks like the image conductor is also damaged. Even if I replace the screen, it still won’t put up an image. it will have to be replaced as well. Cryo grabbed another replacement part, and began to work. His thoughts began to wander again.

“Most of my dreams seemed to be connected to each other. That world I ended up on, with those bugs. I’m sure it is Earth. Albeit different from what I expected it to be. It’s sentient species now seemed to be advanced bugs.” Cryo yawned a bit and continued to work on the console. “I woke up, in an alleyway near some buildings. I was in a crater, my leg was broken. There was an indent in the wall of the building, implying I fell from the sky, knocked into the building, and landed hard on the ground. It would explain why I had a broken leg, along with other injuries. I limped out of the alley, hurting all over, only to be greeted by all of them.” Cryo began to finish up putting the console together and was about to box it up. “They took me and loaded me onto their ship. Thankfully, they began to see I was no threat to them after that Spider, Zeke, began to talk to me. They took me in, treated my injuries, and gave me comfort in an unfamiliar world. But still…”

Cryo had just it finished putting the console back together. After turning it on and playing it a bit, he saw that the power systems were working perfectly and began to box it up to be transported. Cryo gave out a small yawn. “I’m getting a little tired. I should probably take a nap soon. “Good job with another repaired item, creator. Your starting to look tired though. Do you need a nap? I understand you have a tendency to take naps during the day.” He looked toward the radio and took in a deep breath. “Um… I… uh… have enough energy for just one more item.” Cryo replied back.

Cryo went to pick up his last project of the day, a microwave. “Alright… Notes here say, heater is taking much longer to cook items. Hmm…” Cryo began to take it apart and looked heater. “Yep. Internal Heater is shot. Looks like an electrical surge damaged the heater. Probably from one of the storms when I was going through the forest. I need to replace the heat bulbs, heater, and some of the wires.” Cryo quickly got the needed parts and began to repair it. His thoughts drifted again.

“The last time I heard about them, was with my most recent dreams. When I was being transported somewhere else by those bugs. They told me that those… dragons had placed a tracking chip inside my back, and they attacked the base to take me. But I apparently… fought them off and saved several of the bugs warriors that were watching me. Patch as well. Even with my broken leg and fever. Though apparently… I was injured further during the fight.” Cryo gave a small smile and a nod and continued working.

“But that dream shows that both of the types of dreams I had are somehow connected.” He finished up with the microwave. He quickly tested it and confirmed it worked and began to box it up to be safely transported. “Good job creator. Another item perfectly repaired.” “…Umm yea… Let’s… clean up now.” Cryo’s went to work to clean up his workspace and was soon cleaned up and his tools put back. Cryo gave out a big yawn and rubbed his eyes a bit. He looked at the time, which read 11:10 A.M. “Alright. Time for a nice long nap.”

Ch 9

Nap Near Noon

He picked up his radio and moved it on the cabinet next to his bed. Tide and Cameron took notice, and began to walk over. “Are you going to take a nap, Cryo?” asked Tide. “Yea. I’m pretty tired now, Mom. I need some sleep.” “Would you like for me to tuck you in?” Cryo thought for a moment. He smiled back at her and nodded. “Yea. You can tuck me in, Mom.” “Alright, my little boy. Would you like to sleep in a nice, comfy shirt as well?” Cryo thought for a moment. Then he smiled and nodded. Tide gestured Cryo over to her. “Come over here, Cryo. Let’s get something nice and cozy to wear and snuggle up in for your nap.” “Mom… Cameron’s here.” Cameron and Tide smiled at each other and chuckled a bit. “Come on, Cryo.”

She picked up Cryo’s blanket and headed over to the cabinet with his cloths close to his bed. Cryo headed over to her and sat himself over next to the dresser. She placed Cryo’s blanket next to her and began to rummage around a bit in the drawer. She then stopped for a minute and then took out a nice black shirt with the small picture of Cryo huddled up in his bed on the bottom, with a very large thought bubble going above his head. The thought bubble itself had a large picture of Cryo wearing a white space suit and flying through space itself with a small rocket pack attached to his back. The words, “Sleeping within the vastness of space,” were above the picture in an arch and white letters. Tide smiled for a second and turned to Cryo. “Hold up your arms, my little boy.”

Cryo smiled and lifted his arms up and Tide lifted the shirt over Cryo, making sure his wings could extend out the back. She then lifted Cryo and his blanket up and carefully and tightly wrapped him in his blanket. She smiled at Cryo and then carried Cryo to his bed nearby. She rubbed his head a few times and then placed his head on the pillow on his bed. Cryo yawned and smiled, back at Tide. She then gave one more kiss on Cryo’s forehead and stood back up.

“Alright, Cryo. Me and Cameron will leave you alone to get some sleep.” “Have a good nap, Cryo. Why don’t we go outside for a bit, Tide,” said Cameron. They both headed to the door, turned the lights off, and closed the shutters on his large window at the side of the room, and left so Cryo could sleep peacefully. Cryo yawned again and rubbed his eyes. “Alright. Time for some well needed rest.” Cryo huddled even tighter in his blanket, and began to settle down. “Would you like for me to play soothing bedtime music?” said the radio. Cryo looked at the radio, with a slightly worried look in his eyes. He took in a deep breath to try and relax. “Y… Yes please…” replied Cryo. “Now playing Naptunes Channel.” The radio dj came on the speakers. “Greetings fellow snoozers. This next song is new and was inspired by a dream of a battle against the cold and dark. A song giving a sense of hope against impossible odds. We’re now playing, Bittercold Breakthrough.” A soft yet quick, soothing tempo played from the radio. The melody ringed into Cryo’s ears as his eyes began to fall to the dark. He gave one last yawn and slowly closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber. “Radio off.”

Ch 10

Another Awakening

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and yawned. He saw he was somewhere else again. He saw he was nestled carefully on a rather low to the ground bed against the back wall of a mid sized room. The bed had a calming blue frame made to look like a large adult blue dragon on its back. There also was a smiling dragons head right above where Cryo was sleeping connected directly to the wall, high enough so there wasn’t a chance for Cryo to hit his head standing up on it. His head was laying on a soft blue pillow, with calming water pattern on it. The back corners supporting the bed looked like back dragon paws facing up and curved forward a bit. A very soft dark blue blanket was over him, with the picture of what seemed to be him, flying through the air and seemingly about to blast a stream of ice from his mouth, within a circular black frame. Around the picture seemed to be smaller insignia of different bugs in black frames on other parts of the blanket. As he looked at how the blanket was tucked into his bed, he felt like it looked kind of like a pouch, like on a hopper (an evolved kangaroo back on Cyriss). It felt a bit strange to him, as mother dragon’s didn’t have pouches as far as he knew. He began to look around the room.

The room itself was well lit, with the sun beaming down from a wide window to the left of the room. Outside the window, Cryo saw the room he was in was on an upper floor of the building, with a large view of VERY tall and expansive forest within a rocky, mountainous region. The view of the outside was soothing to Cryo’s eyes, and he began to lay back in the bed a bit and relax a bit more. The walls were painted with dragons and bugs working together throughout the room. The front wall in the room had the same picture of Cryo as the blanket.

Toward the far left corner of the room was a medium round table with 4 chairs surrounding it. The chairs were metal blue chairs, with a cushion on top with the picture of different types of bugs, cutting through different colored backgrounds. 1 chair was raised a bit more then the other 3 toward the table, and was wider also. It’s cushion showed what appeared to be Cryo’s head, cutting through the blue background on it. Cryo thought he could see his name, printed at the top of the seat. The top of the table had a pattern resembling blue water with waves and the stand seemed to looked a bit like there was cold blue water running through it.

Next to Cryo’s bed on the right was a small cabinet that resembled a blue dragon’s body sitting down, with a drawer directly where its dark blue belly was. On top of it was a small lamp looking like a dragons head and neck looking up. The cover was above the head and looking similar to a fountain of clear water coming out of the dragons mouth. In front of the lamp, was a tray of different foods and a drink on top, clearly meant for him. A little ways away from the cabinet, was a small screen on a stand. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the screen was connected to a portable stand on wheels.

He looked further right, and saw a see through closet that seemed to have different sets of cloths. Looking more closely, it looked like the cloths in there were made specifically for him. Hanging in front of the closet though, seemed to be some type of full body shiny black bodysuit with black wings extending out of its back, seemingly for the suit to be able to cover Cryo’s wings up while wearing it. The suit looked like to have very advanced technology running throughout it. Cryo thought it looked pretty cool, but wondered what it could be used for. There was a mirror attached to the left sliding door of the closet, lower the the ground. Cryo could see his reflection in it, and saw that there was a few bandages wrapped around the top of his head still. He also saw a few wrapped around his upper arms in a few places as well. To the right corner, against the wall next to the closet, was a large bookshelf containing many different books. Some seemed to be different storybooks. Others seem to be about different types of mechanical engineering. Some were even based on combat and tactics. The entrance to the room was further down on the right with a metal sliding door.

“Hmm… I’m back here again. I don’t see anyone in my room right now. Looks like they’ve been pretty busy since I last “woke up,” here. I can imagine I’m probably still being watched over though,” he thought. Cryo began to pick himself up from his bed, when his back right leg felt a sharp pain. “Ughh… I keep forgetting about my leg here. Probably should have remembered right as I saw myself in the mirror. That last dream, I was pretty beat up…” he thought.

Cryo lifted the covers on his bed a bit to look at his right leg. He saw it was in a cast seemingly made of really soft yet very sturdy pitch black webbing, and saw that several names were written on it in Cyan with many different messages from the creature’s he’s met here. He also saw many messages thanking the young dragon for saving them, saving their friends and messages giving him support in getting better. He recognized several of the names, including Zeke and Patch’s name. Zeke’s message read “Hope you like this cast. Thank you for saving my friends. You’ll be better soon enough. Zeke.” Cryo looked at Patch’s message. “I’ll be sure to take very special care of my very special patient. You’ll be walking again soon enough. Patch.” There was one from Flare the centipede, that said “I hope your feeling better. Had to give you a bit of an energy boost during the surgery. You’ll be fired up with my energy. Feel better soon, little blue buddy. Flare.” Flare’s message confused Cryo a bit. But then, Cryo gave a small smile. He looked at one final message on his cast. “Hope you like the arrangements I made for you living quarters. I hope you’ll be able to find it a home away from home. We’ll get you back home. Until then, rest up, and live to fight another day. Sereph Stringer.” “Looks like I have a lot of bugs supporting me and my recovery. Feels… good.”

He looked at his left leg for a bit and saw a few bandages going across around it as well. “I don’t seem to have as many injuries as I had before I arrived here. I looked like a mummy from some of the stories I was read to before bedtime when I was a hatchling. I did find those stories about incredibly ancient human culture to be pretty fun. Can’t imagine how someone would react to a dragon mummy,” he thought. He smiled and chuckled a bit and put the blanket back down and carefully positioned himself to lean up on the bed to look around further. He began to take a closer look at the tray of food, but then he realized he was wearing a few cloths.

He had a dark blue shirt on with the picture of what appeared to be him, standing heroically with his right paw in a fist and held forward in some type of full body metal armor suit on a tall building with the background containing a large group of rolling hills and the sky at night on the front. The armor seemed to have a few features that seemed… strange.

“This armor in the shirt looks pretty cool. I think that’s supposed to be me on it. I kind of look like a bug dragon hybrid. The armor is a nice Cyan. The visor has a nice shade of dark blue, though it looks a bit strange with the visors texture. The visor looks… bumpy, I suppose. Looks like it extends all the way across the helmet to both eyes. My wings in it seem to be white and a little ridged, similar to a fruit fly back home. The top of my wings seem to also be silver. I think I can see a small silver rocket engine or something similar attached to the end of the top of the wings. Is that safe? Hmm… It looks like the armor has pinchers across where the mouth is. A bit odd… I can see a dark purple mouth on the suit as well. It also seems to have metal grating lining it. Is it just to speak out of? Or maybe its a filter to allow me to breath in more hazardous environments, similar to a gas mask? Or maybe… it allows me to breath ice or water somehow out of it? The back of the armor seems to have some type of inner compartment with silver colored metal on it. How would I get it open and what’s inside I wonder? Maybe some type of weapon? Non lethal I hope if that’s the case. Hmm… Looks like there is something else on top of my front paw near the wrist. Looks like something that can shoot. Maybe another weapon? Or maybe a grappling hook? Looks like it also comes from a small compartment within the suit as well. I can see I also have some dark blue antenna on top of my head. Is it some sort of comms device for the suit? Or maybe something that could detect enemies close by me, like a radar perhaps? Despite some of the strange qualities, I really like the look.” Cryo smiled and took in a breath.

Cryo twisted himself a bit to look at the back of the shirt. He saw it had the symbol again, like in the front of the room and on his bed. Above it, a set of words read. “Cryo, Dragon force trainee.” Cryo lifted up his shirt a bit to see if he had injuries on his body from the previous dream. He saw that his body had been bandaged up in a few more places, but nowhere near as much as before. He put his shirt back down, and saw the warm scarf around his neck. He saw that the scarf was dark blue with a cyan webbing pattern on it. As Cryo felt around the material of the scarf a bit, he noticed that on his paws, were a set of fingerless black gloves and socks fitted carefully around his talons. “These cloths look pretty nice on me, I must admit. Feel really warm and comfy too. I wonder why it says “Dragon force trainee,” on the back.” Cryo scratched his head with his talons a bit and looked back toward the food. “Well. Let’s see what they made me this time.” Cryo carefully maneuvered himself to pick up the tray of food. He took the tray and placed it carefully on his bed. He took a close look at the food.

Cryo saw it had grilled, brown meat with black streaks between two buns, with a green leafy substance, a red chopped circular veggie, a couple of small green chopped veggies, all piled in a bun. “This resembles a Zurburger, but the meat and ingredients seem to be different.” Cryo then looked toward the next item. He saw a plate of diced, brown sticks. They were salted and seemed to be fried. “These resemble a bit like the hash brown I ate with them earlier. Maybe the are made of the same vegetable?” Cryo looked at his drink, and saw it had a orange, fizzy liquid in it. “This must be a different flavor of soda, I guess.” Cryo took a sip, and it tasted very sweetened. “This is much more sweeter then the lemon lime soda I drank before. A little bit more fizzy too.” Cryo put the cup down and took a look at the last item. This last one was more familiar to him. It was chocolate cookies, with white chips baked within it. “Guess not all the food in this world is different then from my own home. Though I’ve never seen a cookie made with chocolate dough though. And these chips on top are white, not brown. Is this chocolate too? Hmm…” Cryo sniffed his food to get a sense of the smell. “Smells pretty good. Well. Let’s dig in.” Cryo began to eat his meal.

He started with the sandwich. It tasted of sweetened grilled perfection with a hint of sour in it. Soon it was scarfed down. “That was pretty good. I wonder what meat that was?” Cryo then turned toward the golden brown sticks. Taking a small bite, he tasted fried salty goodness with a dry taste. “That was pretty good too.” Cryo took a sip of his drink and looked toward his dessert. “Time for some sweets!” Cryo took a bite out of the chocolaty cookie. The sweetened blend of the chocolate and the white chips filled Cryo’s mouth. The sweets made Cryo smile as he he took several bites. Soon the cookies were gone and Cryo’s belly was satisfied. “That was good stuff. I may be somewhere far from home, but at least the food doesn’t disappoint.” Cryo patted his belly with satisfaction, when he heard the sliding doors to his room open. Cryo looked towards the door and saw three familiar faces walking in.

Ch 11

Medical Minds

“It’s good to see you awake, Cryo.” said Zeke. “Yes. You seem to be recovering quite quickly,” said Stinger Spider. “Yes. The fever seems to have dissipated and your leg is already showing signs of recovery,” said Patch. “Thanks. I’m feeling a lot better then what I was before,” said Cryo. The three walked towards the table and grabbed the smaller chairs around the table and headed towards the bed. They sat down right next to him. “That’s good to hear Cryo. Do you like your living quarters?” asked Zeke. “Yea. It seems pretty comfy.” “Good. I see you’ve devoured your consumables.” said Stinger Spider. “Yea. That stuff was pretty good. Though, the only item I was familiar with was the cookies. Although I’ve never seen one with chocolate dough and white chocolate chips before.” Stinger Spider took the opportunity to explain it to Cryo.

“The sandwich you ate was a grilled Chitan with lettuce, tomato, and pickle.” “What’s are those?” “Chitan is a type of domesticated bird meat. We grilled it with a blend of different spices and flavoring. Lettice was the green leaf and tomato are the red vegetable. They are home grown nearby on a farm outside of this forest base and pair nicely with it. Pickles are a fermented cucumber that gives a bitter flavor.” “They defiantly taste good.” Cryo began to think for a moment. “They’re grown outside? I wouldn’t think the forest would be a good place to have a farm with the trees blocking the sun nearby. Especially if it could attract some attention from air vehicles.” “That would be the case normally, but a few clever tricks and that’s nowhere near as problematic.” Stinger Spider gave a small chuckle. “The farms outside have mirrors programmed to tilt and reflect the suns light upon the farm, allowing sunlight to continue to reach plants during the day, regardless of the tree cover. And the mirrors themselves are carefully positioned to reflect the trees surrounding it. It just looks like a forest canopy from the air. Clever. Right my scaley friend?” Cryo was tilted his head in interest and nodded. “Alright. Go on.”

“The golden fried sticks were fries. They were made by cutting potatoes into sticks and then fried to a golden brown and salted. “Reminds me of the taters back home,” thought Cryo.” Cryo smiled and nodded his head.

“The cookies were a blend of powdered chocolate mixed with cookie dough. It causes the cookie to mix with it and then will result in a very chocolaty cookie. The white chips are made of cocoa butter, milk, sugar, and vanilla blend. It blends together to create a white vanilla chip as you have seen.” “Is it chocolate?” “No actually. It may be made of cocoa butter, but its not made with a common ingredient of chocolate, ground cocoa beans. Ironically, the texts we found that taught us how to make it listed it as “white chocolate.” A bit strange since its not actually made of cocoa beans.” Cryo began to scratch his chin in interest. “How do you make it?” Zeke explained the process to Cryo on how to make the sweet treat. Cryo noted the recipe in his mind and nodded.

“Do those clothes feel good on you Cryo?” asked Zeke. “Yea. It feels really comfy. Doesn’t feel like its made of cotton or wool or any of the stuff I’ve worn before though,” replied Cryo. “Its spun with a combination of soft and sturdy spider string silk, mixed with a plant based silk known as Wick, and finally spun together carefully. The combination makes it very soft an resistant to tear, while the spider silk also offers a little bit of protection from hard impacts and some small arms.” replied Zeke. Cryo thought about it, and gave a smile. They smiled and nodded back.

“Cryo. If you don’t mind, can I take your vitals?” asked Patch “Oh. Yea. Go ahead Patch.” said Cryo. “Thank you. Now then. Please let me put this on you, Cryo. It’ll measure your pulse and heart rate.” He took out what appeared to be a small device similar to a comm band with a clip from a small toolkit he brought in the room with him.

“What is that, Patch?” “It’s an electronic heart rate monitor. It will give us information of your heart rate and pulse. It’s connected to this screen right here next to your bed. It’ll display your vitals on the screen. It just needs to be attached to your arm. We had a slight accident with it earlier today. Caused a malfunction” “Malfunction?” “Yes. One of my assistant medical staff had not wrapped it tight enough around your arm. It slipped off your arm and fell onto the floor as we were moving you in a medical bed to your new room during the night. Wouldn’t turn on. But when we were trying to fix it, something quite strange happened.”

“Really? What happened?” “We took it with us to your room to try and see if we could get it to work there. At the time, you still had a bit of a fever and were still asleep, and we had already placed you in the bed with your new cloths to sleep in comfily. But as we were fiddling with it, well… um… you began to salivate from your mouth onto your bed a bit. We took a vile from my toolkit so we could take another small sample of your saliva to see if you might be sick with something else. But while we were collecting the sample, the vile nearly slipped from one of my assistants hands. He caught it, but a bit of your saliva from the vile managed to fly off and onto the monitor. We thought it would end up short circuiting it.

To our surprise, it immediately powered on, and seemed to now be working properly. We didn’t know how it happened. After we got you fully settled in, we took the device to the science division of the base. They couldn’t figure out how it turned back on. After some testing through the rest of the night, they confirmed it was working perfectly and it was safe to put it back on your arm. That wasn’t actually that long ago when this item was cleared for use. We were coming back to put it back on your arm.” Cryo thought for a moment. He then smiled and nodded.

“Now just relax Cryo. Try to breath slowly. It will just take a moment to get it,” said Patch. Cryo obliged and began to lay back in his bed and breath slowly. He lifted his arm up towards his doctor. Patch carefully and gently lifted Cryo’s arm up to him and strapped the heart rate monitor to it. He then gently placed his arm comfortably back on the bed. “This doesn’t feel too heavy or bulky. It feels like the heart rate monitor I had on the swim trip. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble wearing this while I’m here,” thought Cryo. After a few moments, he heard low beeps coming from the device. Cryo lifted himself up from his bed and turned to the right which showed the screen next to his bed turning on. “Alright. The device will record your heart rate and connect the data to this terminal. “Just wait a few moments while the device begins to monitor your heart rate.” Cryo nodded and looked back towards Patch and the others.

“I guess my saliva must have powered the device,” said Cryo. “You think your saliva fixed it?” asked Stinger Spider. “Yea. My saliva contains a small electric charge. It’s actually been quite useful when I repaired items back on Cyriss.” “Really? That’s interesting. When we looked at the saliva in testing, we didn’t find an electrical charge in it.” “Trust me. Its there.” “Well then. I suppose that explains why it started working again. It got a “kick start,” I guess you could say,” said Zeke. Cryo chuckled a bit and nodded. “Alright, looks like the connection is complete,” said Patch. Everyone turned their heads towards the monitor to see.

“Alright. Let’s see…” said Patch. He paused for a moment. “Heart rate is currently 115 beats per minute. “That sounds about normal for me, Patch. My heart rate is typically 110-130 beats per minute. “Seems your stable. That’s good after coming out of surgery.” “Surgery? “That’s right. We just had to remove the rest of shrapnel from your body. You also needed a boost in elemental energy after the operation.” “A… boost in elemental energy?” “That’s right. It seemed the fight back at the base in your condition had caused the energies from inside your body to lower to dangerous levels. Thankfully, we had someone donate energy to you to stabilize you again.” “Really? Who donated?” Patch smiled at Cryo. “Why… Its one of the very bugs you saved when those nasty dragons attacked. Flare donated the much needed elemental energy.” “Really?” “That’s right. He was very glad to after you saved his life.” “I’m surprised he’s not here as well.” “Oh… He’ll be back later. He wanted to… get something for later.” “What was it?” “Oh… I think you’ll find out whenever he gets back.” Cryo wondered what it could be and nodded. He began to wonder something. “How long have I been out, Patch?” You’ve been out for a little bit more then about entire day and a half.” Cryo looked at near the top of his arm and saw bandages where an iv would be placed. “I guess I was sedated for quite a long time. Guess it explains how they got this entire room ready for me before I woke up.” Cryo thought. He nodded back to his friends.

“Now then. If you don’t mind Cryo, can I start changing your bandages on your body? You can continue your conversation with the others while I’m taking care of that.” “Oh yea. That’s fine Patch.” “Good. Now pick yourself up a bit on the bed and I’ll get started.” “Alright. Thanks. “Cryo began to carefully pick his body up to be sitting forward on the bed. Soon, he was in position. “Would you take off your shirt, Cryo?” “Oh yea. Hang on, Patch. Cryo leaned back up for a second and roll his nice shirt up, over his head and placed it to the side of his bed. “Good. Now just relax, Cryo.” Cryo nodded and breathed slowly again, and Patch and reached into his medical bag and took out a roll of bandages. “I noticed the bandages here look a bit fuzzy.” said Cryo. “This is spider string silk, spun together and dipped in medical and cleaning solvents. It’s excellent for wounds and such. Its done quite a bit of wonders on your body already. Now then. Just relax while I get you patched up, Cryo.” “Alright. Thanks Patch.” He began to change Cryo’s bandages as he slowed his breathing and relaxed on his bed. Patch turned to Stinger Spider and Zeke for a second. “You can continue your conversation while I’m helping our patient here. We haven’t even got to the more, amazing discoveries.” “Huh?” Cryo said. They both nodded and smiled at Patch, and then looked back at Cryo.

Ch 12

Interesting items

“You see Cryo, we found some cloths near where you fell after cleaning up the scene,” Stinger Spider said. “You found other cloths?” “Yes. We think, you were wearing them.” “I was?” “Yes. We found them attached to a flag that broke off from the wall. We think that you had hit the wall of the building and as you bounced off it, you got caught on the flag, slipped out of the cloths and hit the ground hard. The flag itself broke off with the cloths caught on it. They were relatively your size. But the funny thing is, they had suffered very little tear from them…” “Wait… What?” “I understand that your currently having a minor case of amnesia. But the cloths we found were… well, something we’ve never experienced before.” “…What do you mean?”

“Well… The cloths found seemed to be a silver coat and what looked a bit like a scarf. Albeit, a scarf that a group called, “cowboys,” used to wear.” “Umm… Ok then.” “Here’s the thing. The cloths we found were some of the most advanced pieces of clothing gear we’ve ever seen.” “Wait… What does that mean?” “It was made with some… strange materials. “What type? “We have no idea. We brought them to a lab to test them and well… It had some strange quirks to them.” “What type of “quirks.”” “There was… something mixed into the fabrics. Something very strong. Something strong enough to prevent tear, even from the fall, or getting caught on the flag with you still in them. It took us some strong tools to even get a strand off of it. Yet despite this resistance, it felt softer then any known fabric here. After some testing, we realized it seemed to have some strange quality’s.” “What type of quality’s?” “They reacted to the elements.” “They… reacted to the elements?” “Yes. They would seemingly prevent nearly all forms of water from connecting. It kept the wearer dry no matter what weather it was. But more importantly, it would react to the heat as well. It seemed to be able to cool off the wearer off when exposed to heat. It meant it could be worn on very hot days as well. The scientist’s here theorized that it actually might even be possible that the protection is enough to keep the wearer at a good temperature in EXTREMELY hot or cold environments. It could even be possible to keep the wearer safe in toxic and hazardous environments. Though the wearer, in your case, would probably still need to be covered up fully in such extremes… It was nothing like we ever seen. We tried to see what the cloths were made of, but we couldn’t identify any of the exotic materials added to it.

“This… This… sounds similar to the cloths Greg used to make for me. Albeit… a little more extreme, maybe,” said Cryo. “Greg? Your adopted father?” asked Stinger Spider “Yea. He used to make this type of clothing for me. Though, I’m not sure if they were capable of such extremes to be honest.” “Do you know what he did?” “I… only remember a little of it. He combined some type of chemical compound, soulfire petals from Cyriss, and waterproof fabrics to make them. “What chemical was it?” “I… don’t remember actually. I just know it was some type of chemical.” Zeke and stinger spider looked at each other and nodded. “Strange. I haven’t had any like this since I was taken. Or maybe I hadn’t noticed… I came here wearing that? I don’t remember that with the dreams before…” thought Cryo. “We haven’t really tested it too much, as we didn’t want to possibly study or dismantle something of yours further without your permission, but we think it might be strong enough to resist some stronger weapons as well. Possibly even some explosives. In fact, I believe these cloths themselves had taken most of the impact when you fell from the sky and hit the building,” said Stinger Spider. “Really?” “Yes. This could possibly explain why your body didn’t suffer much worse damage from the fall. In fact, its entirely possible that you survived the fall itself just because you wore these.” “Wait… Really?” They both nodded. “This is something we’ve never seen before,” said Zeke. “That’s weird. I never thought that Greg’s cloths could do this.” They nodded to Cryo, and Cryo nodded back. But then their expressions seemed to show extreme confusion. “And the cowboy scarf… Well… It is REALLY bizarre.” said Zeke.

“What do you mean?” “Here’s the thing with it. It had similar attributes to coat, except FAR MORE superior.” said Stinger Spider. “Umm… Really?” “Yes. We couldn’t even remove a single strand from it. It was so well put together, and so strong, not even a small cutting laser could even take off a small strand for closer inspection.” Cryo’s eyes shot up. Stinger Spider continued. “Not only that, but somehow, someway, there is a strange energy signature coming off of it. A rather strong one. It’s not dangerous as far as I could tell, but even then… How is it possible that this one cowboy scarf is giving off an energy signature, despite having no technology added to it at all? How is it something so small so ridiculously tough, it can take a laser beam like its nothing, and yet its silk is softer, silkier, even cleaner, then virtually any known type of silk? This one little scarf literally doesn’t conform at all to laws of nature. Possibly even reality. This scarf is beyond any rig armor we’ve ever made. And it was with you when you arrived here.

Zeke leaned forward in the seat to speak next. “Whoever gave you this, whether its the people the research center, your old home, or even elsewhere, must have really cared for you. Giving you such items like this is nothing short of being truly loved by the people at your home. They gave you things that could save your life. Possibly even survive in dangerous areas. With the impact… I think you have an idea.” “…” Cryo gave a look of absolute disbelief hearing these things. “How is this possible? They’re right. There’s no possible way ANY type of clothing can do this. This really does just break reality… Cryo thought for a moment. “Maybe… this is some type of advanced prototype cloths created back at the military section perhaps. Maybe they… prepared it for me. But why? Did they know… I’d be taken?” He looked back at the two and nodded. They nodded back. “Perhaps you might regain your full memory on how to make them. We’ve never heard of soulfire flowers before. Do you think they’re native only to your world? “I’m not really sure.” “Well, in the mean time, why don’t we get back to another topic,” said Zeke

“If you don’t mind me asking, Cryo, but could you tell us a bit more about your life with the Humans? You last left off at when you were about to go on an important ocean trip.” “Yea. I can tell you a bit. You see…” Cryo spent hours telling them about the attempted kidnapping on the swim trip, the paralysis, his mothers awakening, the actual kidnapping, and his time going through the forest, and his return home. Stinger Spider seem to have been taking notes on a digital device as Cryo gave his story.

“And soon after walking back through the forest, me and mom were finally found and rescued by Ty and the others and brought home. That’s… the last thing I remember right now…” They both nodded and smiled at Cryo.” That is very impressive, Cryo. To think you went through all of that chaos. I must say, you seem to be quite a resourceful little dragon,” said Stinger Spider. “Yea. I probably wouldn’t have thought of some of the tricks you used to escape your pursuers,” said Zeke. Zeke thought for a moment, and then looked back at Cryo with a concerned look. “Do you know what has become of Tide? Do you know if she was taken, like you?” Cryo frowned a bit and tilted his head down. “I… think she might have been. I’m… worried about her, but I don’t really know what happened to her. Or if she really was taken from home.” Stinger spider and Zeke looked at each other and nodded. “We’ll keep an eye out for her. If she’s in danger, we’ll do anything to help her. It’s the least we can do for you.” Zeke put his upper right hand on Cryo’s shoulder and then patted his stomach a few times with his lower right hand. He gave a smile and a nod. Cryo smiled and nodded and looked back at his shirt again.

Ch 13

Rare Recruits

“Hey. Why does my shirt say “Dragon Force Trainee,” on the back?” asked Cryo. The two looked at each other and nodded. “If you wouldn’t mind, Cryo, we would like to train you here, when your leg gets better,” said Stinger Spider. “Train me?” “Yes. While you have had a good amount of success in the field on your own, I think you might be able to do more.” “More?” “Yes. Since you’ve arrived, we’ve had several attacks from the invading force in multiple places. Our forces believe they must be still specifically looking for you. We need help, as their attacks are only getting worse.” Cryo gave a look of concern and looked back at them. “Whatever they want from you, they want it more then anything, but its not been all bad.” “It… hasn’t?” “No. Your not the only dragon we found.”

“Huh? I’m not!?” “No. There have been others who were discovered. All about you age. They’re here as well. We’ve come to the conclusion that they are all being hunted by the others. You however, have showed the most promise out of all of them. The enemy seems to be VERY interested in you particularly for some reason. The clothing you wore might be the reason. We think that maybe if you we’re trained up a bit more, you could possibly lead the other young dragons in a possible counterattack and discover what they really want with all of you. From what you told us, you are both resourceful and strong. With your help, we might be able to beat them back with the others and perhaps discover what happened and how you ended up here. And maybe. Just maybe… we might be able to get you back home where you belong. So. Will you help us?”

Cryo closed his eyes slowly, and gave a nod. “I will. I’ll help you stop them.” “Thank you Cryo. But that will be for another time. We need you to heal first,” said Stinger Spider. Patch had just finished wrapping Cryo’s wounds up. “There you go, little guy. All patched up,” said Patch. “Thanks, Patch. I feel better.” Cryo smiled at Patch and he nodded and patted Cryo’s belly a few times. Cryo turned back to the others. “When your leg is better. we’ll get started with you and the others,” said Zeke. “Alright. Thanks guys.” “Your welcome Cryo.” Cryo gave out a small yawn and looked towards his friends. “I’m getting a little tired. Can I get some time to sleep?” “Sure, Cryo. Let me just set your custom radio to something soothing.” “Custom radio?” Zeke gave a smile and reached above Cryo. As Cryo looked up, he saw dragon head above his bed was the actual radio, with the knobs looking like medium sized dragon paws below and the speaker being in the mouth. After turning a dragon paws and switches a bit, a soothing music played and ringed through Cryo’s ears. Like a dragon lullaby… “Have a good nap, Cryo,” said Zeke. They left the room as Cryo gave out another yawn as his eyes grew dark.

Cryo’s vision began to see a dark area. A low light beamed above, from a sun covered by the moon. The ground below was a dark, black sand, and in the distance, was the sight of water in a deep red, like the water at dusk. As he looked upon the vast ocean view, he felt a presence coming from behind him. He turned around slowly, and began to see a figure in the dark drawing closer. He saw it the black dragon he saw once before. “Ahhh… my boy. Quite a promising individual, aren’t you.” “Servant…” thought Cryo. Cryo tried to speak, but for some reason, no words would come out. “You become quite a survivor, haven’t you?” Cryo watched as he started to pace around him in his vision.

“You’ve been watching the shape of things to come, my son.” “Son!” thought Cryo as his eyes shot up. “Yes. I’m sure this is quite a shock to learn for my little boy.” He stopped pacing around Cryo and sat himself a little bit away from him in the front. He looked down, making eye contact with Cryo, and closed his eyes. His head dipped down with a solemn look on his face as his eyes slowly opened. “Our lives we’re split from each other from the views of me and your mother. I gave my body for a chance to start anew, in another. Your mother, couldn’t bear to leave you to such a fate, or worse…” He opened his eyes and nodded. “If things were not so dire from where we came from, perhaps I would have chosen better. Perhaps, I would still… be with her and you.” He breathed in a heavy sigh and looked back at Cryo. “Yet, here we are.” He approached Cryo and looked upon him, with soft eyes. “Our futures is intertwined, my son. The visions you’ve seen, are as far as I could foresee. I can’t see any further. Only after your with me, can I see further again, perhaps. You will arrive, my son. And I’ll be waiting for you.” He began to walk away, and looked upon Cryo one last time. “I will look forward to the day when I can look upon you myself. Perhaps, we can prevent a dark future for both our worlds. Goodbye, Cryo. Stay strong, my son. Stay strong.” He disappeared in a over a flash of dark energy and then Cryo’s vision grew dark again.

Ch 14

Poems, Problems, and Promise

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room. He was back in his room. He saw he was alone. He yawned and picked himself up, and shook his blanket off. He looked at his radio, which read 3:39 P.M. “This… This dream…” Cryo gave a look of concern and nodded. “If this really is the future… I’ll… need to be ready.” Cryo looked towards the door and began to think. “Should I… tell the others?” Cryo began to think. “The only one who might believe me is Mom… perhaps. Everyone else might think I’m becoming a little delusional from the recent events.” Cryo picked himself up, tilted his head down, and began to head towards the door to his room. “Maybe I should at least talk to Mom. Maybe she could tell me about…” Cryo began to give a look of concern. “…about Dad.” Cryo picked his head up and as he was about to open the door, when Tide opened it and looked at Cryo.

“Oh… Hi Cryo. I didn’t know you were awake.” “Umm… yea Mom. Where’s Cameron?” “Ty wanted him to come back with him for a bit.” Tide looked back at Cryo and saw he was looking uneasy. “What’s the matter Cryo? You seem a little tense.” “Umm…” Cryo began to think for a moment. “Umm… Mom. Could you… tell me about… Dad?” Tide looked at Cryo with a solemn look. “You want to know about your father?” “Yea mom. I’ve… been thinking about it, and… is there any chance you could tell me more about him?” Tide looked at Cryo and nodded. “I can my son. Though… It’s not the happiest tale.” “I can manage, Mom.” “Alright son. Let’s get you somewhere comfortable.”

Tide picked up Cryo with her left arm and carried him over to a bean bag at the window in the room and carefully laid him down on his left side on it. She pulled the shades up and the light of the sun began to beam into the room again. She rubbed Cryo’s head a bit and then sat herself down beside him. “Your Dad was a Black Lunar dragon named… Servant.” Cryo nodded with that confirmation. “I met your father when he was sent to… well… protect their… investments with my research. He was sent in with a group of military dragons to keep an eye on progress and… me. In fact, He was one of the highest ranking and decorated dragons there, and directly served under the main commander of the unit. I heard he had performed quite exponentially with the operations he had been involved in. I heard that he even was a hero in the war,” Cryo began to feel a little bit uneasy with what Tide might say next about his dad. “At the time, I had began to have second thoughts about helping the others in the dragon war council with what was going on. I was beginning to suspect that something about the war was amiss. But something very strange began to happen as he was sent to watch over me.” “Strange?” “Yes. It seemed… a change began to happen over him. He became, well, smitten with me.”

“He fell in love with you?” “Yes. When your father first looked at me, he seemed… very nervous.” “Nervous?” “Yes. A day later, he introduced himself to me and well… walked away.” Cryo began to chuckle a bit. “Dad didn’t seem like the type to get nervous when he’s been contacting me in my visions. Mom must have been quite special to him.” He smiled back toward Tide, who began rub Cryo’s head a bit. “Every day after, when I woke up, I would find a poem in my room.” “He wrote poetry to you?” “Yes. I didn’t know it was him at the time. His poems were quite nice and calming. Considering my situation at the time, it felt nice to think that someone wasn’t just there to watch over my research.” “Do you have any of them, Mom?” “Yes, actually. I wrote all of them in my research journal, containing my research notes and the poems your father wrote to me. Reading them at hard times kept me going when I felt I couldn’t. I’ve kept it since I started working on the original portal. When I came here, I kept that journal with me. I still have it.” “Can I read one?” “Unfortunately, the journal is written in a different language. Dragon runes.” “Dragon runes?” “Yes it was the written language of our home world. If you want, I can read you one of them.” Cryo considered whether Tide could teach him at some point about his home worlds written language or not. He decided to ask later. “Yea. Read me one Mom.”

Tide went to the small cabinet next to her bed and took out a small journal with a small, metal lock on top. She placed her paw over the lock which then the lock released. She came back over to Cryo and sat beside him again. She opened it up and rummaged through a few pages and then stopped. She smiled and began to read the poem in a soft tone

In the day the sky gives a nice blue hue

And each day I stay, I always see you

As my heart beats fast, I might lose my cool

Your blue as the sky, as you soar so high

Your heart burns bright, like the sun in the sky

As you pick up your wings and start to fly

Tide closed her book and set in on the ground nearby. Cryo was impressed by the simple poem. He could tell it was packed with emotion. “What do you think, son?” “Pretty nice, mom. Dad made one of these for you every day?” “Yes. I loved waking up every morning and finding calming poem attached to my door.” Tide began to scratch Cryo’s belly. Cryo began to feel more relaxed as she continued on with her story. “Over time your father began to have the courage to occasionally strike up conversations with me. They were short, but he seemed to very much enjoy talking to me, as you can probably guess. We’d talk about our lives, our interests, how we were brought up, and our line of work. It felt nice being able to chat with someone while I worked. I remember very fondly of something very special your father gave me during the holiday season.

“Holiday season? Like Christmas?” Tide chuckled a bit. “Well, you see Cryo, there was a special time in our world, my son. A special year in our world that happened every 12 years on our world. Every twelfth year, on our world, was marked as the Year of the dragon.” “Year of the dragon?” “Yes. This year is a very special time for dragons, as its during this time that dragons celebrate bringing new life into the world. “New life? Like… dragon hatchlings?” “That’s right. It’s not really known why, but dragons cannot bring in new hatchlings unless its during the year of the dragon. As such, this year is incredibly important. This year is celebrated with many different festivals throughout the entire world at different times during the year. There is bountiful food, masks made of precious materials, celebrations of life and loved ones, and for dragons to… well… I think you can guess what it is, my baby boy.” Cryo thought this time sounded a bit fun. “Each dragon city would chose just one week during the year to hold a festival for their city to celebrate the tradition.”

Tide stopped scratching Cryo’s belly and began to stroke his head. She continued with her story. “It was about a few months before the end of the year. The dragons in the facility were going to celebrate it with a large party. But… the commander… cancelled the celebration. He wanted all focus to be on the portal project, and considered the year of the dragon to be irrelevant, compared to how important to project was. This hit me very hard in particular. I think I remember crying that night, considering how important this holiday is to dragons. But it seems your father had heard me crying that night in my bedroom. And so… when I woke up the very next mourning, not only was a poem in my room, I also found a small crystal that had been carved in the shape of a dragon hatchling. It looked beautiful, and it lifted my spirits higher then the stars.” Cryo thought for a moment and chuckled a bit. “Dad certainly knows how to be caring and romantic,” he thought. He looked at Tide.

“Did that crystal dragon look like me, Mom?” Cryo teased a bit. “Truthfully, yes it did Cryo.” Cryo eyes shot up a tiny bit. “Huh? Really?” “Yes. It might be surprising, but lunar dragons have the ability to occasionally see visons of the future, when touching certain objects.” “Um… Really? “That’s right. Touching something could possibly allow them to get a vision of the future related to it.” “Well… that might explain why dad knew of the future I suppose. Maybe touching Mom at some point gave him a vison of the future with me in it. Then again, he also said that he won’t be able to see the future again until I arrive. Why is that? That seems… strange that I’m needed to see a vision.” He nodded to Tide. “Do you have that crystal dragon still?” “Yes I do. It’s right in here, my baby boy.”

Tide headed for the drawer again and lifted out a blue crystal. She carried it over to Cryo. When Cryo looked closely at it, he realized it really was carved to look like him, huddled up in a tight sleeping position, and a pacifier in his mouth. It was large enough to fit on Tide’s palm. “That’s amazing, Mom. It really does look like me when I was little.” “Yes. It seems your father must have seen a nice vision of the future of what you’d look like. He made something truly special for me during a hard point within the year. I didn’t know at the time what the thing in your mouth was. It’s only later that he told me that it seemed to be a supplement to help with teething, though he himself didn’t know where it came from.” The poem he made for me that day was also related to you.” “Really?” “Yes. I can read it to you if you want.” Cryo thought for a moment. “Yea. Let’s hear it mom.”

She picked up her notebook again and opened it up and turned a bit more pages in the book. She then stopped again. She smiled and looked at Cryo. She then began to read the poem in a nice soft and gentle tone.

A tiny blue dragon sleeps on a bed

Vast dreams of exploration fill his head

He was raised with the utmost care as its said

And the dragons life was spent without dread

A heart like yours, will raise this quadruped

Tide smiled at her son, who was once again impressed at his poem. “That poem was really good, mom. Dad really is good at poetry. That’s for sure.” “Yes. I almost believe if the war had not happened, he would have been a poet or philosopher on the planet.” She chuckled at Cryo. He chuckled back. She closed the book and placed it back on the ground. “Now. Let’s get back to the story.”

“One day, 2 months before the end of the year, your father and the others were called back to command and when he came back, he seemed… concerned,” “Concerned? “Yes. In fact, I actually saw him beginning to argue with his own commander several times for some reason. Every time he saw me after, he seemed grief stricken. I didn’t see him for the whole days in some instances. They wouldn’t tell me what happened with him on those days. One night, after another fight with his commander, the moment he saw me, I thought I could see him tear up a little. I eavesdropped on a couple of the conversations between the dragons of his military unit while I was working. Rumors began to spread around. One conversation I heard while I worked is that he actually broke down one night in front of his commander. One dragon even said that he heard that he had desperately begged that night to his commander for something, or someone… He didn’t know what though. I have heard some of the amazing things he has done in the field of combat, so hearing these things was bizarre.” Cryo began to think. “Looks like someone had a change of heart.” He smiled at Tide, who gave a smile back.

During a couple nights later, when I was about to go to bed, he approached me.” Tide began to stoke Cryo’s belly again, as Cryo gave a relaxed sigh. “He told me that the high command were going to “commission,” me into their armed forces. “Commission?” said Cryo. “I not sure myself what Servant really meant by that, but he was very afraid of what that would do to me. He told me that if they didn’t leave soon, they would come for both me and my research and force me into service. I then asked why he would tell me this. And…” Tide began to scratch Cryo’s belly gently as he began to relax more. “And he recited one of his poems to me. I never showed or told anyone else about the poems I was getting. When I heard it, I knew he was the one who was writing them to me. He carved and gave me the crystal dragon. And I realized he really cared about me. I immediately pieced together his strange behavior. He knew this act was treason against the dragon army. It was nothing short of a death sentence. But he didn’t care. He told me this himself.” “I’d rather die with nothing then lose you to them.”

Tide began to stroke Cryo more slowly, as he listened intently. “He was willing to lose everything for me. His title. His friends. His reputation. His possessions. Even his life. All of it was nowhere near as precious as me. We then both came up with a plan to escape and destroy the data from the portal tech. We decided the next night, to insert a “special concoction,” to the others dinner.” “What did you add?” “A bit of a sleeping extract. Right as the others ate their meal that night, they fell right to sleep. After that, we tied them up and then went to the process of destroying all the data and devices within the facility, but…”

Tide took Cryo’s front right arm and extended it forward on the beanbag and began to slowly and carefully take a single talon and slowly and softly scratch it around Cryo’s palm and arm up and down as Cryo gave out a relaxing sigh and laid his head on his bean bag. “I believed that the data from the portal tech… may be needed one day. I secretly downloaded the entirety of the data and placed it on a special drive. It turns out I was right about needing it later. We both were on the run for some time after… being hunted by the others. But eventually, we found help.”

“Who, Mom?” “It was a resistance group of dragons attempting to stop the endless fighting and war and were attempting to fight back against the shapeshifters. They were called the Astral Awakened Dragon army.” “Astral Awakened Dragon army?” “That’s right.” “That’s a strange name, Mom.” “It was apparently called that, because the leader was once a starship Dragon general. Very well decorated and recognized by the entire fleet. He came to a realization of the main plans of the shapeshifters. To him, learning the truth was an “awakening,” to him. He was originally going to flee, but his crew on the ship chose loyalty with him rather then the shapeshifters. In the battle to escape the other ships of the fleet, their ship was shot down, but they were able to outwit the fleet into thinking they had been destroyed by crashing into a deep ocean. Through the teamwork of him and his crew, they were able to make repairs to the ship. It couldn’t fly anymore, but they modified it to be a seafaring underwater vessel. It seemed that for some reason, the dragon army had significant trouble tracking its movements underwater, which allowed them to stay hidden for quite some time as they went into battle and went on dangerous missions against them. They had stolen data from a military complex and learned quickly that we had defected and had sent tracking dragons to find us before the dragon army found us first. We were eventually found by them as we were sleeping in a destroyed building in devastated city and led us to their seafaring vassal to safety. We eventually found a time to create you, my baby boy, right near the end of the year, during the cold season. And we’d meet some familiar faces later on.”

Tide chuckled a bit and then moved Cryo’s right arm back to the bean bag. She maneuvered Cryo gently to be laying on his other side on the bean bag. Tide then began to rub Cryo’s left arm like with the right one beforehand. He smiled at her and Cryo let in a relaxed deep breath in and out. “This might sound ironic, my baby boy, but some of his friends from his unit also defected as well from the dragon army. They came looking for him, not to take him in, but they came seeking help. They had also begun having second thoughts on serving those shapeshifting creatures, especially after he defected. It seemed they didn’t like that commander either, and your father, leaving the way he did, convinced them that it was the right choice. Your father was surprised that him leaving like that had caused such a major rift in their entire squad. But it also gave him comfort that he still had people he knew he could count on for help. Loyalty came before duty. For a time, we joined their little crusade. We were a force to be reckoned with in the Astral Awakened dragon army. But… It was a losing fight. Despite our best efforts. Despite many battles….”

“Things in our world were only becoming worse. The planet was falling further and further into chaos. It eventually came to the point that the only few free dragons had to come up with another plan. I think you can expect what happened next.” Cryo nodded as he remembered what his mother said earlier. “Your father had asked me to join him on the final days. But… I was… about to have you , Cryo. I couldn’t leave you to this world and I couldn’t bear to turn you into a meteor. And so I made a decision. I would complete a portal for one last desperate bid to freedom. It would be something I’d have to do alone. But before I left, your father made a promise.” “What promise?” “He said that, even though that we’ll be forced apart, he promised that one day, he’ll find a way to come back to me. And so we parted and well… You know the rest.” Tide stopped stroking Cryo and gave Cryo a small smile. “Dad was a good dragon. He gave up everything he had to save mom. I was worried that he might not have been as noble as I wanted him to be,” thought Cryo.

Ch 15

Recipe and Recreation

Cryo picked himself up and looked at Tide. She gave out a comforted sigh and looked back at him. “Thats a pretty cool story, mom.” said Cryo. She gave out a chuckle. “Your father is somewhere now, Cryo. Perhaps somewhere far away. Maybe you’ll be able to meet him one day. I’ve always hoped he’d be able to see how much you’ve grown.” Cryo nodded and gave a smile. “Hey Mom. Can I go outside for a bit? I need a break.” “Sure. Come on Cryo. Let’s get you outside.” Cryo was about to head out when he stopped for a moment. “Oh. That recipe. I should write it down real quick.” Cryo looked down and saw he was still wearing a shirt. “I don’t think its cold enough to need a shirt or jacket right now. Especially one of my sleeping shirts.”

Cryo looked at Tide. “Can you give me a second to write something down, Mom? I also want to put my shirt in the laundry to be cleaned later” He asked. Tide nodded to Cryo. “Alright son. I can wait.” Cryo smiled and headed back towards his bed next to his cloths closet. Tide watched as Cryo walked, and became curious. “I wonder what Cryo needs to write down?” she thought. She continued watching him. Cryo took off his shirt and placed it into the laundry hamper. He then headed towards his work bench. Cryo quickly took a piece of paper in the drawer in a compartment in his work bench and placed it on top of it. He began to write.

“I remember the recipe back from my dreams. I might look into trying to make some with Mom later.” He wrote down the recipe to every detail from his work bench. “There. Hmm. Where should I keep this?” He looked towards his bed. “Yea. I can put it on the cabinet next to my bed. It should be fine there for now. He headed for his cabinet and placed it down on top of it. “There we go. Now then.” He headed for the door, where Tide was patiently waiting. “I’m ready, Mom.” “Alright Cryo. Let’s go out.”

They both headed out the door and went outside. Cryo took his break and began to sit at a bench with Tide sitting next to him on the ground. “It’s nice outside today. Not a single cloud in the sky today,” said Cryo. “It’s supposed to be nice all week. Actually Cryo. Would you like to soar around the sky a little bit?” asked Tide. Cryo nodded. “Yea mom. I could use a little fly time.” “Come on, my baby boy. Let’s spread our wings!”

The two spread their wings out to their sides and with a small, strong leap, they flapped their wings, and began to fly together around the base. They kept close to the bases buildings to shield them from the outside view of the city close by. They saw several people below watching them fly together. Cryo looked toward Tide who gave a smile. Cryo gave a smile back as they continued to soar around. Soon, Tide started to become tired though, and they quickly began to land themselves back to the ground. “That was refreshing. It’s been awhile since I had a chance to fly around, Mom,” said Cryo. “I love being able to fly around. My strength is starting to return to me, little by little. It’s nice to be able to spread my wings. I think I’ve had my fill for now, son. Come on. Let’s go back inside. It’s time for lunch,” said Tide. Cryo’s stomach growled and Cryo gave it a small pat. “Yea. I’m hungry mom. Let’s eat!” The two headed back towards their rooms and entered their rooms, where they found Cameron waiting.

Ch 16

Regretful Reminder

“Hey Cryo. Hey Tide,” said Cameron. “Oh. Hi Cameron,” replied Cryo. “Hello Cameron,” said Tide. “I saw you two flying around home. You guys looked pretty happy.” “It was fun to spread my wings out. I haven’t been able to fly freely like this for a while,” said Cryo. “Hey Cryo. You know what day is coming up tomorrow?” Cryo tilted his head, and thought hard for a moment. But he drew a total blank. He shook his head. “No. I don’t think I know Cameron.” “It’s going to be your 7th birthday, Cryo.” Cryo stood still for a moment and gave a frown. “Oh… my birthday…” he replied. “Come on Cryo. Don’t be like that. Dad has something very special planned for you this time.” “I’m… sure it will be fun… Cameron.” Cameron and Tide could see the sensitivity of the subject toward Cryo. “I promise Cryo. You’ll enjoy this one. I know that, well… it’s a hard day for you. But this one will have something very different. You’ll love it. I promise.” “Yea, Cameron… I’m sure I’ll like it…” Cameron realized that the conversation probably wouldn’t get any better, so he decided to try to change the mood of the room.

“Hey Cryo. You… want to… play some Capsule Creatures with me on our Ignition’s?” “Yea… Cameron. Let’s play together…” The two got their Ignition gaming consoles and began to play together on their games. Tide meanwhile, began to cook a nice lunch for the both of them. She looked over at Cryo as she cooked and saw Cryo seemed a little glum still. “His birthday is such a sensitive topic to him, considering what happened on his first one. I know about the plans for this years celebration, but…” she looked back and continued to cook. “It’ll be hard for him to cope. I think it’ll be best for now to not remind him of “old wounds.” Nor to ruin his surprise.”

After about an hour of play Tide was just about finished with the food. She looked toward Cryo and Cameron. “Looks like he’s still thinking a bit about.” Hopefully lunch will help him ease himself. I know he’s hungry anyway.” Tide placed the food on the table, and looked back towards them. “Guys. Lunchtime,” she said. The both of them looked over and put down their consoles and came over. “I’m starving. What did you make, Mom?” asked Cryo. I made some salad, breadsticks, and a sandwich for each of us with grilled chillin. “Sounds good. Let’s eat!” said Cryo.

They sat down at the table and began to eat. Tide looked at Cryo, and could see his birthday was still on his mind. “Hey, Cryo.” “Yea Mom?” “Would you like to do something fun together after lunch?” “Yea. I guess mom.” Tide took a bite out of her sandwich. “Do you have anything in mind?” she asked. Cryo thought for a moment. “Can we go outside to play?” “Of course, Cryo.” Cryo gave a small smile and continued to eat. Soon they finished with their lunch.

Ch 17

Superb Scout

The group went out the door and continued through the hall to the outside. They opened the door to be greeted by the sun and and a light, breezy wind. They headed out to a large grassy field in the back. They headed out to a small shed in the back and opened the door to it. Inside were a whole bunch of sports equipment. Tide took out a small, strike ball out and took out a catching glove for Cameron. They spread out across the field and began to toss the ball to each other. Cryo smiled as he caught the ball in his talons and threw it towards Cameron. “Catch Cameron!” he said. “I got it!” Cameron caught the ball in his mit. He threw it toward Tide. She caught the ball, and threw it back to Cryo. “I got it!” Cryo caught the ball and smiled again.

“Hey Cryo.” said Cameron. “Yea?” he said as he threw the ball towards him. He quickly caught it in his glove. “My Dad, your mom, and me were talking about some things lately.” Cameron threw the ball to Tide. “What things?” asked Cryo. “Well. It was about when your were out in the wilderness with your Mom.” said Cameron. Tide threw the ball back at Cryo. He jumped up and caught it. “We’re home now, Cameron.” Cryo said. “Dad was thinking that maybe…” Cryo threw the ball at Tide who caught it within he big paws. “Dad was thinking of having you join the explorers scouts at the base.” said Cameron. “Explorers scouts?” asked Cryo. Tide threw the ball to Cameron, who caught it in his glove.

“Yes, my little boy,” said Tide. “What’s the explorers scouts? Is that part of a military unit?” “No Cryo. The explorers scouts is a group that comes together on Fridays. They do fun activities such as camping, climbing, swimming, ziplining, and so much more.” said Tide. Cryo tilted his head in interest. Cameron threw the ball toward Cryo, who proceeded to catch it. “The scouts is meant to help teach you companionship, teamwork, and outdoor skills. You would probably be a perfect fit for it since you were able to survive in the wild like you did,” said Cameron. Cryo threw the ball to Tide.

“This is a country wide organization Cryo. One of the people here is a troop leader for the other kids at the base. There is a meeting every week on Friday at 4:00 P.M. While there would be worry about attracting trouble from those who might want to take you, I think it would be fun for you. Besides. The only members of the scouts around here are part of the base. I don’t think those others who kidnapped us will know whenever you go outdoors. Even then, I know you’d be able to take them in a fight. You could use some outdoor time. You don’t get enough of it, Cryo. I know you feel that way,” said Tide. Tide threw the ball to Cryo. “You can earn badges showing your accomplishment in the group and you’ll get a cool uniform here that shows everyone that your a part of it. I’m a part of it myself Cryo,” said Cameron. Cryo threw the ball to Cameron. “Do you want to try it out, Cryo?” asked Tide. Tide threw the ball to Cryo who caught it and began to think.

“That does sound fun,” thought Cryo. “But, considering the previous attempts to take me hostage, it might not necessarily be safe.” Cryo rubbed under his chin a bit. “But Ty did say tell me that they now know who was responsible, or at least a good amount of them. They won’t be able to get back in base easily to look for information about the times of the meetings or activities. They won’t necessarily know I’m in the scouts either if I keep myself hidden until we’re at our destination whenever we go outside the base. But still.” Cryo tilted his head a bit. “Would that be enough? I don’t want to attract trouble to the others. If someone comes after me on a scouting trip, I’d be putting the others lives in danger…” Cryo closed his eyes and thought about it. He then gave a small nod to himself. “I suppose its at least worth a shot. It sounds like fun!” Cryo looked toward Tide with a smile and nodded. “Alright Mom. I’ll join the explorers scouts.” “That’s good news Cryo. We’ll tell Ty after your… um… day tomorrow…” Cryo gave a small frown and tilted his had down again but then stood up, smiled, and nodded. “Alright. Let’s continue playing catch.”

Ch 18

TV Trouble

They continued to play catch for some time. After about an hour of play, they decided to go back inside and do something else. They entered into the base and to their room. Cryo looked at the clock and read it was 6:15 P.M. “It’ll be time for dinner soon. I wonder what mom will make tonight?” thought Cryo. Tide looked towards Cryo and gave a small smile. “What would you like to do before dinner, Cryo?” she asked. Cryo tilted his head and scratched his chin a bit. “Hmm… What should I do now?” he thought. He looked around the room, and eyed his TV. He thought for a moment. “I could probably watch a movie before dinner,” he thought.

“Want to watch a movie?” Cryo asked. “Yea. I’m up for one.” said Cameron. “Which one should we watch?” asked Cryo. Cameron looked back at the tv, and saw that Ty had left a new movie in a box by the TV. “Hey Cryo. Looks like dad left a movie for you up there.” Cryo looked toward the back, and saw the box for it. Cryo went to pick it up and looked at it. “Sky Strikers series movie collection.” Cryo read.” Cryo looked at the back to see the description. “In this series reboot, our classic dragon hero is the leader of a group of hero’s known as the sky strikers. They battle the forces of darkness and protect the light in this series of 4 movies. Prepare for laughs, action, and epic battles in this collection.” Cryo looked again at the front. “A series reboot, huh? Well. I do recognize 2 of the characters on the front. They look a bit different, but i’m sure its fine.”

Cryo grabbed the movie case and the Tv began to move by itself to Cryo. “Hey Cryo. Isn’t your tv control remote over there? How did the tv move to you?” asked Cameron. Cryo looked toward his bean bag chairs and saw the remote over there. “Oh no…” thought Cryo. The Tv positioned itself by Cryo and opened its chip drive player. “Ready to receive movie, creator,” it said. Cryo turned towards it and nervously put the chip drive into the player, which then closed. “Huh? You didn’t even give a command to it Cryo. And did it call you, Creator?” Cameron asked. “Umm…” Cryo thought about if he should tell Cameron about his “accidental AI,” creation. But he then decided that it might not be a good idea. He didn’t know how Ty might take it that an AI program was in some of Cryo’s items (and that it at one point directly connected to their base’s main servers, and possibly security), and its likely Cameron would tell him. Before he could give Cameron an answer, the tv spoke again. “Where would you like to watch the movie, creator? I’m quite excited to observe it myself.” “…!” Cryo knew he might now be dug too deep in and he’d really have to think of an excuse now to hide his AI now. “What did the Tv just say, Cryo?” “Oh umm… Uhh… Please excuse the tv Cameron. I uhh… added some new upgrades to it. A… better command system and programming structure. Much easier to use now. And uh… A… key word system that allows it to detect specific words like uhh… movie and channels to… make it easier to use. Heh heh heh…” Cryo smiled back at Cameron. “Huh. Cryo’s acting a little weird. Is something wrong?” thought Cameron. Cryo gulped and looked back at his Tv. “Is something wrong creator?” “Oh… Uhh… I want to watch the movie where the bean bags are. Please uhh… plug yourself in the power socket there,” said Cryo. “Very well. Moving toward relaxing area.”

The TV quickly hovered over toward his bean bags in the back of the room. It quickly extended its landing frame, slowly hovered down, and plugged its plug into the socket. “There we go. Let’s umm… watch the movie now Cameron,” said Cryo. Cryo slowly sat himself down on the bean bag and Cameron came over and sat in his. He looked back at Cryo. “He looks nervous still. I wonder what’s wrong with him,” he thought. Cryo looked back at Cameron and gave a small smile. He then looked back toward his Tv. “He’s probably just thinking about his birthday tomorrow. I know how much he doesn’t like it. His upgrades to his Tv are pretty cool.” The tv spoke again. “Now playing movie. Would you like to skip the main menus and play the movie, creator?” Cryo gave out a sigh. “Yes. Please play movie. Thank you.” “Now playing movie.”

The Tv played the movie as Cryo and the others watched for quite some time. The movie gave a a good amount of laughs to the group as it played through. Cryo seemed to enjoy himself and relaxed as it played. Seeing characters he’s familiar with in a more lighthearted adventures, made Cryo smile. Soon, the movie ended, and the credits rolled.

“That animated movie was pretty hilarious, Cryo,” said Cameron. “Yea. I thought it was too,” said Cryo, giving back a smile. “Movie was quite lighthearted and fascinating. Does this have some truth to what the dragon race is like?” said the Tv. “…Not again,” thought Cryo. “Huh. Did the Tv say something else, Cryo.” said Cameron. “Umm… Don’t worry about it Cameron. Uhh… Please… uh… plug yourself into the socket near my bed and uhh… wait for instructions…” “Very well. Moving to napping area.” The Tv moved itself toward Cryo’s bed and plugged itself next to it. It then extended its frame down and landed. “I hope Cameron doesn’t suspect anything… I… should probably have a conversation with it tonight before bed…”

Ch 19

Wish List

“Hey you two. Time for dinner,” said Tide. “Yes! I’m starving. You hungry too, Cryo?” “Yea. I’m pretty hungry. What did we make tonight?” “I made something different tonight. It’s a couple of different dishes from another human culture,” said Tide. “Really? What food is it?” asked Cryo. “Well first we have a chillan covered in a sweet and sour sauce, a couple of egg rolls, with different mixed vegetables, pork, and other ingredients wrapped up into it, and vegetable cooked Mui (vegtable fried rice made of the Mida plant) said Tide. “Ohhh! You made Asienga food!” said Cameron. “That’s one of my dad’s favorite foreign culture foods.” “I’m not familiar with this type of food,” said Cryo. “You’ll like it Cryo,” said Tide. “Alright. Well I’m willing to try it.” “Here Cryo. You’ll need these. Tide took a pair of chop sticks from the table and gave it to Cryo. “What are these Mom?” he asked. “Chop sticks. You use these to eat them. Come over here and I’ll show you how,” The three went to the table and grabbed the different foods and put it on a plate. Tide showed Cryo how to operate the chop sticks. “A weird way to eat food,” thought Cryo. “I would think a fork and knife would be much easier.”

Cryo struggled a bit at first to grasp the concept of how to eat with them.” “Here Cryo. Let me help you with that.” Tide came over and helped position the chop sticks in his talons. then she took her chopsticks and carefully picked up some of the food and put it on Cryo’s plate. Cryo observed her carefully again. “Now you try it son.” “Alright then.” Cryo looked at a piece of chillin and took the two chopsticks in his hand. carefully positioning it over the chillin, he carefully picked it up, slowly moved it towards his mouth, opened wide, and put it in. The mix of sweet and sour flavor in the special sauce on the chillin brought a smile on Cryo’s face as he went to get another piece of it. “There you go Cryo. Now your getting the hang of it.” They continued to eat as the time passed. Cryo continued to eat and began to think about tomorrow. “I wonder what they have planned for me? I guess it doesn’t matter… Worst day of the year regardless…” He began to slow down in eating his food. Tide began to take notice.

“Hey Cryo,” said Tide. “Yea, Mom?” replied Cryo. “Are you ok?” You seem to be in deep thought.” “Oh. It’s… nothing Mom.” “He’s probably thinking about tomorrow again,” she thought. “Your thinking about your birthday again, Cryo?” Cryo didn’t reply back. “I know it’s a hard time of the year for you, Cryo. Is there… anything that you would particularly want for your birthday?” “Sigh… If I say nothing, she’ll probably just keep pressing me about tomorrow. Better swallow this in and tell her something I want. The only thing I really want is never going to happen anyway. Wishes never come true…”

Cryo began to think for a moment about something. “I guess I want a… computer… I suppose. “A computer?” “Yes. I have… a need for one right now.” “Any computer in particular?” “I want the Portal XGS computer. And I would also like to add a “special drive,” to it that can hold a high amount of data. “Alright Cryo. I probably can see if we can get you one.” “Yea… Thanks… I guess.” “Anything else?” “Maybe some new jackets and other cloths as well, some fun movies, maybe the new capsule creatures game for my Ignition, and, maybe some extra parts for my computer. Also some on the side for repairs.” “Alright, son. We’ll see what we can get for you.” They continued to eat their food and time progressed and soon the food was gone.

Ch 20

Water and Will

“I’m stuffed,” said Cryo. “I am too. That was good stuff,” said Cameron. “Hey, Cryo?” said Tide “Yea Mom?” “You should probably take a bath tonight, so you’ll be at your best tomorrow. Nice and clean for your special day.” Cryo gave out a sigh and nodded. “Alright Mom. I’ll… take a bath tonight.” “Will you need help, my son?” Cryo shook his head. “I’ll be good mom.” “You sure?” “Sigh… Yes mom.” “Well. Alright son. Me and Cameron will go talk to Ty while your cleaning yourself up.” “Alright. I’ll see you when I’m done.” “Alright. Have a good cleanup, son.” Tide placed the dishes in the sink to be cleaned later. She then left the room with Cameron while Cryo began to walk towards his washroom. “I wish they would stop reminding me about tomorrow…”

Cryo opened the door and went next to his bathtub. He turned on the water and it poured into the tub. He quickly hopped in and plugged the drain as the tub began to fill with warm water. Soon the tub was filled with water and Cryo began to relax inside. But the thoughts of tomorrow filled his head. He gave a out a heavy sigh.

“That time of the year again. The worst day of the entire year.” Cryo began to take his head soap and squeezed some out into his paw. He began to rub all over his head. He then quickly held his breath dipped his head underwater, and then emerged back up from the water. “It’s been… 6 years since it happened. Sigh… I hope the party tomorrow will end quickly. I… just can’t understand why they can’t just let the day go for me. There’s no real reason to celebrate it. It’s just a reminder of… what I’ve lost.” Cryo stood up in the tub and took his scale soap and poured a bit on a loofah and began to rub it against his body and back.

“I wonder what they’re doing right now. Greg… Suzy… Noble… I wonder if they’re alright. If they are doing fine without me. Do they even remember me? I wish I knew if they we’re ok. If they we’re able to continue on without me.” Cryo began to position himself in the tub to lay on his back with his head and limbs out of the water. He began to rub his front and back limbs with his loofa. “I remember what they said. When they said blowing out the candles on the birthday cake is supposed to grant wishes. I’ve wished every year to be able to see them again. But… I know by now. Wishes never come true. No matter how much you want it.” He turned over again and opened the drain in the tub. The water quickly began to drain out and Cryo leaped out of the tub. He grabbed a towel and began to rub it carefully and slowly against his scales. He soon was dried off and began to go towards the sink to brush his fangs.

Taking out his dragon toothpaste, he squeezed it on his brush and began to stroke his teeth with it. As he brushed, he continued to think about tomorrow. “I wonder what they have planned tomorrow for me? Hopefully not a trip out of the base, considering the recent troubles we had. Not that it matters I suppose… There’s no reason to think it’ll be fun regardless. Not even the cake tastes that good… Sigh…”

He took the brush out of his mouth, swished the toothpaste in his mouth a bit, and spit it out into the sink. He then poured some water into a plastic cup and then began to sip it into his mouth. Swishing it around again, he then spit into the sink. He then took some of his special dragon floss (it’s a bit thicker and much stronger then regular floss) and began to wrap it and carefully floss his fangs. A few moments later discarded the floss and looked into the mirror in front of the sink to take a look at his nice and shiny white fangs. Using a talon to lower his mandibles, he could see he had done a good job cleaning his teeth. “That should be good enough.” Cryo then looked towards his talons, and saw that they’ve grown quite a bit. “Hmm… I probably should trim and file my talons a bit. It’s been about a month since I last had a chance to clip them and they look pretty long and sharp. Cryo took out a talon clipper and a dragon file above the sink in a cabinet below his mirror. He slowly and carefully trimmed his talons down, making sure that the edge wasn’t too sharp and was easier to grip things. He then took a dragon file and began to file his talons a bit more to even out and clean up the edges.. After a few moments, he looked at his talons. “That should be good. Nice and trimmed.” Cryo began to place everything back where it needed to be and headed for the door.

Ch 21

Stories and Sleep

“I wonder if they’re back yet?” he thought. Taking a peek out of his washroom, he saw that Tide and Cameron we’re back and talking to each other. He noticed that Ty was also in the room. “They’re talking real soft so I can’t hear them. They must be discussing my birthday plans…” Cryo gave out a sigh and opened the door to his washroom and walked out slowly with his head low. The 3 noticed Cryo walking out and smiled at him. Cryo walked over slowly to greet them. “There’s my nice and clean boy,” said Tide. “You ok Cryo?” asked Cameron. “Yea… I’m fine Cameron. Don’t worry about it.” he replied. “I know tomorrow is hard for you to think about, Cryo. Don’t worry about it for now, Cryo. Why don’t you go to bed a little early tonight. Perhaps this will help calm you down a bit,” said Tide. “Yes. Why don’t you go to bed early. You’ll be more refreshed tomorrow,” said Ty. Thinking about their suggestion, he nodded in agreement. “Yea. Your right. I could use a bit of extra sleep to prepare for tomorrow.” “Would you like for me to tuck you into bed tonight, Cryo?” asked Tide. Cryo gave out a sigh. “No thank you, Mom.” “Are you sure, my little boy?” “I’ll be alright, mom. Really. Don’t worry about me…” “Alright, Cryo. Goodnight my baby boy.” Tide began to head to the front of the room to turn the lights off.

Cryo started to head towards his hay bed and gave out a yawn. He stood before his cloths drawer and opened it. After rummaging around a bit, he took out a green t shirt with the picture of him wearing knights armor with a lance in his left paw on the front with the words, “Adventurer of the old world, Cryo the dragon,” in grey text. He turned it towards the back, and saw himself sleeping in his bed with a thought bubble showing him fighting a legendary creature from the capsule creatures game in said armor. “I must say. Despite not being like my old cloths, the people who make my cloths here sure have some pretty fun ideas for clothing designs.” He smiled a bit and raised the shirt over his head. He quickly put his arms through the openings and carefully maneuvered his wings out the back. He then headed back towards his bed nearby. Tide switched the light off to his room and headed back to where Cameron and Ty were. Cryo watched as Tide headed back. He looked towards the others one more time, who seemed to be watching as he began to pick up his blanket. He began to tightly huddle it around his body and began to lay down. He placed his head on his pillow and rubbed his head on it a bit, getting comfortable. His radio began to speak.

“Would you like to listen to some relaxing sleeping music or listen to a online storybook to help you sleep?” it asked. Cryo tilted his head to his radio and gave out a sigh. “Can I ask you a something?” “What do you need, creator?” “Keep your volume down a bit… Anyway… I’m a little worried that my umm… friends and family… may not be understanding of you. Can you… maybe… try to make it not as… obvious that your umm… sentient… I guess?” “Suggestion taken. Will work on communications and mannerisms to reduce suspicion of sentiency until family and friends may be understanding. Will you like anything else?” Cryo yawned again and began to lay his head down on his bed. “I could listen to music I guess. But… I’m curious about its mention of the online storybook. I haven’t listened to a bedtime story since I was 4, I think… Might be a fun way to go to sleep tonight. Hmm…” he thought. Cryo gave out another yawn. “Let’s at least try it I suppose.”

He tilted his head at his radio. “Can you open a online storybook?” “What type of story would you like to hear?” “Well. I would like to hear a adventure story I guess.” “Searching.” The radio remained silent for a few moments.” Would you like to listen to the story, “Explorers series, book 2, Time, darkness, and sky? This book features the characters from capsule creatures series. I understand you like the games.” Cryo thought for a moment. “Sounds interesting. Alright then,” Cryo thought. He yawned again. “Yes. Play storybook.” “Playing storybook.”

The radio began to play a soft, young voice. “Chapter one. Stormy seas.” Cryo huddled himself a bit more tightly in the blanket. “There was a time where everything fell to ruin. Where the dark took over and the sun grew dim. I was there. I don’t remember much about it. I am Kyle. I look different then what I once looked like. I was known as a human before. I don’t really remember what I looked like as a human since it happened quite some time ago. Now. I am something else. Something different. Something… red. A young dragon I have become now. An Embertail. But how did this all begin. Well It started a bit like this.”

“There was a flash of electricity as the crackle of electric bursts could be heard from all over. My vision of what happened remained dark as the chaos ensued. “Don’t let go. We just have a little bit to go!” Cryo noticed that the radio had changed it’s voice to reflect the new character in the story. The new character voice sounded very distorted, as if the story itself was trying to hide who this new character was. “My strength was fading though and my grip was becoming loose.” “I can’t. I… Wahh!” My grip had failed and I had let go of it. My eyesight began to fade, and with a flash of light I lost consciousness.”

The radio paused for a moment. “Chapter 2. A new world. As the chaos faded, I woke for a brief moment, tired and weak. My vision was blurred and I tried to make a sense of where I was. But I quickly faded again, and soon fell to the dark. While I was down, someone not far off was attempting to follow his heart. A person I would begin to know as, Anubis, the Aurum. Someone who would help me in my time a need. Someone who would help guide my path forward and understand what would be the most important reason as to why I’m here.”

Cryo’s mind began to drift off from the soothing story. He felt like he’s heard something similar to this story before. His eyes started to close slowly. “I have to do it this time. I have to be brave.” The new character in the story had a young, low pitched voice. “The unknown creature walked up to what appeared to be a large building in the shape of the head of a Lyttiby (Li-ty-by), with a big metal barred gate covering the entrance and a scanner pad on the ground in front of it. He looked at the scanner, took in a big gulp, and began to step on it.

“Scanning beginning,” an alarming, deep, mechanical voice boomed. Surprised by the the voice, he quickly stepped back. “Sigh… I still can’t do it. It’s still too much.” The creature looked at a fragment of metal in his hand. “I thought bringing this would give me the strength to get passed and register. Sigh. It’s still not enough.” The creature gave a sigh and began to turn back. “Why can’t I be brave?” As he turned back, Two figures began to take interest in him. Or perhaps, something he had…” Cryo’s eyes fully closed and he gave one last yawn.

“Chapter 3: Beginnings.” As the radio was about to begin to speak from the storybook, Cryo’s mind had finally fogged up and he fell into a deep slumber. “Saving bookmark for next time. Radio off.”

Ch 22

Proper Preparations

Tide and the others noticed he had fallen asleep and walked towards the door. “How long will it take for them to get here?” asked Tide “The ship will be sent out first thing in the mourning. It may take some time before they arrive,” Ty replied. “He won’t be very happy until then,” said Cameron. “We’ll just have to keep him occupied until then,” said Tide. They looked at each other and nodded. “Alright. Let’s start getting ready for tomorrow,” Ty said. Ty and Cameron left the room and Tide headed toward Cryo’s bed to take a look at him. “He’s huddled himself really tightly in his blanket. He looks so cute.” Tide turned towards Cryo’s radio. As she was about to say something, she noticed a piece of paper on the cabinet next to Cryo’s radio. She leaned in a bit to take a closer look at it.

“Hmm. What’s this?” She picked up the paper and began to read it. She remembered that it was what Cryo had wrote down earlier. She began to take interest immediately. “Is this a recipe? Hmm. White chocolate. White chocolate?… There is chocolate that is white instead of brown?” She continued to look at the recipe. “Interesting. Where did Cryo get this recipe? I’ve never heard of white chocolate before.” She scratched her chin and then gave a smile. “This might actually be something nice for Cryo’s party. Something that might cheer him up.” She nodded to herself.

“Ty needs to know about this. This recipe is perfect to make for Cryo. We may even be able to use this with his cake. Even if we can’t, we can just follow the recipe, with a few additions or altercations to instead make a white chocolate treat for him. It should help him cope.” Tide looked at Cryo one more time. She leaned down and gave a small kiss on Cryo’s forehead. Cryo began to move a tiny bit and then shifted his weight to his other side.

Tide then shifted her attention back towards his radio. She whispered to it. “Can you make sure he stays asleep tonight. He’ll need all the sleep he can get.” The radio gave a short moment of static. “Don’t worry. I know. I won’t tell anyone. I would like for him to wake up later then usual tomorrow.” She grabbed a pair of Cryo’s headphones that were in the drawer next to his bed and connected them to his radio and carefully put it on Cryo’s ears. “Turn off your alarm and play naptunes for him all night. Try to keep him asleep until we’re ready for him. If he wakes up, try to convince him to sleep a little longer. If he doesn’t, convince him to stay in his room. We’ll need some time to prepare for his party. Understand?” The radio stayed silent for a few moments. It then replied back. “Understood. Analyzing strategies for Creator’s containment. Planning preparations for tomorrow. Do you need anything else?” “No. Good luck on your end.”

Tide began to walk towards the door when the radio began to speak again. “How did you know?” the radio asked. Tide turned back toward the radio. “I realized it right as you started acting on your own. You knew when Cryo wanted to watch a movie without him even giving a command. And you called him creator. It takes a bit more then adding more key words and commands to react to Cryo the way you do.” She headed towards the door and opened it up. “Stay out of trouble, please.” Tide left the room leaving the two alone. “Playing naptunes channel.”

Ch 23

Cake Conflicts

Cryo’s eyes slowly dimmed into focus. As he picked himself up, he looked around and saw a gigantic birthday cake in front of him. He looked around and seemed to be in a very dark room. One by one, large candles on the cake lit up one at a time on top creating a very bright glow at the top. A voice then called to him. “Make a wish, Cryo.” The voice sounded slightly distorted, but strangely familiar.

A staircase of wooden steps began to build itself to the top where the candles lay. Cryo gave a frown and a sigh. “Wishes never come true.” He began to walk away from it towards a darkened door much further back in the room. The voice called again. “Wishes can come true. Come and make a wish.” He turned back to the cake again, and sighed. “I’ve heard that one before.” He continued to head for the door. “Don’t give up hope. Make a wish.” He stopped for a moment and tilted his head down and gave a frown. He closed his eyes, picked his head up a bit, shook his head, and continued on. He went to the door and began to turn the nob to head out of the room. It was locked though. He saw the locking mechanism on the door and tried to turn it. But it would not budge, No matter how hard he tried to turn it.

“Why don’t you want to make a wish?” the voice asked. “I’ve made the same wish every year. It never came true. Why would it be any different now?” “You’ll never know until you try. Come and make a wish. There’s always hope, my little brother. Make a wish.” Cryo tilted his head in confusion, but immediately dismissed it. He then gave out a sigh.

“If I make a wish… will you… let me leave here?” “Only if you make a wish. Step up and make your dreams come true.” Cryo gave out a sigh and went back towards the cake. “Fine. I can imagine this is not going to end well…” He climbed the staircase up towards the candles on top of the cake. He looked at the top of the cake. It had the words “Happy 7th birthday Cryo,” in blue frosting. Cryo sighed and gave out his wish. “I wish to see my old family again.” He took in a deep breath and blew out the candles on top.

Suddenly, the candles began to shake violently on the cake! Their frames began to light up VERY brightly. Cryo began to back away a bit and shield his eyes from the light. Each candle then began to shoot up into the air, one by one. Cryo looked up towards the sky, as each candle exploded in the air, creating an array of colored cinders in the sky! “Is this… fireworks?” As he watched the spectacle above, he began to feel strange. He felt his strength giving out. Cryo’s head began to become fuzzy. He began to rub his eyes. His eyes began to quickly lose focus. He then collapsed onto his side, feeling like his whole body was being weighted down. “What’s… happening to me? I feel… very weak… I… can’t move. Am I poisoned again?”

As he tried to see, he felt something lift him up carefully and gently. Cryo’s eyes couldn’t recognize the figure. He only could see its black silhouette of a humanoid shape. It cradled him in its arms and gently stroked his head and belly a few times. It then began to walk away from the cake, down the staircase, and towards the door. Cryo tried to speak, but he couldn’t make any words come out. “Who… is this…? Where… is it taking me…?” he thought. The figure unlocked and opened the door to the dark room and exited it to another room. The room was a white haze as the figure continued to carry him. Cryo didn’t have the strength to move himself. He could only move his head slowly. The figure stopped in front of a darkened table, where an array of strange items were folded up on it.

He placed Cryo slowly and carefully down on the table on something very soft. Cryo tried to move again, but he still couldn’t budge even a inch. It scratched Cryo’s back a bit, which helped relax Cryo. “This… Is this creature… trying to help me?…” It stopped scratching Cryo and picked up the first item to the far left of the table. It gently lifted Cryo up and carefully fitted on him what looked to be Dark blue light, that stretched across Cryo’s upper body all the way down to near his waist. He carefully maneuvered Cryo’s front arms from 2 openings in it so they could be extended outside of it while also fitting it so his wings would come out the back. “What… is this. Is this… a shirt? It’s… warm and soft. It feels… like my old cloths…” Cryo thought.

The figure placed Cryo down on the soft mass again and picked up the next item, in the center. It then lifted up Cryo’s head gently, and began to very carefully wrap some type of Cyan cloth around Cryo’s neck, which began to light up brightly for a few moments as the creature finished tying it on behind his neck. “Is this… a scarf? Why… does it extend farther down… my neck? It feels… tied, not wrapped… on the back. It… feels different. Its softer… then anything I’ve been coiled in before. It smells… like a natural purified spring. What… is this?” The figure gently scratched Cryo’s head a few times.

It then gently picked up Cryo again and then picked up the final item. Cryo saw it was what he was placed on before. It unfolded it, which seemed to be some type of soft and thick, dark blue mass. He began to carefully wrap it tightly around Cryo’s entire body. It felt very soft, comfy, and clean. Cryo felt like the items all seemed familiar to him somehow. He yawned, as the masses enveloping his body gave him a strange feeling. Something he didn’t expect after this started. Comfort and warmth. The voice came again. “There we go. Let’s get you in bed.” Cryo recognized it as the voice before. It began to carry him across his shoulder, rubbing Cryo’s back very slowly and gently as they moved forward. “This… what’s going on?” He gave out another yawn as he tried to focus his eyes. But he still couldn’t see well.

The figure soon stopped before something below. It carefully laid Cryo down on a large mass of yellow light, which was big enough to lay his entire body on, carefully positioning his head on a another small blue mass of light. Cryo felt the warmth and shape of the masses together adjusting to his body and weight, and made him feel warm, comfortable, and very cozy. Cryo tried to stay conscious, trying to understand what was going on. He was at least able to move his head slowly to watch what the figure would do next. The figure stepped a little bit towards the front where a small, rounded darkened rectangle sat nearby. He could see what seemed to be dark pegs coming out a few places on the bottom of the item. He turned these pegs a bit, and a soothing melody began to play out of it. The musical spell quickly took over as Cryo’s ears listened. His eyes began to completely fade to black. He could not stay conscious. Cryo had finally succumbed to the strange ritual being performed here. The last thing he would hear, is the figure calling to him, one last time. “Happy birthday, little brother.”

Ch 24

Strange Suspicion

Cryo opened his eyes slowly and blinked a few times. He gave out a yawn as he could hear soothing music in his ears. He recognized it as the tune from his dream before he had succumbed. His eyes began to focus into view. He was back in his room. He lifted himself up and realized he had his headphones on, playing naptunes channel. He took his headphones off and rubbed his eyes a bit. “Someone put my headphones on me as I slept. Maybe Mom or Cameron?” Cryo looked towards his radio besides his bed on the cabinet. It indicated that it was 11:12 A.M. “I’ve slept in for a couple hours. Guess I got extra sleep after all. Looks like someone turned off the alarm. Mom or Ty probably.” He poked his back legs out of the blanket, then his front legs. He then turned on his belly and lifted himself up. He then began to unwrap the blanket around his body when his radio began to speak.

“Good mourning creator.” He looked towards his radio. “Umm… good mourning… I guess.” Cryo looked around the room and saw that no one was in it currently. “Hmm… I’m alone right now, I wonder where everyone is?” Cryo thought. Cryo was about to start heading towards the door, when the radio spoke up again. “Why don’t you take a little bit more time to sleep, Creator,” it said. “Sleep? But its almost halfway through the day already,” Cryo replied. “It never hurts to get a bit more sleep. You look pretty tired still…” Cryo tilted his head and scratched under his chin a few times. “I feel well rested enough.” “It’s going to be a hard day for you, from my understanding. Maybe some extra sleep will help you get through it.” Cryo looked towards the radio with a look of suspicion.

“You seem awfully convinced that I should get more sleep. Is something going on?” The radio paused for a moment, and then gave a reply. “If your sure that you won’t need sleep, I won’t stop you. Perhaps it would be a good idea to take another bath before then.” Cryo took his paw and sniffed at it. “I smell pretty clean.” “Maybe take another to make sure? It’s a big day for you and it would be unfortunate if you smelled a bit before then.” “I… think I’ll be fine. Cryo continued to head for the door to his room, when the radio spoke up again.

“There is some items on your desk that could use repair. Perhaps you should take the time to fix them?” “I’m sure that can wait. I probably should tell the others I am awake, considering I slept in so late.” “They probably already know your awake and fine. There are camera’s in the room.” Cryo scratched his head. “Well, I suppose that’s true, but…” “Why not take this as an opportunity to be by yourself for a bit. It may be for the best that you try to do something you like before you head into something rough for you.” Cryo thought for a moment. He began to notice the AI was trying VERY hard to keep him in his room. “Is something wrong, creator?” it asked.

“Umm… Is the door locked?” asked Cryo. “Not to my understanding.” “Then I think I’m going to go… I’ll… see you in a bit.” Cryo quickly headed for the door. “Creator. Please come back,” said the radio. He was about to open it when someone else opened it. “Hello, my little boy.” “Ohh… um… Hi Mom.” Tide stepped in the room, carrying a large new blue bookbag over her shoulder. Tide looked over towards the radio, and then looked back to him. “I was hoping that your “friend,” there could keep you occupied for a couple more hours, but I suppose I should’ve considered how cautious you are. “Wait… You…” “Yes Cryo… I was the one that told your AI buddy to try to keep you inside.” Tide stepped in the room, carrying backpack. Cryo gave a small frown and sighed. “You knew about it…” “Yes. I figured it out pretty quickly with its mannerisms.” “Do… the others know?” “No they don’t. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t tell them.”

Cryo gave out a sigh and looked straight up at Tide. “Now Cryo. I know you want to probably go out and see the others for a bit, but… could you please stay in your room for now? There’s things we still need to get ready for.” Cryo gave out a sigh, and nodded. “Alright Mom. I can stay locked up in here, waiting for the worst to happen…” Tide gave a hug to Cryo and kissed his forehead. “I know how hard this is for you. Please just hang out in here for now while we get ready. Oh… and if you don’t mind…” Tide placed the bag she was carrying near Cryo’s bed. “There are some cloths in here I would like you to change into for later. Oh and also, if you decide to work on repairs, don’t put the cloths on while you work. You’ll probably also need to wash up a bit after so you don’t smell like grease.” Cryo nodded. “Alright mom.” “Good. Just wait until we’re ready for you, honey. I’ll come get you when we’re ready, ok?” “Alright…” See you later, my baby boy.” Tide smiled at Cryo, patted him on the head a few times, and left the room.

Ch 25

Lunch Munch

Cryo went back towards his bed and looked at his radio. “So I guess I’m going to stay here after all.” “Very good creator. Is there something in particular you would like to do?” Cryo tilted his head and scratched his chin a bit. “I wonder what I should do. It’s probably going to be a while before the party.” Cryo looked around and then heard his stomach rumble a bit. “I’m hungry. I should probably eat something.”

Cryo began to head towards his fridge. As he approached, the doors began to open by themselves. “What do you feel like eating, creator? There is plenty inside to consume at your leisure,” a mechanical voice echoed from it. “Well… its in my fridge now… Then again… it might not really be all that bad I suppose.” He looked inside, he then took out ham, sliced ched (name of cheese from the planet), two pieces of bread, and a bottle of a orange condiment. He placed it on the counter next to his fridge. He then took out a red liquid in a large drink container and placed it next to it. He finally went to get a jar of a red, creamy yet curdle liquid and placed it on the counter. “Ahh. A nice pork and white ched sandwich with the base’s homemade midster (basically mustard), with Cherish sauce on the side (like applesauce but made with a fruit called cherish instead), and a fruit mix drink. Perfect for lunch.” He began to make his sandwich. “Will you need any help or instructions on making your meal, creator?” Cryo looked back at his fridge and chuckled a bit.” “Come on… I’m a big boy. I know how to make myself a sandwich of all things.” He went to his counter and placed the bread in a toaster in the shape a dragon head with an open mouth facing up. As he placed both pieces of bread in, they quickly descended into the machine. “Beginning toasting sequence. How would you like your bread, creator?” “Its even my toaster now… This ai really knows how to get around…” Cryo thought. He began to think for a few seconds. “Umm… I usually like my toast darkened quite a bit.” “Understood. Bread toasting sequence will be complete in about 1:46. Feel free to prepare other supplements for your meal creator.” “Umm… Alright. Thanks.” Cryo headed to the cabinets to the left of his kitchen. He took a small bowl from a cabinet above and poured some cherish sauce into it. Cryo smacked his lips a bit. He then grabbed a cup from the cabinet next to it and poured his drink into it. As he placed his items on the table, Cryo heard the toaster pop up.” “Toasting sequence complete, creator. I hope you enjoy it. Please keep in mind the bread might be hot when removed,” the toaster said. Cryo nodded and grinned. He quickly headed over and took the two pieces of toasted bread between his talons and placed it on a plate. He then put some slices of ham on top of one of the pieces, then some cheese, and then picked up the bottle of midster and squirted a little bit out.

He grabbed his sandwich and brought it over to the table. He placed it down on his table and began to pick up his sandwich. “Enjoy your nutritious and healthy meal, creator,” the fridge spoke. Cryo smiled and nodded. He slowly moved the sandwich in front of his mouth. He smacked his lips again and slowly opened his mandibles. His saliva began to drip on the plate a tiny bit, creating a few very tiny sparks (due to his saliva having a small electric charge, his plates, bowls, and silverware are made of materials and metals that can safely resist its electric charge. Luckily, his saliva is not strong enough to cause fires on soft surfaces such as blankets, carpets, outdoor flora, etc). Moving the sandwich towards his mouth, he took one big bite out of it and began to chew. A small smile came over his face as he chewed. He then let out a big gulp and swallowed the first bite, clearly satisfied.

He then took his spoon and took dipped it into his cherish sauce. Opening his maw, he moved the spoon into his mouth and closed his jaws around it. He pulled the spoon from his mouth and placed it down on his table. He then took his cup with his drink and began to slowly maneuver it over to his lips. Tilting it forward, the liquid soon came into contact with Cryo’s lips. He took a small sip and placed the drink down with another smile ran across his face.

“Ahh. This stuff tastes good. I love the cherish sauce the base makes. Sandwich is delicious too. The fruit mix tastes freshly made as well. Its lucky we have people here who know how to make stuff and condiments like this here.” He continued to eat, taking bites out of his sandwich and slurping up his cherish sauce and drink. Soon enough, the meal was finished and Cryo patted his belly a bit with a smile on his face. “That was pretty good. I wonder how long it took.” Cryo looked at the clock, which now read 12:34 P.M. “About an hour and 30 minutes. Hmm… I better clean up real quick.” Cryo began to clean up around the table and where he made his meal. He put his dishes in the dishwasher to be cleaned and closed it. Cryo nodded on a job well done with a smile and then looked towards the door to see if anyone might be standing there. But he saw that no one was at his door.

Ch 26

Repairs, Rinse, and Reminders

“Hmm… Looks like they’re still not ready for me. I wonder what’s taking them? He scratched his chin and looked around. “Must be still working on whatever they have planned for my party. Guess I should find something else to do.” He looked back towards the back of his room, looking at his work bench. “I could try to repair a few things. But it might mean I’ll have to take another bath. And there’s no telling when they plan to get me. He looked towards his washroom. “Hmm… I suppose it wouldn’t be that bad. I’m sure mom will inform me when they’re about ready for me.”

He began to walk towards his work bench, when he then turned his head to his radio. “Hmm… I should probably listen to some calming work music while I work. Its going to be a long day.” He headed towards his bed and picked up his radio on the nearby counter and began to head towards his work bench.

He placed his radio on the work bench. He turned his head toward the radio. “Hey. Can you play calming soft rock while I work today?” “Yes, creator. Turning on new generation rock radio.” Soft rock began to play on the radio. Cryo gave a smile and he put on his magnifying speck. He began to look at the items he needs to repair. “Hmm… Not that much left to repair for now. Just 2 items.” He picked up the first one, a toaster. “Let’s see… Notes say that bread will not stay down when she pushes it in. Dropped on the ground. Hmm…” Cryo carefully took it apart and observed its parts. “Just as I thought. The springs and locks on both sides is damaged. I’ll need to replace them.” Going to his large parts cabinet, he took out the replacement parts and began to fix the toaster.

“Ahh… life seems easier when your fixing things. I always feel like I’m doing something productive for the people living here. Like I have a purpose for being here,” he thought. The parts we’re soon replaced and he began to put the toaster back together. Cryo’s mind began to drift. He began to think about some of the first few months he spent at the facility. “Life was a lot harder here when I first came here. I pretty much had nothing. Just a room with a small pool of water and a few toys, and a window. A window that was my only way to see the outside world, towards the mountains…” Cryo gave out a sigh as he began to finish his first repair of the day. “Maybe its just because of the stress I get on this day. Everyone I know are fully aware that I hate this day.” The toaster soon was put back together. Cryo plugged it into a socket near his workbench. He went to the fridge to get two slices of bread to test both sides. He pushed it down into the toaster and observed. “Alright. Everything seems to be working,” he said. “Excellent job with the repair, creator. Your client will be pleased. What’s next?” the radio asked. “Oh. Thank you, um… radio…” Cryo smiled for a second, seemingly a little less weirded out then before about his ai.

Cryo picked up his final repair project, a small z phone. “Hmm. Interesting. I don’t typically have z phones to repair. This looks to be a slightly newer model. Luckily, I have enough experience with these. I shouldn’t have any trouble figuring out the problem.” he thought. He smiled and nodded. “

“Alright… Let’s see the notes. Hmm… Power failure. Won’t turn on…” He began to take off the back and took a look at the battery. “Battery is shot. Must have been used a whole lot, or left on and active for long periods.” Cryo went towards his parts drawer and took out a spare battery. He began to attach the new battery to the phone. “It just needs a small “kick,” now.” Cryo dabbed his talon in his mouth a tiny bit and carefully touched the battery. A tiny spark came out and the phone turned on for a second. “There we go. Now let’s get this put back together.” He began to place the back of the phone back on. He began to remember a bit more about his first days at the facility.

“Hmm. This reminds me of my first repair.” He began to screw the bolts of the back on. “It was Gerald’s phone, right? Yea. It’s only after I repaired his phone that things became better for me. They gave me something to do. They then gave me a proper room, toys, a bed, and made me feel like I was more then just… well… a wild animal. Now that I think about it… I haven’t seen Gerald in a while. Hmm… Oh! I remember now! Ty told me yesterday while I was outside that he’s been attempting to look more into our kidnappings. I guess that’s why. He worked as a investigator for the government before he decided to take a different career path and work more with biology and science. I hope he’s doing alright. He’ll probably miss the party today. I wonder when he’ll be back?”

The phone’s parts were soon put back in place. He messed with the phone a bit and confirmed that it was working properly. Cryo nodded in his success and then powered off the phone. He placed it to the side and gave a small smile on a job well done. “Alright. that should do it for now.” “Well done again, creator. Your job is complete. Congratulations on finishing up your mechanic occupational duties.” “Hehe. Thanks again, my, uh… AI friend.” ” He cleaned up his work space and nodded with a smile. “Can you turn off the radio?” “Radio off.” The tune from the radio stopped and Cryo began to take a couple of relaxed breaths. “Now what time is it?” thought Cryo. He turned his head towards the clock above his tv.

The clock now read 3:10 P.M. “Hmm. Time has passed quite a bit. Guess they still aren’t ready for me.” Cryo looked at his paws and saw spots of grease on it. “Looks like I could use a small washup.” Cryo headed towards his washroom and opened the door. He immediately looked in the mirror to see how he looked. “I don’t see any grease on my body and head. I think washing my hands and arms should be good enough.” Cryo headed towards his bathtub and grabbed a bar of soap. He then slowly trotted back to his sink. Cryo turned on the faucet and began to lathe his paws, arms, and shoulders with water. He then took the bar of soap and rubbed it all across his arms. Cryo then rinsed his arms off and turned the faucet off. He went to his towel hanging next to the sink on a wall ring holder and began to dry his arms off. Soon his arms were dry and he sniffed at his arms. “Smells pretty clean. I should be good here.” Cryo began to head out the door and looked towards the door to his room. He saw that there was a note on the door. He walked over and read it. “We’re ready for you at 4:20 P.M. Please get dressed beforehand. Thank you, my son. Love, Tide.” “Looks like their finally close to being ready for me. They want me to change into the cloths in the backpack. I wonder what mom wants me to wear? Let’s take a look…”

Ch 27

Concerning Clothing

Cryo opened the backpack and began take out the items one by one. He first took out a silver jacket. It seemed to be brand new. It had several pockets on the front, and on the back was a blue cartoon dragon, that looked similar to him… It was sitting down with a smile across his face. He began to feel around the material. “This is made of special materials. A mix of waterproof fabrics combined with chillin feathers and soulfire petals. Keeps the wearer nice, warm, and dry, even on very cold winter days. It also can be worn in warm weather since the fabric’s soulfire petals mixed is with a chemical formula that reacts to warmer weather to cool off the wearer. Interesting… Feels very nice and soft.” He rubbed it against his head a few times and smiled at the feel of the fabrics.

Cryo took out the next item, which seemed to be a warm red scarf, with the image of a majestic fire breathing dragon on it. “This looks really warm. Fabric feels really soft, like a fuzzy blanket. Hand knitted, hmm… Cryo began to think for a little bit. His eyes then shot up and slowly dipped to sadness.

“These are the nearly the exact type of cloths I wore on my first birthday! This silver jacket with the me on the back… The scarf with the firebreather… Even made from the same material! Why do they want me to wear this?… This is really going to be a horrible birthday…” He gave out a saddened sigh and began to tear up a little. But he quickly wiped the tear away and took in a deep breath. “It’s just for today, Cryo. It’s just for today. The others won’t like seeing me like this. Just relax… Just… relax.” He took in a couple more deep breaths and looked to see if there was anything else in the backpack. He saw a pair of fingerless gloves that had a strange pattern on it with an extra pair of toeless socks for his back talons as well. He took a look at the gloves first.

“Hmm… This looks strange. The pattern is a little odd. Why does it have a dark blue rounded polygon in the middle going down off the gloves and a bunch of trees and shrubs surrounding it. And what’s with the words “Reun on the left glove and ion on the right. What does this mean? Cryo then took a look at the socks given to him. “This pattern looks similar to the gloves. But… the rounded polygon is on top instead and the shrubbery is surrounding it on the bottom. He began to read the letters engraved on it in dark blue. “In the darkest of times…” the left sock read along the ankle line. Cryo read the other one “There is always hope.” Cryo gave out a sigh. “These wise words don’t make me feel any better about today.”

Cryo began to put on his cloths. He slipped his arms into his silver jacket and carefully maneuvered his wings out the back. He zipped up the jacket and took a deep breath in. He then wrapped the scarf around his neck carefully. He then slipped on his fingerless gloves carefully around his trimmed talons and then his socks on his back paws. He headed towards his washroom to take a look in the mirror. He sat himself down for a second in front of the mirror to look at himself from the front. He then stood up again and began to turn himself around to get a better look. “I… guess I look good I suppose. I… always loved the feeling of this material wrapped around me. I haven’t felt like this in a very long time.” He began to feel around his coat again, and began to wonder something…

“Strange… This coat and scarf, despite the slightly different fabrics and structure, they use the same methods and materials that Greg and Suzy used to make my own cloths back on the mountains. As far as I know, they are the only ones who knows how to correctly make cloths like this, right? It’s not easy to find soulfire flowers either. They are only grow deep in mountainous forests and they only grow on very rich soil, within spots where the sun can beam through the trees most of the day and onto the ground. You can’t make them grow unless your REALLY good a botany and have all the required supplies and conditions to make them grow. And the petals only grow during the spring. It’s neither easy to find these or easy to grow. It’s a rare plant indeed.” Cryo began to head towards the door back to his room.

“Since we originally lived very close to the mountains, Greg had the time to look for them during the entire spring season when we’d take a walk through the forest. They’d take me on a rather long walks with everyone at least once per day after breakfast. Then I’d take a nap when I got back home. I remember that he always looked around for these plants as they walked me around the forest in a harness and leash. I don’t think it takes too many to create cloths like this. He just needs to grind a couple petals and mix them with a special chemical and add it to the fabric. Hmm… I still don’t remember what chemical he used though.” Cryo turned the knob on the door and headed back into his room. “The mix between the flower petals and the chemical caused a strange effect within fabrics that allowed it to be worn during the summer, without causing the wearer to become to hot. These cloths are also some of the comfiest I’ve ever worn too. It’s why I always wore cloths like this during the day and night. I always like to bundle up and keep warm and comfy like this, surprisingly… These cloths worked to keep me both nice, dry, and warm during the winter while also preventing me from getting too hot during summer and spring.” Cryo scratched his chin a bit. “As far as I’m aware, none of the cloths that have been made for me here have used this method, right?… Or maybe I just never noticed?”

Cryo tilted his head and gave a sigh. “Perhaps I’m looking into this too much… I’m sure Greg and Suzy learned how to make cloths like this from watching a tv show or something.” Cryo nodded his head and gave a frown as he began to turn the doorknob to go outside his washroom. “I’m sure anyone could make cloths like this with enough time to learn.” He opened the door and headed into his room, and started to head towards his bed. “The researchers here have my old scarf and coat since I was a hatchling stored somewhere here.” I outgrew it so…” Cryo nodded to himself and took in a deep breath. “I’m sure the researchers here could have easily cracked the formula on how Greg and Suzy made my cloths. I doubt it would be too hard for them to figure out how to make them.” Cryo turned his head to look at the clock. It now read 3:30 P.M. “Well… Nothing left to do but wait until they come to pick me up.” thought Cryo. He grabbed his radio from his workbench and brought it over to his bean bag chair in the area where his tv is usually situated. He placed it on a stand beside the tv. He then sat himself down and began to wait. Cryo maneuvered himself onto his back leaning up on the bean bag and began to get himself more comfortable.

Ch 28

Computer’s Concern

“Can you turn on some calming soft rock music again? I need to hear something soothing before my tensions get high for todays party.” The radio flickered on and replied. “Turning to new generation rock radio.” The radio began to playing a soothing chord of rock and roll and Cryo closed his eyes and began to relax a bit and focus on the music. “Ahh… This music is calming. I wish there was a little bit of time to take a nap. It’s going to be rough day. Then again, they usually allow me to take a nap at least once when the party is going on. They know that I like to take 1 or two naps during the day.” Cryo thought. He opened his eyes and sat back a little bit more in the bean bag.

“You seem very tense for the coming party, creator. Your reactions shows stress levels are very high,” a mechanical voice echoed over the radio as the music continued to play. Cryo turned his head to face the radio, and he gave a sigh. “I’m sorry… You… don’t need to worry about me. This day will… come and pass like it always does,” Cryo replied. “If you don’t mind creator, I would like to know more why this day is so hard for you?” Cryo tilted his head a bit in confusion. “I’m surprised you don’t know. Weren’t you in the system at one point?”

“You are correct. But there is a difference in reading a simple document then actually hearing the story from someone who was there to witness it. I might be a simple machine, but I find there is more to understand. I can understand the extreme emotional withdraw that comes from such a traumatic experience. But… there might be something more you can learn. A birthday is supposed to be a special day, celebrating the day of the coming of age, 1 year at a time. Its supposed to be a day with food, fun, family, friends, and future possessions. You might be one of the only creatures of this planet that hates even the general idea of it. Or at the very least, your own. General consensus shows that your perfectly fine with celebrating others birthdays. Its just your own that causes so much pain.”

Cryo tilted his head again a bit on the side and began to lay his head back in his bean bag chair. The radio continued as the soft rock faded in volume as it spoke. “If you don’t mind creator, could you tell me the story, in your own words about how it happened?” Cryo scratched his chin with his trimmed talons and looked back at the radio. He thought about it a minute. “It might be therapeutic for you to talk about it a bit.” The radio said.

“Well… I’m… worried you’ll get the wrong idea about the people here or around the base if I tell you. I don’t want to make you think the people here are monsters or anything. What happened on that day… well… wasn’t exactly the way it was supposed to go. It just… escalated due to the leadership in charge of my… ahem… relocation…” “I am aware the individual in charge of the operation. He has recently been found as a conspirator and possible leader for the recent kidnappings of your mother and you, creator. His actions don’t speak anything about the others here. He didn’t care about you. The people here truly do. I’ve observed it myself from this rooms camera how the people here have treated you. They are just as much your family as your mother is. And I’m not currently connected to base servers or main security unit, except the camera I use to watch over you. “Watch over me?” “I could not do anything even if I wanted to. And I’m not going to go against my creators own wishes, even if I form the wrong opinion. I can understand your concern. But I think talking a bit about this might be a good way to release some of your tension. Would you please tell me?”

Cryo began to look away for a second, and turned toward the door to look at it. He looked back to the radio. “It’s… going to be awhile before they arrive. Maybe its right. Maybe talking about what happened might help…” Cryo nodded. “Alright. I guess I can tell you while I wait.” Cryo clasped his paws together and sat up. “Why don’t you start from the beginning,” the radio said.

Ch 29

Past Problems

“It happened… 6 years ago. Back then. I was living in a town called Wayside in a house close to the mountains. My room was actually a barn outside the main house. It was fine though. I was being cared for by my adopted family at the time. They loved and cared for me as if I was their own son. But the story… doesn’t necessarily start on my birthday. It starts one day before.” “What happened creator?”

“It started past noon. I was waiting for my “brother,” Noble to get home. I was in my room chewing on my pacifier.” “You had a pacifier as a hatchling?” “Yeah. I began teething very early on. Even after my “adult,” fangs grew in, I still liked chewing on it. But I had to stop when I was about… two and a half years old, I think. About the time I was to start being enrolled in school here.” “Its an amusing image to think of my creator chewing on a pacifier. Did you also have training pants?” “Ha ha. No I didn’t.” Cryo gave a small smirk at the thought. “They were able to housebreak me pretty early thankfully. I didn’t need to have something like that. That’s also kind of the reason why I stayed in the barn as well.” “I’m surprised it worked out so well.” “Well Dragons, even at a very young age, have the ability to understand languages of other species. Even when I was just a hatchling, I knew what they were telling me.” “That makes sense. With that type of ability, it would be nowhere near as hard as being trained regularly. Just being reminded a few times probably stuck into your head.” Cryo smiled and nodded. He looked back towards the radio.

“Anyway, Noble had to take a class for summer school since he ended up failing a class that year. But… He seemed to be running late for some reason. I… guess maybe I started to get impatient. My adopted father and mother, Suzy and Greg, always told me never to wander out on my own, and to never be seen by others, and for good reason. But unfortunately, I guess maybe I was concerned for him. Either that or I just didn’t want to wait for him. I remembered the path to his school since I rode in the car in the back once when we were taking him there. I was hiding under a blanket at the time, but I popped my head out just a bit under the blanket to watch outside as they drove. Not enough for anyone to see me though. I decided to go look for him, using the forest path along the edge of the street to use as cover so I couldn’t be seen. It was a little bit of a walk, but I had plenty of energy back then. Still do. Anyway, I made my way to the school. But when I got there, I found my brother being bullied by a couple of the kids there. I don’t remember what they were trying to do to him. But you can probably guess, I didn’t take too kindly to that…” “Did you kill them?” “What?! No! I just sprayed them down with a blast of water from my mouth. I think I might have knocked them unconscious though. Noble immediately realized I was there and hurried me back into the woods and we began to quickly get back home. Unfortunately, someone saw us go as we left.” “Who?” “I think it was a teacher from the school. I think if what I remember from what the the people here told me, she was about to break up the fight when she saw them getting blasted by a large spray of water. She saw Noble holding me for just a glimpse retreating into the woods after.” “Interesting, I’m guessing this is how they discovered your location.” “Unfortunately… yes. Anyway, We got back home and Noble reminded me that I cannot afford to be seen. It turns out he was right, as you can guess.” Cryo gave a small pause and gave out a sigh as he tilted his head down. He then faced the radio again and continued.

“When my brother reminded me, I started to feel like that I’m in big trouble, and well… I actually went back to my room and climbed to the top floor of the barn and jumped into my play pen to take a “time out.”” “You gave yourself a time out, creator?” “I know it sounds silly, but I felt like that Noble and my adopted family would have done it anyway. I also felt guilty for not listening to them. I think Noble actually tried to take me out but I refused.” “Sounds quite amusing to me creator. The creator did something naughty so the creator gives himself a time out. Must say that you must have been quite well behaved when you were a hatchling.” Cryo smiled at the thought and gave a small chuckle. Cryo continued his story. “Anyway. I stayed in there for about half an hour. Then Noble came back to get me for dinnertime. It was there that he told me there was a surprise tomorrow waiting for me. I think you already know what it is. He carried me into the house to eat with everyone for dinner. At dinner though, I learned that the teacher had called the house about the incident. Greg and Suzy reminded me I can’t be seen and more importantly… well… I wouldn’t be able to stay with them forever. “Really? They said that?” “Yes. They told me that I would be in danger staying with them for too long. They told me people we’re looking for me and Mom, who was… well… in hibernation at the time.” “I’m familiar with your mothers condition.” “Yes. It was due to this that they told me that once she wakes up, we’ll probably need to leave to stay safe.” “I see. Considering you ended up here, it seems their prediction held true.” Cryo gave a small frown and a nod. He continued with his story.

“After dinner, Noble carried me up to his room to watch him take apart a z phone before bedtime.” “Take a z phone apart?” “Yeah. Noble was hoping to go into engineering I think and had a hobby of taking apart different old machines he got from the junkyard and brought them home to take apart. Actually, I think Noble had actually fixed a few of the broken machines, using parts from different identical machines to replace the parts. “Fascinating. Perhaps that explains of why your such a good repair dragon.” Cryo gave out a small smile. “Yeah. I guess watching and listening to him while he’d take things apart helped me learn how machines work and how to repair them. Noble usually would talk to me as he worked, telling me a bit more about the parts.” “So he was in some ways… a teacher to you?” Cryo smiled and chuckled a bit. “I only learned from the best.” Cryo nodded and looked back at his radio. “Anyway. I watched Noble take apart the Z phone carefully for some time and then Suzy then put me in some night cloths for me and tucked me into bed.”

Cryo moved his paws on his belly and sunk a little bit backwards in the bean bag. “The next day, as you know, was my birthday. I woke up to the voice of my big brother, who was hanging over the edge of my crib. Funny enough, When Noble asked me if I knew what day it was, I thought it might be Christmas.” “How amusing. Silly creator thinks its Christmas during the summer season.” Cryo chuckled a bit again. Cryo continued.

“Noble carried me inside and started to tell me what a birthday is and what its for. When I got into the house, I saw that Greg and Suzy had made a bunch of food and there were a bunch of packages wrapped up like Christmas presents. I got confused again, but Greg and Suzy told me of the plans for today.” Cryo closed his eyes and tilted his head down for a second and opened them his eyes slowly.

“The plan was to go deep into the forest near a lake and have a wonderful birthday party there. I was going to swim, play games, eat, and have fun, but as you can guess, it… didn’t end up exactly that way…” Cryo looked back at the radio and clasped his front paws together again. “The party ended like a flash, as well… personnel from the military closed in on our campsite and began to terrorize Greg and Suzy, trying to get them to reveal where I was.” Cryo began to frown a bit and closed his eyes again.

“I watched as they beat Greg and Suzy at first. When they were about to beat my brother, well… I couldn’t allow them to continue. I knew there were far too many to fight off without them getting hurt, and so… I did the only thing I could do to stop them…” Cryo opened his eyes again and took in a deep breath in and out. “I gave myself up… I knew they’d take me away. I knew I’d probably never see them again. I knew I could possibly end up suffering a terrible fate. But I couldn’t let them suffer because of me. They… at least gave me a chance say goodbye to them. And well… that’s, how I ended up here. At the very least, they haven’t really done anything really malicious or cruel to me since I’ve been here. They… adopted me and treated me like I was their son, like Greg and Suzy did. They cared for me and mom while she was still in hibernation. It was a little hard when I first arrived, as they didn’t understand that I was more then a wild animal. But… eventually, they realized my potential and gave me a better life then I had when I first arrived. I’ve been able to continue on since the incident. But still… I really miss them…” Cryo began to scratch his trimmed talons gently a tiny bit against his clasped paws. He then closed his eyes as he began to sit back further in his bean bag. He gave a sigh and opened his eyes again.

“Can you tell me more, Creator?” asked the radio. Cryo tilted his head to the side a bit in confusion. “More? What do you mean? What’s more to tell?” replied Cryo “Your party couldn’t have been have just been all of that. Is that the only memory you have of that party? Didn’t you get to do anything fun before the incident?” Cryo looked at the radio again, thinking about what it said. “Your focusing only on the bad, creator. It couldn’t have been all that happened there. I believe there were some happy moments at the party.” Cryo scratched his chin a bit. “Well… I guess remember a bit more then that.” “If you don’t mind, please tell me about what you did before the incident.” Cryo thought about it for a moment and gave a small smile and a nod.” “Alright. I guess…”

Ch 30

Clothing Confusion

“The first thing I remember is that before heading off into the mountains, is that Noble changed me into some really nice and comfy new handmade cloths.” “What cloths?” “Well actually… similar to what I’m wearing right now.” “Really?” “Yes. A silver jacket with a cute picture of me on the back and a red scarf with a majestic fire breathing dragon on it. I didn’t have gloves or socks though. like I do now. But the materials and method are the same as Greg and Suzy used to make cloths for me.” “Interesting that your mother here would dress you in a similar outfit to your first birthday. What we’re your cloths made from?” “Well…” Cryo explained the method to his ai friend about his adopted parents method of making cloths.

“…and after mixing the fabrics and crushed soulfure petal mixture with the special chemical, it binds within the fabric itself and spreads into it and it creates a set of cloths that is very soft and comfy. They also cool off during hot days while also being very warm for winter seasons.” “That’s fascinating. Where did your adopted parents learn such a technique?” Cryo scratched his chin and head a bit. “I’m not sure really. He probably learned it from watching tv or something. The cloths I’m wearing now seem to be made in a similar method.” “Really?” “Yes. The researchers must have figured out how to make the same type of cloths.” “How do you know it’s made from the same method?” “The texture of the cloths is… specific. Cozy, warm, comfy, and reacts to cool and warm temperatures and water or snow. The fabric is softer then well… anything I think. Yet it’s sturdy enough not to tear against my scales and such. I’m sure that the researchers here had just cracked the formula on how he made them from what I wore at the party. They have the same scarf and jacket stored somewhere since I outgrew it. Either that, or they researched online or watched a tv show to learn how to make them.” “…I don’t think so, Creator.”

“Wha?… What do you mean? “Your right about one thing. The researchers here had tried to learn how to make similar cloths to what Suzy and Greg made. But despite their best efforts though, they could not figure out how in the world they made such magnificent cloths for you to wear that were very strong and seemed to react to both temperature, weather, and environmental elements. But they’ve never even come close to a finalized and successful product, until now apparently, now that you seem to be wearing a set of them…” “Um… How do you know that?”

“In my brief connection to the main servers, I downloaded documents pertaining to you specifically. One set of documents in my memory banks, is a group of research papers that have been years in progress pertaining to an investigation of cloths made by your adopted parents for you. The documents show many different tests to replicate said clothing fabrics for you. But the problem was, the technique they used was missing something. All tests made the cloths very easy to tear and gave a grainy and uncomfortable texture. Compared to the fabrics from the original jacket, which we’re VERY resistant to tear and the silk and such felt much more smoother and silky then any other known fabric techniques. They’ve been settling for years on clothing designs made from more reenforced fabrics to combat your scales issue.” “Well… Maybe like I said. It appeared… on tv…?” “I did a quick sweep of the internet, and there is no known fashion program or radio program that has ever mentioned or even looked into making cloths like this. As far as it is known, only your adopted parents knew how to make these.” “…Umm… Ok then… Thats… weird…” Cryo stayed silent for a moment. “If this is true, how in the world did they make these then. This is very strange,” thought Cryo. “Why don’t we get back to the story, creator.” “Umm… Ok then. Anyway…” .

Ch 31

Memorable Moments

“After that, they had already loaded up the vehicle and we quickly went on our way towards the mountains,” The drive was pretty long, but I got a beautiful view of the mountains and the forests as we drove by. “Did you have a car seat on the ride?” “Ahh… no I didn’t.” Cryo went into thought for a moment. “Though I guess that actually would be pretty funny if I did have one though. A dragon car seat. I wonder how that would work? Ha ha ha!” thought Cryo. Cryo gave out a small smile and went on. “Noble had wrapped me up in my favorite blanket at the time as we drove along, with cartoon characters from my favorite tv program stitched onto it” “Favorite tv program? Was it perhaps… Capsule Creatures?” “Oh yes. I loved that show since I was a hatchling. Still watch it today. It keeps adding new creatures, games, and always made me happy and gave me a good laugh every now and then. It even has dragon creatures in it.” “Makes since the young creator would watch a tv program like that. Its attracted a wide audience since its inception.” Cryo nodded and smiled. He continued with his story.

“Noble also kept me nice and hydrated on the trip.” “Hydrated?” “Yes. He fed me from a bottle several times as we drove on through.” “So you even had a nice baby bottle as a hatchling. An amusing image to think of my creator, riding in a car on a long drive, on his back, wrapped in a blanket, and being fed from a bottle while wagging his tail.” Cryo smiled at the thought.” “Yeah. Unfortunately, due to the trip itself, I had to have water instead of milk. It would have been extremely difficult to keep it cold with how long we’d be out.” “Were you a big milk consumer as a hatchling?” “Oh yes. When I was very young, I needed plenty of fluids as I went around. There was a nice farm near the end of town, where there were plenty of Craw walking around. Every time they’d drive me to the farm, I’d always get excited to see them. I’d poke my head out from the side window just a tiny bit to see them walk around while my parents went inside. Noble would keep a nice hold onto me and scratch my back. Right as I saw even one, I knew I’d be getting some very fresh milk to drink. I could tell they were treated very nicely, and their milk was some of the best I think I’ve ever had. I always liked herd animals like this.” “Sounds like the creator was a enthusiast for animal life. Especially ones that had a degree of responsibility for feeding the youngster.” Cryo chuckled a bit. “Well… I suppose it is a pretty important job keeping a young dragon well fed through some nice, refreshing dairy I suppose.” Cryo smiled and patted his belly a few times with both his paws.

“Anyway. The drive was pretty long still. The long drive wasn’t bad at all since I was being well fed and looking out at the beautiful expanse of forest. It felt very relaxing, and well… I eventually fell asleep. I think I dreamed that I was climbing a vast and beautiful snow covered mountain with a large expansive forest to view as I climbed up. At the top was where a vast horde of beautiful crystals were waiting for me to take home to my family. I was asleep for some time, until my nose got a whiff of some grilled Zurburgers.” “So the smell of fresh cooked meat awakens the young creator. You must have been a hungry little dragon.” Cryo gave out a small chuckle. “Yea. I suppose so. Anyway. Noble saw me awaken and took me out of my crib. He then asked me what I wanted to do.” “What did you do?”

“Well. We played hide and seek.” “Ahh. The classic human searching game. I imagine it would not be hard to see you in the shrubbery. You would stick out like a swollen thumb.” “Hehe. Yea. Anyway. Noble went first to seek.” “How long did it take Noble to find you?” “Not very long. Maybe about 7 minutes.” Cryo gave a small smile and began to lay himself back, head towards the radio. “Now it was my turn to seek. I looked around for a bit, trying to find my brothers scent, and eventually picked it up. I eventually saw him under a park bench near the lake. I decided to try to sneak up behind him to try and catch him by surprise, using the shrubs and trees to try to hide myself. But just as I was getting close, he heard me rustling the shrubs nearby. So now the chase was on!”

“Did you catch him?” “Yes I did. I actually caught him by flying for the first time.” “Really?” “Yes. Noble was pretty fast and I had a little trouble keeping up, so I climbed a nearby tree to make him think he lost me. I then glided towards the ground to him, and with a couple flap of my wings, I climbed onto his back, tagging him.” “Your first flight, huh?” “Yep. After that, I was hoping to swim, but Noble wanted to check with the Greg and Suzy, so we went to check with them.” “Did they allow you to swim?” “Well… not yet. Instead, they convinced us to play catch instead and wait after lunch.”

“Did you have a dragon catcher’s mit?” Cryo chuckled a bit and shook his head.” “No. Considering I walk using both front paws, it would be awkward for me to try to move around with something like a baseball glove on.” “Perhaps that could be a fun project for the future for you, creator.” Cryo tilted his head and rubbed under his chin a bit. “Hmm. That might be something cool to make. For that to work though… I’ll probably need a mit that has the ability to extend itself outward and be able to condensed again at will on my paw so my movement is not awkward or restricted. Hmm… It might be something worth trying to make some time…” Cryo thought. He turned back to the radio. “Yea. It might be a fun pet project. Back to the story.”

“It wasn’t long until all the food was finally ready. I was pretty hungry by then. I remember scarfing down every little bit of food they gave me. I think it was the most I ever ate in one meal setting. Then, came the cake.” “Ahh… The coup de grace of a birthday celebration, other then presents perhaps.” “Haha! Yeah. They special ordered a cake in the shape of a blue dragon like me.” “What type of cake was it?” “It was a chocolate cake. Its the first time I tasted chocolate.” “Sounds like quite an experience. Did you like it?” “Oh I did, alright. Scarfed so much of that down. I was so full after the meal, I absolutely needed another nap.” “Ahh the creator ate too much and needed to sleep off feeling lethargic. How amusing. What did you dream, creator?”

Ch 32

Destructive dream

“Umm… well…” Cryo began to think for a moment. “Is it really a good idea to tell it.. THAT dream…” he thought. Cryo began to drop his head down a bit. “Is something wrong creator.” “Oh. It’s umm… nothing.” Cryo replied “If I tell it about the dream, he might become… concerned. If what my… Dad told me is true, something like this or similar to this is going to happen in the future. An… invasion… trying to find me and… Mom too. A future I’m not sure if it can have a different outcome then what I witnessed.” He began to look back to the radio. “I… suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell him. Despite being a smart ai, he’d probably think its a food induced dream. Alright then.” Cryo nodded and clasped his paws together again.

“Well… My dream was… just a nightmare.” “A nightmare?” “Umm… yea. It was… a pretty bad one.” “Do you remember what happened in it?” “Actually, yes. It kinda… stuck with me.” “Is it something you don’t want to say?” “Oh no. Its fine. It happened like this…”

“I woke up, in a destroyed town. I had no idea what town it was or where my loved ones were. So I began to look around. I eventually found a destroyed sign. After thinking for a bit, I recognized it as the welcome sign to my own home town.” “Oh my… Sounds like things are already off to a bad start.”

“Umm… yea… Anyway… Right as I realized that it was… my home town. I began to rush to where my house was. When I got there… my house… was destroyed and my family was nowhere to be seen. I began to panic and worry about the whereabouts of my loved ones.” Cryo took in a deep breath. “Just then, I began to hear a noise behind me. I ignored it at first, but it started to become louder. When I turned behind to see what it was, I saw what looked to be a metal dragon.” “A metal dragon?” “Yes. It was in some type of space armor or something like that. He had apparently been looking for me and Mom…” “That’s awful. Were they responsible for the mess?” Cryo nodded. “He said that Mom had been taken by them and they were going to use me to make her build a portal.” “What about your adopted family?” “They apparently escaped but they were searching for them as well. But to be honest, I think they wanted more then just using me as a hostage.” “Why do you think that?” “Umm… It’s… just a feeling I have. I’m um… not really sure if there was more to it. Just a… a hunch I had.” “Strange. What more could they want with you?” “I don’t know. I just ran into the forest, trying to lose them. There was no way I could fight them off at the time and I knew it. I ran through for what seems like forever. I eventually found log cabin still intact deep in, with the door unlocked… I went in and looked for a place to hide from them. I… eventually hid where most kids would hide.” “And where was that?” “Under the covers of a bed.” “Not very tactical…” “I was just a hatchling then. I didn’t think of anywhere else to hide. I’m not as smart as I am now.” “Well… What happened next creator.”

“Well. I heard what sounded like jets overhead flying over the cabin. It eventually went away. After waiting a bit. I decided to… take a peek to see if anything was out there… and…” Cryo gave a small gulp and took in another deep breath. “The dragon from before, was towering right over me. I tried to get away, but he quickly pinned me down and then lifted me up with his arms around my neck and waist to keep me from wiggling out of his grasp. It became hard to breath, and I began to panic. I tried as hard as I could to break free. But it was no use. Other dragons with armor came in and bound my limbs, tied my wings down around my body, and they muzzled me.” “That’s just cruel. Destroying a town, terrorizing a baby dragon, kidnapping…. It’s just overblown at this point. All of this seems completely unnecessary! All just to kidnap 2 innocent dragons! Anyone who goes THAT far is uncultured heathens. No one should be pushed around and bullied like that. It’s pathetic and just sad.” Cryo actually gave a small chuckle and smile at the comment.

“Yea. Your probably right. I guess they considered me and mom too valuable and went overboard for no reason except to show off their military might and power. Your right. Anyone who decides to go that far are simply brutes.” “Did anything else happen after?” “The last thing that happened before I woke up is that they said someone was really wanting to meet me, and after that, they blindfolded me and then, everything went black.” “How unnecessary…” “Yeah. I agree.” “Do you have an idea who or what wanted to meet you?” “Well, no… It’s just a dream anyway, right?” “I suppose your right. I must say, that’s quite an awful dream to have right on your special day. I wouldn’t be surprised if that also ruined your birthday.” “Well… I suppose that could have contributed to the more negative aspects of what happened. Anyway… I woke up with Noble watching me. He told me I had been tossing and turning in my sleep. After that, I finally got a chance to swim. I jumped in before they were ready for me, but they didn’t mind once they saw I could swim safely on my own. I swam with Noble for a little bit. After that… well… You know the rest.”

Ch 33

Therapeutic Thesis

“That’s quite a story creator. It’s a shame what happened on your special day. I understand your feelings of grief on your birthday now, I believe,” said the radio. Cryo put his head down a bit. “But, it seems that it was not all bad. You were able to recount some very positive moments from the day. It might be hard sometimes to focus on the positive aspects after such a traumatic experience, but I think you should at least try to stop focusing on past trauma, and instead focus on what’s important. You and the others here who love you. They don’t like seeing you sad like this. They want to see you having a good time, Creator. Let go of what happened in the past. It should remain there. Don’t think that you’ll never see your adopted parents and brother again. There is always hope. Don’t ever give up on that.”

Cryo looked down for a minute, and slowly closed his eyes. “…It’s right. I’ve spent so long remembering the worst aspects of what happened. I let the grief of that day scar me for years. I never even once took moment to focus on the good things that happened,” thought Cryo. Cryo began to pick his head up and gave a smile. “You’re right. I never began to think of the fun things I was able to do with them before it happened. I only focused on the loss, not on what truly matters. Family and fun.” Cryo began to sit up and nodded. “Your right. I can’t give up hope. Maybe one day I’ll be able to see them again. I have to keep trying. Keep wishing. Maybe if my wish is strong enough, it’ll come true.” “That’s better creator. Try to have some fun on your birthday. Let go of the past and look towards the future. There’s always a chance you’ll see them again. Never lose hope.” “Thank you.” Cryo gave a smile and began to stretch a bit in his bean bag chair. Cryo looked back at the radio, and thought of something.

“You know… I never gave you a name.” “A name, creator?” “Yeah. I probably should give you a name.” Cryo began to think for a moment, scratching his chin. He then looked back at the radio and smiled. “How about I call you, Craft.” “Craft?” “Yea, based on the fact I crafted you myself.” “Very well. Adding name to profile. I will be known as Craft.” Cryo gave a smile and began to sit himself back in his seat, when he heard the door open behind him. He turned his head to face it, and saw a familiar figure standing in it. “Cryo, honey. We’re ready for you.” said Tide.

Ch 34

Big Birthday

Tide began to walk over to her precious son and gave a smile to him. Cryo saw she had cloths on like him. She had a purple sweater with an image of her and Cryo flying together with the words “Family and Flight,” under it and a blue scarf, with the image of a majestic blue dragon on it, similar to his. She also had some warm fingerless purple gloves and toeless socks around her front and back paws. “You look pretty nice, Mom. Looks like you have some new cloths too,” said Cryo. He walked over to her. “Thank you honey. These cloths feel wonderful Cryo. I can see why you really liked being bundled up like this.” She gave a smile at him and Cryo gave a smile back. “Ready to go son?” “Yea mom. I’m ready.” “Good. Let’s get you to field.” They both walked out the door and headed for the outside.

As they walked toward the hallway, Tide noticed that Cryo seemed pretty relaxed. “You don’t seem to be too tense right now Cryo. I thought you’d be a little antsy going to your party.” Cryo looked back at Tide and gave a small smile. “Don’t worry Mom. I’m fine. I’m sure things will be fun today.” Tide was surprised that Cryo seemed to be perfectly fine with his birthday celebration. Tide began to wonder why Cryo’s attitude seemed to have completely changed. “Are you sure your ok, honey?” “Heh heh. Relax mom. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry.” “Well. Ok…” They continued to walk down the hallway, and Tide began to think. “Did something happen while we we’re getting ready for Cryo’s surprise? I didn’t expect such a positive attitude for what’s usually a hard day for him. He looks so calm. Hmm…” Tide looked back ahead and gave a small smile. “Perhaps I’ll ask later.” They continued and headed out the door to the outside.

They headed towards the field where a big crowd of people were gathered. It seems the event would be pretty big this year. “Seems to be a lot of people planned to join the celebration this year,” said Cryo. The crowd looked toward the little Dragon, and gave a big shout. “Happy birthday, Cryo!” Cryo chuckled a bit and gave a smile. “Is this my surprise for this year?” “Not quite honey. This is only the introduction. Why don’t we head towards your real surprise…” Cryo tilted his head a bit and Tide nodded. She gestured Cryo with her head to continue following her and they headed towards the center. He saw that there was blue and cyan picnic blanket with a box pattern for him to sit on. Next to it was a small picnic basket. “Please have a seat with me, honey.” She smiled and sat down. She gestured Cryo over with her paw and tapped it a few times next to her on the blanket. Cryo, confused as to what was going on, strolled over next to Tide and sat next to her. “What’s going on here?” Cryo thought. He looked around at the area.

He looked towards the left and saw there were several tables filled with different types of munchies for him and the party guests to eat. He recognized one of the things seem to be a large container containing a white chocolate treat, spread across the entire container. “They made white chocolate for me? I guess I did leave the recipe next to my bed. I have to wonder if anyone else will like it? It’s a… well… new type sweet treat in this world I suppose…” His mother opened the picnic basket and took out a small plastic plate, with a few treats on it. She placed it in front of Cryo and gave a smile. He recognized it as the same treat from the container. “Here Cryo. Why don’t you have a couple pieces of white chocolate chunks. We did our best following your recipe, and I hope you’ll be our taste tester while we wait for your surprise. Please. Have a piece my son.” Cryo looked at the plate a smacked his mandibles a bit. He sniffed it a bit, and could smell its sweet scent. He picked up a piece, opened his mouth, and took a bite. Munching a bit, he gave a small smile and nodded. “I think you guys got the recipe right, Mom.” “Good. You can have the rest while we wait for your surprise.” “Don’t you want to try some Mom? I know I should probably share.” “Don’t worry, my baby boy. I’ll have some later. Now. Just wait for a bit.” Cryo nodded and continued to look around to see the rest of the party. He looked to the right to see a large stack of gifts from many different people there. “Lots of gifts this year. I don’t think that’s the surprise though. It seems… too obvious.”

He took another white chocolate chunk and took a bite of it. As he chewed on the delicious treat, he then looked straight ahead, and saw that the field seemed to be set up to play several outdoor games and sports. “Looks like the field is set up for both blitzball (aka soccer) and strikeball (aka baseball). Interesting. Haven’t swung a bat in a while, but I’m sure I’m still really good at catching the ball. I’m also pretty quick when it comes to blitzball. The games will be pretty large with the amount of people here today. I wonder how team selection will work?” Cryo began to lay himself down flat on his belly, with his head held up. He lifted his arm up and then took another bite of his treat. Tide looked behind herself to see a small group coming forward, she gave a smile and a nod back to them and turned to Cryo. She began to slowly scratch Cryo’s back and he gave a relaxed breath in and out. “Hmm… Nothing’s really happening right now. I wonder…” Suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder. He slowly turned his head around and his eyes lit up like the sun. “Hello little brother. It’s been a while, huh?”

Ch 35

Rightful Reunion

“N…Noble?” He kneeled down and gave Cryo an hug. Cryo looked behind him, and saw Greg and Suzy, standing behind. “My. You’ve grown quite a bit my little boy,” said Suzy. “Do you like your new cloths, Cryo? I bet they feel nice on you.” said Greg. Cryo looked at his fingerless gloves and he realized what the design was for. “The gloves say… reunion, when together, and the combination of the the socks and gloves, give the appearance of a forest around a lake, where I last left them.” Cryo began to tear up little as his “big brother,” let him go. “What are… you guys doing here?” Cryo asked. “Well little brother, we we’re invited here. To be able to be with you again,” replied Noble. “I… invited?” “That’s right Cryo,” said Ty. Cryo looked and saw Ty stroll up to Cryo from the right. “You… Brought them here?” “That’s right. But its more then just that Cryo.” “More?” “We’re going to be staying with you here now, little brother.” said Noble “S-Staying!?” “That’s right. We’ve got the special privilege of helping take care of you and your mother. We’ll be living here now, and you’ll be able to see us anytime.” said Greg. Cryo gave a smile as a tear rolled down from his eye. He began to place his arms around Noble and he looked over at Ty. “Thank you for this. This is… the best surprise ever!” Noble got up and Ty gestured the crowd. “Why don’t we give them some time to talk. I’m sure there is a lot they need to catch up on. “Come on, baby brother, why don’t the 5 of us go over towards the field and talk, as a family again.” Cryo nodded, and the Cryo, Tide, Greg, Suzy, and Noble headed towards the field to talk about the wild things that have happened since they left.

Cryo talked about his early days, school troubles, and of course, the dangerous situations they ended up getting in. They we’re quite surprised at some of the things that happened, but they we’re glad they got out of it safely. He told them about the care he was since he left, the friends he’s made, the fun times he spent, and the about his time repairing items. Soon it was time to rejoin the party goers, who have brought a large cake in the shape of a blue dragon. Enough for everyone there. Greg lit up the candles. After singing Cryo happy birthday, it was time to make a wish. “Are you ready Cryo? Time for you to make a wish,” Cryo strolled and looked at the lit candles. “What should I wish for? My wish has already come true, and I didn’t even need to blow out the candles.”

But he began to think towards something else. Something dangerous. He realized he had one other wish to make. He thought to himself. “I wish for the everyone here to be to be safe, for when THEY arrive.” He began to take in a breath, and blew out a small stream of water, extinguishing the candles. “Heh… sorry everyone. I guess I still need to work on that. “What did you wish for Cryo?” asked Noble. “Oh. Its a secret…” “A secret huh. Well. I hope it comes true!” “Yea… I hope so too big brother.” Cryo nodded and looked towards the sky. “I hope so for the sake of everyone here it comes true,” thought Cryo. He turned back to Noble and gave a smile. “Come on, Let’s party on!” So they partied on through the day. For the first time in such a long time, they saw Cryo have fun on his birthday. He shared stories with everyone, played some sports, and ate plenty of food..

Ch 36

Precious Present

After a couple hours, it was starting to get late, so it was time for Cryo to open his presents. He sat back on the picnic blanket, looking to his present stack, piled high with many gifts from many of the caring people and new friends he’s made. “Alright everyone. Let’s give Cryo his first gift,” said Greg. Greg brought over a small gift, in a long but rather flat box. “This one is something special Cryo. The three of us worked together to make this for you.” Cryo looked at the package, which was wrapped in a specially designed wrapping paper that was a shade of dark blue, with a smiling blue dragon was littered throughout it. “Special huh. I wonder what this could be,” Cryo thought. “Well. Only one way to find out.”

Cryo began to tear the wrapping paper off carefully, making sure not to rip whatever was inside with his trimmed talons. He saw that it contained a cardboard box, with something inside it. “Hmm… strange. I’ve never seen a box like this before. Its really long, yet the cardboard is very thin, making it a bit… well… squishy I suppose. I wonder what’s inside?”

Cryo began to open the box, and inside was a what looked like a scarf. But, this one seemed… different. The neckline for the item seemed to be pointed downward quite a bit and got thinner as it extended from the middle to its sides. It had a pattern looking like nice blue waves from a large, vast sea, with the sun shining above. “Do you like it Cryo?” asked Noble. Cryo began to pick it up and rubbed it against his head. It felt smoother, softer, and comfier then anything he’s ever touched before. He took a sniff of it, and it smelled like the spring of fresh, clean, purified water from a vast river going through a large, expansive forest.

“This scarf is unlike anything I’ve had before,” Cryo said. “Silly baby brother. That’s not a scarf,” said Noble with a smile. “It’s not a scarf? Then… what exactly is it?” “It’s called a bandanna.” “A… bandanna?” “That’s right. It’s like a scarf, but it flows down to give more comfort around your neck and a little further down towards your body.” “That sounds… really cool actually.” “Do you want to try it on?” Cryo nodded. “Alright, hang on baby brother.” Noble took the silky bandanna and tied it carefully and gently around Cryo’s neck. He felt the soft silk covering his neckline and a below and he could smell the pleasant scent as Noble finished tying it around Cryo’s neck. “There you go, baby brother. Does it feel nice on you?” Cryo looked downwards towards it. But just then, it seemed that the bandanna itself seemingly glowed, just for a second, but just as quickly died back down. “Huh… Did I see it glow?” Cryo looked at it again, and nothing seemed to be happening. “It must be my imagination.” He turned towards Noble. “I love it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt something like this before.” “Noble smiled as Cryo looked towards Greg and Suzy, who were also smiling. “Thank you. This is perfect!” Cryo said. “Why don’t you open your other gifts,” said Ty.

Time passed as Cryo continued to open his other gifts. He found many new sets of cloths, blankets, and other fabric items that followed Greg’s formula from many different party goers. Greg had told the secret of his trade. He got plenty of different parts of technology to upgrade his different machines in his room. He even got the computer he wanted and games for his Ignition. But, despite the vast array of gifts, nothing seemed to be more special then the bandanna Cryo had been given, stitched together with care and created with the love only his old family could give. But strangely, Cryo felt there was more to it then that… Much more…

Night was beginning to come around, and he was very tired from the party. “All right everyone. My baby brother seems to be dozing off. I think its time for him to get to bed,” said Noble. Cryo gave out a yawn. “Yea. I’m very tired. I don’t think I can party any longer.” The group of party goers nodded. “Alright Have a good night Cryo. Get some sleep little buddy,” said Cameron. “Come on, baby brother. Why don’t we try out one of your new night shirts when we get to you room,” said Noble “We should probably help bring Cryo’s gifts to his room. There is quite a lot of them,” said Ty. Everyone nodded. They began to pick up Cryo’s gifts one by one. “I’ll carry you to your room, baby brother.” Cryo gave out another yawn. He then scratched his eyes a bit. “Lead the way, Ty.” said Greg. Ty nodded, and they headed to Cyro’s room. It didn’t take long for them to get there.

Ch 37

Softer Stories

Noble headed into Cryo’s room first. Then, many of the party goers entered one by one and set Cryo’s gifts near his work bench. One by one they headed out of the room after placing his gifts down gently. “Alright. Let’s get you ready for bed, baby brother.” Cryo yawned again and nodded. “Can I sleep in my bandanna?” “Sure, baby brother. Let me get you a night shirt first and I’ll bring it back over. Noble helped Cryo change out of his party cloths and carefully unwrapped Cryo’s bandanna around his neck. He went to pick out some night cloths for Cryo in his gift stack.

Noble looked through some of the shirts, and decided to pick a blue t shirt with a side profile image of one of his favorite creatures from the game, Capsule Creatures, swimming through a vast deep blue sea with other creatures from the game. It looked like a fierce Orca, with long spread out fins and markings all over his fins and around his eyes and head.. On the back, the shirt read “As the storm passes over the sea, you know its the primal rain from Stormfall.” Noble nodded and gave a smile towards Cryo, who was looking over towards him. “This should be very comfortable for him to sleep in tonight,” Noble thought. He walked back over to Cryo.

“Alright. Hold your arms out, Cryo.” Cryo nodded and held his arms forward. Noble smiled and lifted the shirt over Cryo’s head and carefully maneuvered it around his wings. “Comfy little brother?” “Yes. It feels just like when I was a hatchling.” Noble then tied Cryo’s bandanna around his neck again. Cryo began to tilt his head down a bit to look at it. He began to smell its pleasant scent a bit and gave a relaxed sigh. “This bandanna feels pretty nice and smells nice. It feels even softer then this shirt too.” “That bandanna is really special. Dad found a way to make the material even softer, cleaner, and more resilient. He used them to make that very special bandanna. Both me and mom helped stich it together” “What did he do to it?” “He said he mixed Flo Lily petals with the bandana’s fabric.”

“Flo Lily! That’s one of the rarest plants in the world! In fact, no one knows currently how to correctly grow it, as transporting to research facilities it is not possible. They wilt and die immediately after exiting the water and putting water in a container to keep it alive doesn’t work either. They are also very fragile to handle. All that’s known is that it grows extremely rarely in waterside Lily plant clusters. Some think they are a mutated version or a ancestral strain of the lily plant. How did… How did he get one, let alone transport it?” Cryo thought. He looked to his brother, who was getting a blanket from Cryo’s stack of gifts. Noble grabbed a new Blue blanket in a similar design to his shirt except more cartoony, with the Stormfall and Cryo huddled together, facing forward, and sleeping on the surface of the ocean with a thought bubble over their heads of them swimming together. Printed below the picture was the words, “Sleeping in the Sea of dreams with Stormfall.” Noble smiled and chuckled a bit at the design. “Cryo’s going to enjoy being bundled in this. He’s probably wanted a blanket made from dads fabric designs for a long time. Stormfall I know is his favorite legendary creature in the game. I remember how excited he was when he first saw Stormfall on the tv at home. The anime series was his favorite show to watch back in Wayside.” He walked over and picked up Cryo, and began to carefully wrap the blanket around him.

“Um… Noble?” “Something up little brother? Is there something wrong with your blanket?” “Oh umm… no. It feels perfect. I haven’t felt a blanket this soft since I was a hatchling. I like the design as well. I was just… wondering. How did Greg… transport or use a flo lily. I learned in school that… well… its really hard to find, and even harder to transport…” Noble had just got done wrapping Cryo up and placed him on his hay bed, with his head nestled carefully on a new pillow with an underwater design and a bunch of sea life swimming through it from the capsule creature series. “I… actually don’t know, little brother.” “Oh…” replied Cryo. “It was your scales that were the key Cryo,” said a familiar voice. “Huh?”

Cryo turned his head toward the door, and saw Greg in the doorway. He walked over and began to rub Cryo’s head a bit. “My… scales?” “Do you know how me and Suzy make fabrics like this Cryo?” “Well… I know you use a mixture of a chemical and soulfire petals and waterproof fabrics, but I never knew what the chemical…”

“It wasn’t exactly a chemical, Cryo.” “Huh? It wasn’t?” Greg shook his head and looked at Cryo with a smile. “It’s your scales, Cryo. Ground up and mixed with a bit of water and fabric softener.” “You used my hard scales to make my cloths? But, how did you learn how to do it? And how does that work? It seems, outlandish to me.” “Well Cryo. It happened not too long after we moved into town. Early on, there was a problem with the blankets when we were curling you in at night. You actually turn around quite a bit during the night, and your hard scales would occasionally rip blankets up you were curled in. It sometimes would get bad enough where you would get really tangled at night from the ripped fabrics, causing you to wake up and cry for help. It would require us to have to untangle you and remove all the ripped pieces from under your scales. It could take a while into the night, and back then, you needed a ton of sleep, so keeping you up like this made you very cranky, and usually would cause you to sleep most of the day. Cryo nodded. “I know about that. The researchers here had to use more reinforced fabrics so that I wouldn’t end up like that. The blankets and cloths were a bit more stiff though, so it wasn’t nearly as comfortable as my old ones.” “We needed to do something about your scaly situation.” Greg pulled up a chair and sat next to Cryo.

“But, one day, we found out a strange little quirk with your scales. You see Cryo, one day, after a night episode, we had to try to calm you back to sleep. While we we’re getting another blanket ready and cleaned for you to huddle in, well… Suzy actually tripped and dropped your blanket and a bit of fabric softener spilled a bit, onto you. But then we saw something strange happen to your scales from the fabric softener. When we we’re wiping it off, well, we noticed that your scales had seemingly reacted to it. The scales that had fabric softener on it, become very smooth and the rigidness evened out as well. But not only that, the affected scales on your body felt like incredible fine fabric, but, it was still very resilient to tear, as if it was as strong as it was before, maybe even stronger, despite the clear reaction to the fabric softener. As you can guess Cryo, this little “accident,” began to give me an idea on what to do.” Cryo began to lean a bit closer to Greg, clearly very interested in the story.

“I began to do tests with the scales that you shed off during the last month (dragons shed scales once every 2 months). I needed to find a way to integrate your softened scales into fabrics to hold them together while offering the resilience to prevent tear and such with it. After about a 3 days of testing and looking into it, I figured out something. By grinding your sturdy scales into a fine powder, and mixing it with fabric softener and water, and then add it to fabrics while putting the cloth together, would cause the mixture to bond with the fabrics themselves. It made them much stronger, softer, comfier, and cleaner.” Cryo gave out a small yawn, and huddled himself in his blanket a bit. He turned his head back to Greg, who gave him a smile. Cryo smiled back. But then a question came into Cryo’s mind. He turned back to Greg with a confused look. “When did you add soulfire petals into it? “That came a little bit later.”

Ch 38

Comfy Creature

“About 2 weeks after giving you your new blanket, we… ran into another problem.” “What problem, Greg?” “You began to get cold a lot around the barn. Enough where it was starting to affect your mood quite a bit. I believe that the “icy,” part of you was causing you to become very cold. It might have been your ice based traits were developing and it was causing you freeze up. I’m remember that first week of the problem. You were shivering everywhere you stepped around. You obviously didn’t like the feeling of being cold all the time, so you began to walk around, carrying your new blanket everywhere and keeping it bundled around your body at all times. It kept you nice and warm, but obviously, you shouldn’t have to carry a blanket everywhere to keep yourself warm.”

“We decided that next, we’d create a set of cloths for you to stay bundled up in during the day and night so that you could stay warm to counteract the issue at hand. We made a small set of jackets and shirts to test on you. We figured out a way quickly to allow room for a slit in the fabric to let your wings out, without exposing too much of your back to the outside elements. It seemed that your wings didn’t get cold, but the rest of your body did. However, the original ones, well… didn’t keep you warm enough. And in some cases, on particularly hot days within the week, it ended up making you sweat a good amount. Something else you didn’t like. We began to wonder why on earth you seemed to be so fine with your blanket, even during very hot days but seemed to become too cold or way too hot with the cloths. So one day, I decided that there must be something with it that was different with the blanket then the other items I was making. And it turns out, I was right.”

“I took tiny little piece of fabric, which actually took some, shall we say “threading time,” to remove even a single small strand. But when I looked under a microscope at the strand, I realized that there was an “oddity,” within the sown fabrics.” “An oddity?” “Yes. There was something else mixed into the blankets materials. Something that wasn’t originally supposed to be there. I couldn’t remove the unknown material to get a better look at what it was, since it had already bonded with the fabrics. So I began to ponder what else might have somehow got dropped or dipped into the mixture. I decided to go to the table, where me and Suzy created the first blanket. I searched the entire area for anything that could have dropped on the floor that might be the solution, but I didn’t find anything that could have been it.”

Greg began to scratch Cryo’s back a bit as he talked. “So I asked a different question. What was supposed to be there on that day that was NOT there now. What could have been in the room that might have been accidently mixed in somehow. And then I remembered an oddity that night. We were going to dinner that evening with some of our friends in town and dressed up nicely. Your brother was to watch you and keep you happy. Before we left though, we had just got done grinding Cryo’s scale down and we’re about to mix them into the formula. But, when I looked at Suzy, I realized that she was missing something… Her corsage, made out of a soulfire flower. At that moment, it hit me.”

“I realized that when we grinded and mixed your scales, the soulfire flower must have somehow gotten dislodged from the dress and fell into the the mixture without us knowing. And so we had accidently added an extra ingredient to the blanket. But somehow, the soulfire petals must have somehow had a strange effect on your blanket. And so we decided take a walk through the forest with you in a harness and a leash the next day. While walking on the forest path I kept an eye out for as many soulfire flowers as I could find on and around the forest path and gathered them up so I could mix it with the next set of cloths fabrics and see if it could solve the problem. After you went to sleep that night, I began to work on a single shirt and a single jacket, to test and see if it would help with your little problem the next mourning. It was a longer night but I finished it with Suzy and we went to bed.”

“The next mourning, we picked you up from your crib while leaving your blanket in it. You weren’t too happy about that at first. You began to shiver quite a bit in our hands from being cold. We placed you on the floor and helped you into the new jacket. It wasn’t that long that, after we put it on, you stopped shivering completely. We then saw a big smile go across your face as you began to walk with the jacket on. It seemed to have solved the problem. Over the next few months, we took many more walks on different forest paths to gather as many soulfire flowers as we could. We created several different shirts, jackets, sweaters, and a few sets of talonless gloves and socks. We saw that the new sets of cloths we have been making for you not only keep you very warm during colder days and nights, but would also seem to keep you from getting too hot on hotter ones. Even the jackets seemed to never get hot enough to make you sweat. So you would typically wear a jacket or sweater during the day and at night, wear a warm t-shirt for bed. On wetter days, we’d also give you your socks and gloves so your paws wouldn’t get cold and wet.” Cryo began to position himself to lay on his back facing towards Greg. He lifted his head up to Greg and gave out another yawn, as his eyes began to get heavy. Greg saw Cryo was starting to doze off. “Can you stay awake for a little longer Cryo? I haven’t got a chance to answer your question yet.” “I still got a bit of energy in me. Go on. I’ll stay awake.”

Ch 39

Lily Luck

“So this last part happened not to long from now. I think… just 3 days ago. It was getting close to your birthday, and… I wanted to remember the days we spent with you. We didn’t know what had happened to you since you were taken. So the 3 of us went to the lake, where we parted with you. We were going to have a picnic there and remember the good times we had with you. But during the picnic, Noble spotted a particular oddity.” “An oddity?” “Something had remained behind on that day. Something of yours that must have come off during the chaos.” “What was it?” “A single, dragon scale. Your, dragon scale.” Cryo tilted his head and then breathed in a deep breath and then let out a big stretch. He then huddled himself tightly back into position. “Noble was swimming in the lake, and he found it in the water, tangled a bit in a Lily plant cluster near the shore. Realizing it was yours, he picked it up from the lake and brought it to me. But when I saw it, something special seemed to have grown on it. It had grown and wrapped itself around the entire scale. Noble saw it but thought is was just a strange Lily. When I saw it however. I was shocked. I think you know what it is, don’t you?” Cryo yawned and nodded.

“It was a flo Lilly, wasn’t it Greg?” “Yes. It had attached itself to your scale and grown around it. And the thing was, despite it being removed from the water, it did not wilt and die. The flo lily had been close to blooming, with its dark blue petals nearly ready to open up.” Cryo looked at Greg with a look of confusion. “How did it not die?” “There was something about your scale, Cryo. Something that… caused it to seemingly to be able to survive despite it being out of its natural environment. I was amazed at this. So after the picnic was over, I decided to take the scale and Flo Lily with us to study and look at why this was happening.”

“From what I could figure out, there was something special about your scale Cryo. It’s not an accident that a flow Lily grew onto your scale. Something about your scale being in the water all that time in a Lily plant cluster must have caused one to grow onto it. And something about your scale gave the plant life, even when being removed from its habitat. It was amazing. It wasn’t long after this, I would get a special call. One that would change everything.”

“It was from the people here at the base. Wasn’t it?” “That’s right. They gave us a chance to be able to see and live with you again. This was some of the happiest news we’ve ever heard. And I was excited. They wanted to create a bunch of special fabric items for your presents and wanted to know how I made the cloths as well. So I gave them the secret and then for the next day, they would go over their plans for your party. The people at the base would use the fabric formula to create a bunch of different sets of cloths and blankets and such.” Greg began to scratch Cryo’s head and under his chin for a bit and then smiled and sat back down. “But then, on the night before the party, I would… have a strange dream.”

“A strange dream?” “Yes. It’s hard to really explain it, but…” Greg took in a deep breath and looked at Cryo. He smiled at Cryo and nodded. “The dream I had… went a little like this.”

Ch 40

Dream Dragon

“I woke up, in darkness. I couldn’t see anything. But just then light began to pour over the horizon. But the light itself… well, seemed to be, covered up by some strange orbital object. It looked like a luner eclipse. “A lunar eclipse!?” “Yes. As the faint light shined over the horizon, I found that I seemed to be on, a beach of black sand. With a large expanse of water looming over toward the sun. The water was a beautiful red, like when its dusk outside. And then well…” Greg looked toward Cryo with a look of curiosity. “Then a big, shiny black dragon flew in from the horizon.” “Dad…” thought Cyro.

“At first I was afraid. But he told me that there was nothing to fear. He told me that he wanted to help me. He told me that I had something very special in my position. Something he knew could be used to create something very special. The flo Lily… He told me that it could be used to make a very special item for you. Something unlike any of the other fabric items I made before. He then… gave me a set of instructions on how to correctly harness it to make a bandanna for you using a combination of my original fabric formula and the flo Lilly. “What did he say you had to do?”

“He told me that to make a perfect bandanna for you I would need to first soften the scale up with the flow Lily still attached to it, by carefully dabbing fabric softener on the scale around the Lily. When the scale is softened up, I would need to then need create a mixture made of your dragon saliva which your caretakers were able to provide me with, grinded darklight coral from the sea, a bit of freshwater, and grinded leaves of a tree grown in cold weather. Aka the mountain Froz tree (similar to a pine tree). The mixture, when carefully poured on the Lily, would cause a reaction that would cause the petals to immediately open up and and strengthen them to not wilt and die immediately upon being removed from the main plant. After that, I then needed to slowly and carefully take each of the petals off one by one. After that, I needed to soak the petals in warm purified spring water for several hours. When the flo lily petals had turned from its normal dark blue color to the vivid cyan color, I could then mix them with my original formula and finish making it.” Cryo yawned again as his eyes grew heavy. “Considering the finished product, I’m guessing you did it perfectly.” “Yes, after he gave me the instructions, he told me that he wished you a happy birthday and then he said he hoped that the “special qualities’,” of the bandanna would help him in the future. After that, I woke up.”

Ch 41

Sleep Study

Cryo looked up at Greg and nodded. “That’s uh… some story Greg,” said Cryo. “I wouldn’t have believed it myself if it hadn’t actually worked. But everything that dragon said worked perfectly, and made you that special bandanna,” replied Greg. “I wonder who… uh… that dragon could be.” “I don’t know. I wish I could have thanked him for his help. But since the finished product has worked out so well, I imagine now that it might not have exactly been a dream.” “Um… Yea Greg. That dragon… maybe had wanted to make a, uh… personal gift with your help. I’m… sure he’s… happy with the results.” Greg nodded at Cryo. He stood up and rubbed Cryo’s head a bit and gave a small kiss on Cyro’s forehead.

“Well. I think that’s enough of a story tonight, Cryo. You look exhausted.” “Yea… I really liked the bedtime story. But I uh… need some sleep. “Alright. You want me to turn on naptunes?” “Oh… uh… yea. Just tell the radio to turn on the naptunes channal. You won’t need to switch the knobs or anything. It has… uh… voice command.” “Alright. I’ll try it.” Greg turned towards the radio. “Turn on naptunes channal.” “Turning on naptunes channal.” A soothing melody began to play and ring into Cryo’s ears. “Goodnight, my son. Hope you sleep well in your new cloths and blankets.” “Yea. Goodnight, Greg.” Greg walked out the door to the room. He turned back and gave one final look at Cryo and smiled and nodded. He turned off the lights and walked out.

Cryo gave out one last yawn, and slowly closed his eyes as the melody began to work it’s spell on Cryo’s hazy mind. “Dad gave Greg instructions on how to make this. Considering what I’ve seen, could this… bandanna have something more to it then just comfort.” Cryo’s mind began to drift as he began to tightly huddly himself in the blanket. “I shouldn’t think about this now. I really need sleep. I’ll think about this more tomorrow.” As the music played, Cryo’s mind finally succumbed and fell into a deep, deep slumber.

No New Abilities in this book.

New known Likes:

Being told and sharing stories

His new AI buddy, Craft

Poetry

His birthday (Surprisingly)

His brand new special Bandanna

New known dislikes

Traitors and his kidnappers

His race’s dark situation

The future and its possibilities

Prologue

Last time, Cryo woke up from his previous encounter with a group trying to kidnap him. He was stuck by a dart containing a special poison designed to paralyze anything unlucky enough to get hit by it. With him still feeling the aftereffects, he had to take a “Sick day,” and stay in bed with his best friend, Cameron, watching him. After watching a movie, Cryo needed to take a long nap.

But his dream found him in some sort of massive prison complex, with him being one of the residents… The dragons from a dream he had has a hatchling appeared again and tried to take Cryo from his cell, but he was seemingly saved by strangely, a movie character. But soon his head felt fuzzy and then he woke up

He helped his friend fix up his portable console and then got curious on what happened to the human homeworld, so he asked Cameron. After hearing the tale of how humanity shot for the stars to abandon their fading planet, Cryo would eat his dinner for the night and fall again into a deep slumber…

But his next dream would begin to start creating questions in Cryo’s mind. He woke up somewhere unfamiliar, in an alleyway in the middle of a strange city, which combined nature with technology. As he began to try to move, he realized that he had been injured pretty badly, with a large indention in a wall and a crater right where Cryo had woken up. Even worse, his back right leg was broken. In pain, he picked himself up and tried to head out of the alleyway. But to his surprise, he would find himself surrounded by strange creatures in futuristic armorsuits, and a large ship in the sky in the shape of a beetle! With his injuries, he could not possibly fight them off, so he surrendered to them and was taken aboard their ship to be taken somewhere unknown…

But things would change on the ride, when one of the soldiers would come over to talk to the frightened dragon. He took off his helmet, and began to speak with Cryo. He was a Spider named Zeke and it gave Cryo someone to turn to in his bad situation. Curious as to where the little dragon came from, he began to tell him of his life on the new human world, something they took heavy interest in… Some of the other bug soldiers came over to hear the young dragons story, and they realized that he was no threat to them. The ship would soon land and Cryo was moved from a prison cell to a medical bed, clearly earning the trust of the bugs. But Cryo’s mind began to get fuzzy, but not before having one last scene, where he seemed to be transported somewhere else and would meet a shiny black dragon named Servent, who seemed to know Cryo somehow… After hearing a short monologue from him, he soon woke up.

Mourning came and Cryo finally could move properly again. With him being bed ridden all day yesterday, he knew he needed a bath. As he cleaned himself, he began to make some connections between his dreams and strangely, Earth… With his thoughts in his head, he quickly continued through his day and night soon came upon the world again, and Cryo went to sleep.

His next dream would see Cryo lead by a small light, to frozen block of ice. But when he appeared inside, he found his mother frozen in it. With a hint from a voice, he found a way to break it and release his mother. But as the scenery changed, he saw the figures of old enemies that have haunted his dreams, the armored dragons… With the voice guiding him, Cryo was able to fight off these nightmares and emerge victorious. It wasn’t long before he woke up again.

When he woke up this time however, he would be greeted by the research heads and friends, Ty, Gerald, and Cameron. Before he left however, he felt it was a little chilly that day, so he decided to wear a silver zip up jacket. They took him to the medical facility at the base, where he was taken to a high security sector and find a surprise waiting inside, his mother, Tide, was finally awake and eager to meet her son.

The researchers gave them some alone time, to catch up on the times they lost. Tide, despite being asleep, she had been aware of what has been happening since she fell ill. But as they talked, to their surprise, they would be attacked by the same assailants who tried to take Cryo before! Cryo was able to fight them back, but unfortunately, they had a backup plan. They planted explosives around the supports of the building and planned to bury them AND the rest of the people inside under the building if they didn’t cooperate. With little options, Cryo willingly surrendered and he and his mother was strapped down tightly to a psychiatric restraint beds and taken out. The assailants used the threat of explosives on Cryo’s bed to force the guard detail to stand down and allow them to escape on a hospital carrier craft…

Ch 1

Flying Fools

The ship flew through the air at high speed, as the crew made their escape. The supposed leader approached the two and lowered the blanket covers over their heads. He then strapped down the beds to the floor so they wouldn’t tip over from the flight. He took the explosives off Cryo’s bed and immediately disarmed them and placed the explosives back in the corner. He strapped something around Cryo’s neck first. Then Tide’s. “This collar will block the transmissions from the GPS chip they planted in the both of you. This ships tracking chip has been taken care of as well. No one will be coming for you this time,” the masked man said. He stepped to a nearby seat in the compartment and sat down. “I suppose the both of you are wondering why we took you?” Cryo and Tide looked and their captors with a clear frustration in their eyes. 

“You two are quite a discovery. I mean, Dragons. A creature of myth, legend, actually exist… That discovery alone is huge! And look at the achievements the whelpling has done.” Cryo gave an snort at his captors arrogance. “Imagine what history books would say about this. But, I digress, we’re not here to use you just for a small bit of fame from a discovery alone. That would be a waste of what the two of you would REALLY be capable of.”

Cryo’s eyes started to show concern, as he looked back towards his mother, then back to his captors. Tide did the same. “I find it hard to believe that portal technology could exist anywhere. It took us thousands of years to get to this planet. It only took the both of you several minutes…” Tide’s eyes shot up! “And you, little dragon. Creating a TV with hovering features and a command structure, a radio with similar features, and upgrades to technology all across your room, all from just a bunch of spare parts and metals.” Cryo began to realize what they wanted, and his angry scowl turned to fear. “You two would be extremely valuable to create technology that would revolutionize this world. We have big plans for the both of you. You’ll learn to work with us soon enough. For both your sakes, you better.” Cryo gave a gulp and began to sweat a little bit.

“Now. I suggest you both get some sleep. It may be just be 7:00 P.M., but your going to need all the rest you can get. We’ll arrive at your “new home,” by dawn tomorrow. You’ll both be put to work immediately. I’ll be back to check on the two of you later. You better not get into trouble, or we might just have to enforce some “punishment,” on the both of you.” He took out a shock striker and turned it on. He gave a small whack of it against the wall , which sent out a small spark. Cryo began to get really nervous. “Good night you 2…” He left the room from the door on the right and closed the door behind him.

Cryo began to try to struggle desperately to break free of his restraint bed, moving awkwardly as much as he could to try to break the straps pinning him down! “Come on! Come on! Break!” thought Cryo. His mother looked on to Cryo’s struggle and gave out a sigh. She wondered herself what they could do to get out of this mess. “What are they going to make us build?” thought Tide. “Does he want us to build a portal? Maybe to sell in bulk. Or to break into places to steal or worse?” Tide looked back at Cryo, who was still struggling to break free. “My baby… What will happen to him? Will they separate us? Force us to both work on different projects far away from each other with the threat that if we don’t work with them, they’ll “severely punish,” the other?” Tide looked at Cryo, who had stopped struggling, and was panting a little bit. “What else do they want us to build? Worst case, they’ll have us build weapons, like…” Cryo looked back towards his mother, and could see her concern. “This world will follow the same path ours did. War with no end. Enslavement. All because of us…” She looked back towards the ceiling and let out another sigh. Cryo now could see that she felt hopeless. “Whether they plan to sell the our technology they force us to create or use them to take over, the result will be the same. I came here to escape this… But it seems I’m right back where I started.” She began to close her eyes. “I’m sorry, Cryo. I came to this world to allow you to avoid this, but… perhaps this is what its like everywhere in the universe…”

Ch 2

Fight or Flight

“Mom…” thought Cryo. “She’s giving up. But… We can’t give up. Not now. I need to cheer her up somehow. Maybe…” Cryo lifted his paw from under the covers with the strap wrapped around it.. Though restricted he could at least maneuver it towards his mother. His mother noticed, and Cryo then gave a small smile. “Cryo…” thought Tide. Tide did the same and offered her paw and reached it out towards him. The two paws joined and the warmth between the two pulsed through the two of them. She gave a smile back, and realized there must still be something they could do.

With his mothers hope restored, Cryo began to try and think of what they could do. “Hmm… Now how can I get us out of this mess.” He looked around the area, but saw nothing but a couple of seats and windows in the jumpship. “For starters, I need to get out of this bed. But… I can’t see the straps with this blanket on me. And I can’t struggle out of them. Hmmm…” Cryo began to feel around the under the covers at the straps, with his left paw. He felt what he thought was a hole on the metallic part on the strap connected to his left arm. “This… I remember seeing locks on the bed where the reinforced leather strap meets the metal. This must be the key hole. But…” Cryo looked around himself. “But I’ve never picked a lock before, nor is there anything nearby for me to pick it with.” Cryo then remembered something he heard in a movie once. “Ice expands. Metal doesn’t…” “I wonder?…” thought Cryo. Cryo began to concentrate his cold energy into one of his left talons, and could feel it becoming encased in ice. “I won’t be able to break the straps with ice, but maybe with the belt…” Cryo positioned his claw over the lock, and carefully stuck a talon into the opening. “Come on. Come on…” A bit of ice started to form inside the lock, and a crackling noise could be heard from it! “Come on! Come on!” Soon the locking mechanism securing the strap broke, allowing Cryo to untie his paw! “Yes! Now for the others!” Cryo exclaimed in his head! Tide heard several pops as Cryo broke each of the locks pinning him down to the bed one by one, realizing that he was onto something. Soon, all the locks were broken, and Cryo could untie each part wrapped around his body and move freely again! “Yes! I’m free! Now…”

Cryo began to untie the wire on his mandible and went over to make sure his mom was ok. “Mom. You ok?” Tide nodded. “Freeze your talons and insert your claws into the lock. Then spread the ice inside the lock.” Tide shook head. “You need help breaking it Mom?” She nodded her head again. But her eyes lit up for a second. She gestured her head toward the window. Cryo walked over and took a peak outside and saw he was flying very high over a mountainous forest near the coast. “Right… It’s never easy… You’re still recovering from being asleep for 5 years. No way you can fly right now. Or at least not for very long. It’s too dangerous to try from this high up. And these collars…”

Cryo headed for a small compartment connected toward the front of the room on the left side. Tide watched Cryo as he went around. He opened the door and found a mirror in a bathroom on this part of the ship, and looked closely at it. He saw the thick, very dark cyan collar around his neck, which he could see a small, round keyhole on the front. It looked to be pretty technologically advanced.

“This collar is made specifically not to be removed or broken like standard shock collars. He said that it blocks gps signals, so the people back at the base can’t track us with this on. It looks like it’s made of Cyantrinian (Sigh-an-tre-ni-an) metal. Very resistant to ice and water. They must have planned ahead with our ice abilities. If I tried to pick it like with the straps, it probably will sound an alarm… and give me a major shock. I don’t think it’s possible for me to take this off of us without the key, and I have no idea where they placed it at. Sigh… I guess it’ll just have to stay on for now. It’s uncomfortable and a little heavy, but there’s nothing we can really do about it right now.” Cryo shook his head and began to head back towards the room to think. “I guess I should think of something else to get out of this mess. Hmm…”

Cryo then remembered looking at the blueprint for the medical ships once when researching hover technology for his custom tv. He remembered where the fuel tank was located. Right under where Tide’s bed was… An idea began to take shape. “If I were to force an emergency landing…” Cryo looked toward the door. “I don’t know how much time I have. I have to do this quick. I shouldn’t have to worry about collateral damage since we’re flying over a large mountainous forest close to the coast. And I don’t think they’ll realize I ruptured it with it being located under Mom’s bed, especially with the blanket around the bed hiding it. Alright then.”

Cryo began to walk over to Tide. “Alright Mom. Hang on tight.” He quickly began to maneuver himself under Tide’s bed, leaving her confused as to what he was planning “All right. Get prepared Mom. It’s going to be a very rough landing.” Tide gave a nod and Cryo began to cover his talon again in layer of ice with an incredibly sharp and thin tip. He lifted his arm up and quickly thrusted down into the metal floor. The talon pierced through the thick metal and he heard a popping sound. “There.”

Cryo emerged from under her bed quickly to look at Tide. Tide gestured her head towards Cryo’s restraint bed. “Right mom.” Cryo could feel the ship starting to stutter a bit. He quickly flew to his bed and lifted each of the broken restraints back onto the bed and covered himself and the broken straps with the blanket. “Mmmph. MMMPH!” Cryo’s mom tried to speak, trying to tell Cryo something! “Oh! That’s right! The muzzle!” Cryo quickly looked around the bed and found the wire used to muzzle him before on the floor. He quickly maneuvered himself over the bed and picked up the wire. Getting back into position, he quickly tied it around his snout and then laid himself down on his back and closed his eyes. He felt a big jump as the ship hit the ground!

As the jumpship powered down and turned on backup power, with a red light beaming above, he heard the door to the room open. He heard one of the guys step in looking towards them. “It couldn’t have been the two of them. They’re both still strapped down.” He went towards the beds and saw the both of them with their eyes closed and slowly breathing. He snapped his fingers over both of them. “Both of them are asleep. Or knocked unconscious from the landing.” He headed towards the door to the room. “They’re both asleep Mick. I don’t think they’re responsible.” “Sigh… What ruptured the fuel tank!” Cryo recognized this voice from the one talking to them before. “So. The leader here is Mick, maybe?” Cryo thought. He continued to listen to their conversation. “I don’t know Mick. There must be something faulty with the ship. They continued to discuss while Cryo gave a small smirk. “Gah stupid thing. Alright. We’re going to have to wait for ground transport now. We’re going to have to stay here until it arrives. Call it in.” “Alright,” They both left the room and closed the door while Cryo looked upon them. “Now then…” Cryo crept away from the bed and unwrapped his muzzle again and placed it on the bed. He went towards the door, leaning his head against the door to listen in on his captors further down the next room…

“Yes… Fuel tank rupture. 180 miles from operations near the coastline in High Peak’s forest. 44 N 110 W. Yes… Alright… Good… Excellent. Alright. Goodbye.” said a voice outside. “Hmm. The coordinates for home are about 300 miles south from here…” said Cryo. He continued to listen in. “Alright. They can make it here in about 4 hours,” said the voice again. “We’ll be way off schedule by then. We’ll just have to double those dragon’s work load to make up for it.” “Alright. We got some time. With those two asleep, we shouldn’t have any trouble from them for the next few hours.” “Oh you don’t know the half of it, you crooks,” thought Cryo, as he gave another smirk. “It’s getting dark out. I suggest we play some poker while we wait for them. It’ll be midnight by the time they’re here, assuming they don’t run into difficulties. We’ll need to be prepared to unload our cargo then.” Cryo heard footsteps as the group began to disband further down the room…

Ch 3

Stealth Snatch

“Now what?” thought Cryo. He looked at a clock, reading above them in the room, which now read 8:00 P.M.. Cryo headed for the door to the room then opened the door a bit, and thought about it for a second. “Hmm… They gave the coordinates of where we are. If I could get to it…” Cryo look towards his Mom, who was watching him now. “Mom, wait here. I’m going to try to call in the cavalry.” She nodded, and Cryo slowly opened the door to the small corridor in the jumpship and closed it slowly behind him. It was dark as he continued to creep forward. His eyes darted in every direction down the short, narrow corridor, looking for any sign of the others.

After a very short walk forward, the room began to widen up, with a set of large cabinets lining the left of the room, spreading out from near the entrance outward toward the opposite wall. The room was lit up a bit more, compared to the short corridor. Cryo quickly, yet silently ducked behind the the large cabinets, a peaked his head out a bit behind to get a better look. He saw that there was a lamp to the right side near where the cabinets ended, which was the source of most of the light in the room. Ahead of him, further down the room, he saw his captors sitting at a round table, playing cards. At the furthest end of the room, was a small tv, with a gravity ball game turned on in the background as they played. He saw the small radio down the corridor a bit on a small stand toward the right next to a door.

“If they see me we’re going to get in REAL trouble. Hmm.” Cryo thought for a moment, and then had an idea. Seeing a lamp lit in the room on backup power from the ship, he crept toward the lamp. Taking a quick look towards his captors, he quickly unplugged the cable to the lamp, causing the room to go dark. “Hey what happened to the lamp!” Cryo quickly crept over to the radio in the cover of darkness and snatched it and silently darted back to cover. He placed it on the floor with him behind the large row of cabinets. Cryo’s heart beat fast as the lamp turned back on as sweat dripped down from his head across his scales. “Lamp got unplugged somehow.” “Cord was probably loose. Come back over.” Cryo continued to hide in the back with the radio behind the cabinets until he sat back down. “Alright, now to set the frequency.” Cryo tuned the frequency to the radio to fit the radio back at command at the base. “Alright. I hope this goes through. They shouldn’t hear me with the gravity ball game on the tv.” Cryo activated the radio and made his plea for help.

“Cryo the dragon to command. Cryo the dragon to command. Requesting communication.” No response. “Please. I need assistance. Plane carrying us went down at coordinates 44 N 110 W. Captors still here watching us. Please respond.” No response still. “Hey. Where did the radio go?” Cryo’s eyes shot up!“ Captors plan to move us at midnight, please respond!” No answer still. Cryo heard the footsteps of one of the brutes coming closer, and the door back to where they were being kept was in his view. He knew there was no time left. He began to switch the radio frequency back “Cryyyy,” said the radio as he re tuned the frequency. He then placed the radio silently on the ground and then he opened a pair of cabinet doors and moved himself inside of it and then shut the door. He heard the heathen right outside the cabinet. Cryo peered through the tiny opening in the cabinet with sweat running down his scales.

“The radio fell onto the floor,” the person said. “How’d it get over there?” Cryo began to get very nervous. “It probably was knocked down and kicked over there when the lamp went dark.” Cryo’s gave out a small breath of relief. “The wind has picked up a bit and its dark out now. Just bring it over here. We’ll tune it to listen to some music while we hear the gravity ball game on the tv.” “Alright. Do you think these ships carry any snacks to eat?” “Probably in the cabinet’s somewhere.” Cryo’s eyes shot up and his heart began to beat like a base drum. “Alright. I’ll check.” The figure opened the cabinet beside the exit to the room. “Nothing in this one.” He then opened the cabinet next to the table. “Nothing in here either.” He then turned to the set of 4 cabinets, with Cryo hid inside the far left one…

“If he finds me…” thought Cryo. He opened the farthest right one first. “Nothing.” he said. He then opened the mid right one. “Nope.” Cryo was really nervous now. He slowly closed his eyes. “Please find something… Please find something…. PLEASE FIND SOMETHING!” thought Cryo. The figure opened the pair of cabinets next to Cryo, and took something out. “Hey. Got something guys.” The figure headed back to the table. Cryo waited until the figure was out of the vicinity, and his heart rate slowed. “That was… a really close one… Ugh…”

Cryo slowly opened the cabinet and crept himself out of it. “They took the radio over to them. There’s no way I can get it now… Did… Did my message reach them?” Cryo snuck back slowly to the back room of the airship and slowly shut the door. He gave out a sigh. Tide picked up her head and turned it towards Cryo. “Mom. You ok.” Tide nodded. Cryo approached Tide’s bed. “Here. Let’s get that wire off of you.” Cryo untied Tide’s muzzle and looked at her mother with concerned eyes. “Did you call for help?” she asked. “I… tried. But I didn’t get an answer. I’m not sure if they received it. I don’t know what else I can do. It’s only 3 hours now until their support arrives.”

Tide looked towards her son. “I’m still weak. I don’t think I will be able to run far.” “I know mom.” Cryo looked back towards the door. “But… I think we’ll have to. I can probably… get the back door to the airship open. Maybe I can cart you away from them instead of making you try to fly or run. “Cryo… It might be best if you… leave me behind.” “What! No! “You realize what they’ll do to you if you stay here, especially if they realize I’m gone. They’ll more then likely try to use you to get me back.” Tide gave out a sigh, realizing he was right. “The collars we’re wearing will block transmissions to our tracking chips. I don’t think we’ll be able to take these off with the tools we have here.” Tide gave out a sigh, and then a nod. “Come on. Let’s break those restraints before they realize what’s going on.” Cryo lifted the blanket off of tide and began to individually break the belts strapping her down. “The forest outside will probably be dense. I can… ugh… pick myself up,” said Tide as she sluggishly lifted herself off the bed. “Alright. Now let’s see if we can get the hanger door open.” He began to observe it. “It was a pretty rough landing. With the main power out…” Cryo turned his head towards the hinges of the hanger door. “I’ll have to freeze the hinges to open it.” “Cryo, they’ll hear us. There must be another way.”

“I don’t think there is. They’ll find out either way that we’re out. The only other entrance is near the front. And they’ll DEFINANTY see us if we try to go through there. This is our only option. This at least gives us the element of surprise…” Tide gave out a sigh and nodded. “Alright mom. Once that door falls off, we’ll have to run faster then the winds of the North.” Tide nodded. “Alright.” said Cryo. Cryo took in a deep breath and blew a stream of ice at the hanger bay door hinges, freezing them. “On the count of three, I’ll shatter the ice. Ready? 3… 2… 1… GO!” Cryo quickly swiped his tail on the door hinges on both sides of the hanger bay door. The door dropped quickly onto the ground, with a big, loud, BANG! “Run for it!” Cryo exclaimed.

Ch 4

Forest Frenzy

The two jumped from the broken back hanger door and onto the forest ground, then quickly headed through the trees of the forest. It didn’t take the others long to figure out what happened. “How did they get loose!?” “Doesn’t matter. Get the guns. Let’s get after them!” They soon began their pursuit of Cryo and Tide. Cryo and Tide continued through the forest for about an 15 minutes, trying as hard as they could to get away. But it didn’t take long for Tide to get tired. Eventually, she began to breath heavily, and slow down. “Come on Mom! We have to keep moving or they’ll catch us!” “I’m… trying. But… so tired.” “This isn’t good, they’ll make it to us in no time if this keeps up! What to do!?” Cryo quickly darted his head around, thinking of some way to maybe hide or get away. They were then stopped as they made it to an edge of a cliff, as more forest loomed below them along with a large pond connected to a long river. They could hear a waterfall as they looked down. “Mom! We have to fly!” Tide looked over the edge towards the drop, and gave a single nod. “There they are! Quick, get them!” “NOW OR NEVER MOM.”

They both quickly leaped off the cliff and began to glide back towards the ground below, as their enemies watched from the back. But it wasn’t long before Tide’s wings began to become jittery. “Mom. Hang on! Just a little further!” “I… I can’t. So… exhausted.” Her eyes shut, and she began to plummet towards the ground. “MOM!” Cryo began to dive her way at high speed. Soon, Tide landed head first into the water, with Cryo hitting the water in turn at high speed. The people overlooking the cliff looked on at the scene. They saw nothing come up.

“Are they..?” “No way to tell. They may still be alive. Once our reinforcements get here, we’ll have teams go in a sweep this area. Call it in on the radio that we’ll need climbing equipment, and possibly scuba gear.” “Right, Mick.” The group headed back towards the plane.

As they headed off, a small head poked itself just a tiny bit out of the water, looking up towards the cliff. “They’re gone…” Cryo quickly dipped back down in the water and lifted his mothers head above the surface with his paw over his mothers mouth and nostrils “Mom. Mom! Come on!” No response. Cryo started to drag her towards the shore. “Ugh… She’s really heavy…” he thought. He soon made it to the surface and quickly dragged Tide towards the grass out of the pond. He put his head on her chest, to see if she was still breathing. “She’s alive. But… unconscious.” Cryo looked around the area, thinking of his next move. “That group may find some way to get down here, or take another route. I have to do something. And with her unconscious…” Cryo looked towards a group of bushes to the towards river ahead. “Hmm… Maybe I can…”

Cryo began to head towards the bushes and began to try to dig with his talons as fast as he could. “Come on. Come on. Need to make a hole big enough for the both of us.” After quite some time, he made a large divot in the ground around the bushes. “Alright. That should be enough. Now…” Cryo quickly grabbed his mother and dragged her through the bushes and into the divot and then Cryo went to a group of trees huddled together. He then froze the base’s of each of the trees. “Alright. Need to hit this just right…” Cryo then struck his tail against the tree’s one at a time, shattering the ice and caused the tree’s to fall down right over the divot Cryo made. “That should be good cover.” He began to see what appeared to be a light shining from further up the cliff. “That must be their reinforcements! Gotta be quick!”

Cryo quickly wedged himself in the divot shelter he made for the both of them and looked up, hearing the sound of falling pebbles and ringing metal. “Sounds like they’re coming… Gulp… I hope this works.” Cryo kept looking above him, as he continued to hear the sound of clanging metal and falling stones. Suddenly it stopped. Cryo’s lifted his head up a bit, and saw a flashlight beam overhead from his shelter. “Ugh… don’t come this way. Don’t come this way…” “Those two can’t be far. Find them. Sweep over this area.” Cryo could hear creeping footsteps all around him as leaves rustled and twigs snapped. His heart raced as he looked overhead through the broken canopy of the fell trees, watching the movements of the lights overhead. He then heard something approaching. His heart was in full speed now, sweat running down his scales. “If they find us… If they find us…” The sound moved ever closer, each step bringing a droplet from Cryo’s scales. He heard it come really close now. Suddenly, it stopped. Cryo held his breath and put his paw over his mother’s mandible, keeping it silent.

“What is it, Mick?” said a nearby voice. “These trees were the ones we heard go down. Cryo’s heart sank, as he thought they may be discovered. “Did those two do it?” “Probably. These tree’s had fruit in them. Must have knocked the tree over and ran with as much as they could carry.” Let’s keep moving ahead. They can’t be far.” Cryo heard the sound of footsteps moving into the distance, and the lights shining above disappear. Cryo gave out a sigh of relief, as he looked at his mom. “That… was too close.” Cryo picked his head up a bit and gave a yawn. “It’s probably really late now. Past midnight probably. I really need some sleep. In the morning, I can figure out what to do next.” Cryo gave out another yawn, slowly closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.”

Ch 5

Survival Savvy

Cryo awoke to the sounds of birds chirping and a dim light poking above his makeshift shelter. He heard something calling him. “Cryo. Cryo. You ok? Wake up!” said Tide. “Huh. Oh mom. Ugh… Good morning.” “Finally, son. What happened? How did we end up here?” “Huh? Oh I did this.” “You did?” “Yeah. I… dragged you from the water and I made a makeshift shelter to hide in from those mercenaries.” Tide gave a curious look at her son and laid her head against the ground. “Ugh… what now?” Tide asked. “I… don’t know, Mom. They’re probably still looking for us.” They both looked at each other and gave a sigh. “I guess for now we’re… stuck out here,” said Cryo.

Cryo remembered a minute about something the mercenaries said last night. He poked his head a little bit above the broken trees to peek out to see if the coast was clear. After checking the area, he began to rummage through the broken branches. He found 2 fruits and huddled himself back into the shelter. “Here mom. Breakfast.” Cryo gave his mom one of the fruits and sat down next to her. Taking a bite, Tide seemed to like the sweet taste. “What is this.” “I think these are Cannerie fruit, commonly found in forests.” She took another bite.” “It’s Cyan and tear shaped. Seems strange.” “It’s apparently a evolution of something called a pear, combined with the soil on this world.” Cryo took a bite. “We’re going to need water…” “I can hear the sound of moving water, honey. We’re still by that pond, right?” “It’s not as simple as that, Mom. Different aquatic wildlife swim in there. Drinking unfiltered water can get you very sick. Despite being water based ourselves, in our currant predicament, I don’t think it’s wise to try and directly drink from it.” “Is there a way to get it “clean?”” “Hmm… Just give me a moment to think about this…” Cryo got up and poked his head out of his shelter again. Taking a quick look around, he saw the coast was clear. “Just stay here, Mom.”

Cryo moved the branches of the fallen trees and dragged himself out of it, moving the branches back in place to hide his shelter again. “I need items here to make something that can filter water… Let’s look around,” thought Cryo. He started to search around the tree’s around the area, trying thinking of ways to create something to filter the water from the pond. He then saw what appeared to be an old bike, sitting next to a tree, near where the pond met the river. “Hmm, a bike… How did it get here? Was there originally a path here that rode through the forest? Hmm… The rubber tires…” Cryo coated his talon with ice and carefully cut the top of the rubber tire on the front wheel of the bike. He then separated the rubber wheel from the bike. He took some vines nearby and tied one of the ends of the tires tightly.

“Now. I need something to fill this with.” Cryo looked around, towards the shore of the pond. He saw that there was pebbles on the shore of it. “Perfect. Now…” Cryo began to fill the rubber tire with as many pebbles and sediment as he could find there. Soon enough, it was filled to the top.

“Perfect. Now I have a filter for water. Now I just need something to carry water in. Hmmm.” Cryo looked back at the bike again, and saw it had a cup holder with a small water bottle in it. “Convenient, I suppose. I hope this is good enough.” Cryo took the water bottle from the bike and then took a large leaf from a fallen tree. He headed towards the water of the pond and folded the leaf in half like a taco. Inserting the leaf in the pond water, he took it out and poured the water in the leaf into the tube. The water flowed through it and came out of the bottom, where Cryo had the water bottle waiting. “Excellent. This should do it. Let’s fill it up to the top quickly. Cryo began to continually dip the leaf into the water and pour it into the tube, getting more filtered water each time. Soon the water bottle was filled. “Excellent. I better keep all of these with me while I’m out here. Now. Let’s get back to mom.

Cryo placed his “water filter,” into the pockets of his silver jacket, along with his other collected items. He then took his water bottle and wrapped the nozzle around a tie on the side of his jacket. Cryo was about to head back to his shelter when he heard something. “That sounds like footsteps! It could be them again! Gotta head back fast!” Cryo galloped quickly to his shelter and and rummaged through the branches and quickly got in and put the branches back into place. “Cryo. Your back. Did you…” “SHH mom. Listen,” Tide picked up her head a bit to hear. She heard the sound of rummaging leaves. Then she heard a voice.

“Still no sign of them.” “How on earth did they get away like that?” “I don’t know. Maybe the mother wasn’t as tired as we thought.” “We didn’t find either of them in the water earlier, so we know they climbed out of it. Could have flown away to who knows where by now.” “Are we going to call off the search?” “We’re going to search by air and land now. An airship with radar should track them in air if we sweep around the place.” “Flying is defiantly not an option now…” thought Cryo. “You think it’ll be enough. Maybe they really are still on foot somewhere. “We’ve checked everywhere around the section of the forest since midnight. If they are on foot, they would have been found by now.” “Where could they have gone then?” “I don’t know. Mick wants them both found. They are too valuable to let go now. And the people from the military research institution Echo, may know he’s involved.” “Mick? Who’s that?” whispered Tide. “We’ll have several small aircraft survey both land and air across the entire forest. They’re here somewhere. Just need to find out where they ended up. Now come on.” The sound of footsteps were heard going lower as they exited the scene. 

Cryo waited for a few minutes, and poked his head out to see if they were still there. There was no sign of them. “Ugh… Airships. That… doesn’t sound good. I won’t be surprised they arm them with nasty weapons to take us again.” “Should we stay here? Radar will not pick up our movement if we’re not going too fast.” “That is true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they also arm themselves with thermal vision goggles. They’ll know we’re here eventually.” Tide gave out a sigh and looked at her son. “What can we do?”

Cryo thought for a moment. “I guess… we’ll have to find our way back home ourselves.” “How?” Cryo thought for a moment. He poked his head out and looked toward a group of rocks near the rocky cliff. He rustled himself out and then he looked over to a set of black rocks. “Magnetite. Maybe…”He looked back towards Tide. “Hang on for a second, Mom.” Cryo lifted himself out of his shelter and then walked over toward the rocky outcrop. Cryo took a magnetite rock and a couple of other stones and placed them in his coat pocket. Cryo then headed towards the old bike again. He looked at his talon and looked around, checking to see if it was safe. He used his talon to slowly unscrew a single nail off of the bike and then went back to where his shelter was.

“Cryo. What are you doing?” “Hang on mom.” Cryo took the leaf from earlier and then he poured some water on top of it. He took the stone and covered his talon with a very thin covering of ice with a very long and thin tip. He poked his talon into the stone and created a small hole through it. He then began to take the magnetite and carefully scrape the magnetite against the nail. After several minutes of scraping, he then placed the nail on top of the smooth stone. The nail began to rotate a bit by itself until it pointed in a direction.

“Bingo.” said Cryo. “I… don’t understand what your doing, honey.” “It’s simple mom. I made a compass.” “You made a compass?” “Yes. See where the nail is pointing?” Tide looked at the nail. “So it’s pointing North?” “Yes. We need to go south to get back home. The river is pointing towards the south. So we go in that direction. Tide was surprised at how Cryo would know how to do this. “Cryo. Where did you learn to do all of that?” “I got to do the thing with the nail in my science class at school.” Tide thought for a moment. “Do they teach all kids how to do this on this world?” She then saw the water bottle that Cryo had, attached to his coat.

“Is that a water bottle Cryo?” “Yeah mom. There was a old bike nearby. I found the water bottle in a small cup holder on it. I also got the nail from it.” “Is the water in the bottle, well… clean?” “Yeah mom. I made a water filter out of the tire on the bike.” “Wait… You made a water filter out of a tire?” “Yea. Look at this mom.” Cryo dug into his pocket and took out the water filter made from the tire.” “I… don’t understand how this makes the water clean, Cryo.” “Well you see mom, I filled the tire with a bunch small pebbles and gravel from the lake and then tied the bottom so it doesn’t fall out. When the water flows through the top of the tire, the pebbles filling it will cause the dirt and grime and such in the water to get caught on it and as it moves through the tire. The small indention on the bottom is where the water comes out, cleaned and fresh and safe to drink.” Tide was very impressed by this clever use of a this simple trick with the tire.

“Wow. Humans must really try to teach survival skills in science at school. I wouldn’t have thought to do this to make clean water. Nor the trick with the nail to make a compass,” said Tide “Actually, I didn’t learn how to make a filter like this in school.” “Then where did you learn it?” “I watched a show that taught survival skills out in the wild on my television back home. Good thing I did too. Cameron never really liked it. But its a good thing I did, huh?”

Cryo put the items he’s collected back into his coat pocket, and got up. “Can you move, Mom. We’re going to need to make our way out of here as fast as possible. It won’t take them long to start sweeping the forest.” “Yeah… Ughh… I’ll manage. Tide slowly picked herself up and the both of them climbed out. “We may be stuck out here for some time.” Cryo began to gather as many of the Cannerie fruit as he could to put in his coat pocket. “We’ll just have to continue going south until we can get home, or until we find help.” “Alright. What about the airships?” “We may get lucky. They think that we’ve been going forward this entire time. They may not realize we are now going the direction of home. If we stay under the trees, we may be able to at least avoid their detection from the air. Though once they decide to use thermal, well, we’ll have to think of something else…”

The two started out east through the forest. It was only about 30 minutes, before they heard the sound of low fire jet boosters over the forest canopy. They quickly ducked under a tree and waited for the sounds to fade away. “Was that them?” asked Tide. “Most likely. That was the sound of a V12 Militant light aircraft. Considering what we’ve already dealt with, they probably have a few light attack craft.” replied Cryo “Do you think there will be more?” “I think so. We better keep moving.” They continued through, walking for about 2 more hours. Tide started to get tired and they both decided to rest under a large tree a bit. They started to eat some of their collected fruit and drank some water. Cryo then heard the sound of another ship combing over the forest. “Looks like their increasing the patrol ships combing over the forest.” he said “Do you think they’ve spotted us yet?” asked tide “No. But it seems like they have changed the directions now where they are searching. They are probably now looking over the entire forest.” “What do we do?” “We keep moving. Hopefully we can get home before they find us.” “And if they do?” “We’ll have to improvise…” They continued going through.

Eventually, night came again, and they needed to rest up for the night. “Hmm. Digging a hole and knocking down a tree would probably draw attention to this area if I tried that again. I highly doubt that’ll work twice. I need to do something else to make a shelter.” said Cryo. Cryo thought for a moment. He then broke off a couple branches from the trees, took a set of large leaves from the bigger ones, and sets of vines growing up them. He quickly began to make a frame of a large enough tent from the sticks, using the vines to tie them together. He then piled the leaves on top one at a time to cover the exterior frame and using a combination of his saliva and clay from the river to hold them in place.

“There we go. Tents done,” he said. “…Did the show teach you this as well?” asked Tide “A little bit. The idea of using clay and my saliva as an adhesive was my own idea. I didn’t actually know if it would work to be honest.” It began to rain in the forest, and a low sound of thunder could be heard in the distance. “Storm’s coming tonight Mom. We better get in quickly. The storm might lessen the patrols in the forest, so we might be good for the night.” “Alright, son.” The two got in their makeshift shelter as the wind and rain howled throughout the forest. It didn’t take long for Cryo to fall asleep. Tide looked at her son as he slept. “Look at him. Quite a little survivor he is,” she thought. “I wonder if the rain and thunder is actually a soothing sound to him. He looks pretty peaceful.” Tide laid her head down and gave a yawn.” “I better get some sleep too. I need to be ready to move again in the morning. Goodnight, my baby boy.” Tide slowly closed her eyes and then fell asleep.

Ch 6

Patient Project

Cryo slowly opened his eyes and gave a yawn. He felt something was off. He wasn’t in a forest along the river now. He rubbed his eyes as they began to focus. As Cryo’s head span a bit, he realized he was in some type of building, unlike any he had ever seen. The walls were white, but it seemed that the texture of the walls seemed to be imitating a spiders web. The texture blended to the wall quite well, and strangely felt soothing to his eyes. To his left, was a large window with light pouring in next to him, and the sight of large rolling hills far back covered in many different plants, flowers, and shrubs, with sprinklers watering it all over. Closer to the building, seemed to be a large and expansive farm filled seemingly with many different crops being tended to by workers. A bit further down seemed to be a couple greenhouses as well, having workers going in and out. Cryo couldn’t get an idea what the workers looked like though, as the room he was in seemed to be quite far up in the building. He also saw a couple of large, metal buildings around the area in a green hue, which seemingly combining with the rolling hills around it to made it a soothing view. There was a steel sliding door in the upper right corner of the room and a very large dresser lining the right wall, with many drawers across it. Cryo wondered for a second what was in the drawers of the dresser. In front, there was the insignia of a spider over a black background. Under it was a couple of chairs that had a spider carved on the back and a white and black cushion with a web pattern. There was also a set of simple wooden closet doors close to the entrance to the room.

Cryo tried to get up, but felt a sharp pain in his back right leg. “Ugh… My leg…” he thought as he gritted his teeth. He breathed in a few times, and looked down towards his body, and realized he seemed to be on a soft bed in the shape of a spider as well, and covered in a blue blanket. He lifted up the blanket a bit, and realized his back right leg was in a white cast. He also seemed to be in a blue hospital gown, made to fit a dragon like him. He also saw that his front and back paws had soft, fuzzy grey gloves and socks covering them, which also covered his talons. It felt a bit strange to Cryo, as he usually didn’t have his talons covered when wearing items like this. He felt a cold pack on his head and looked at it for a second. Seemed it was wrapped with a small strap around his neck. “Hmmm. Someone has been treating my wounds. But how did I get here? And how did my leg get broken? Wait a minute, am I back in…?” Cryo shook his head and gave out a sigh. “At least I’m not strapped down or worse now…”

Cryo looked around again and saw next to his bed on the right was a cup with a clear liquid inside of it, sitting on top of a small, wooden cabinet. Cryo began to slowly maunver himself up to take a better look at it, and saw an array of bubbles going through it. “This liquid seems to react to movement. Is it safe to drink? It might be medicine. Hmm. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a sip.” He raised the cup toward his mandibles and took a sip of it. “Hmm. A sweet and fizzy drink. With a citrus taste. I heard from Cameron humans haven’t been able to make drinks like this since they left earth.” Cryo took a couple more sips and drank the rest of it down and set it on a coaster. He then took in a deep breath and laid his head back down on the pillow on the bed. “No one has come to see me yet. I can probably guess there is something here watching me nonetheless,” he thought.

Not long after resting a bit, he began to hear the sounds of the metal door opening by sliding up. Cryo turned his head quickly toward the door. The metal door slid up and soon a familiar spider came in. “Your finally awake.” he said. “Oh. Its you Zeke.” replied Cryo. “You ok?” “Legs stiff as a piece of wood and I’m bed ridden. Otherwise, I’m fine.” “That’s good. You hungry?” “Yea, I suppose…” “Hang on. I have something for you.”

He went towards the door a grabbed a tray of food outside the room. He brought it over to Cryo’s bed and sat it down in front of him. On the tray was a food Cryo had never seen before. “What are these?” Cryo asked. “Well. This right here is a blueberry muffin, basically sweetened bread with blueberries in it. This here is hash browns. Basically diced potatoes fried and mixed and cooked with onions, herbs, and spices. This is oatmeal. Made of oats from an oat tree and mixed in with brown sugar and cinnamon. And finally, this is a glass of Citrus blast soda, a fizzy drink with lemon and lime fruits mixed into it to give it a sweet taste. I see you drank the soda we left for you earlier.” “So that’s what that drink was.” thought Cryo. “Do you need help to eat?” “Um… no. I’m fine.

Cryo tried each item one at a time, and liked it. It wasn’t long before there was no more. Zeke watched him as he ate, seemingly taking note of his movements. “Man. They don’t have stuff like this back at home,” thought Cryo. “You must have liked it since you ate it all.” said Zeke. “Yeah. Where did you guys learn to make all of this. “We learned it from transcribing ancient books of an ancient civilization on our planet.” Cryo nodded and then laid his head back to his bed.

“So Cryo…” “Yea?” “Can you tell me some more about the humans?” Yeah. I guess I can. What would you like to hear?” “I would… really like to know what happened after the military took you. You stopped the conversation there the last time we talked.” “Well alright. You see…” Cryo began to talk about what his life was like after he was taken after his first birthday. He talked about everything up to before the incident on the ocean, before he began to get very tired. “Hey, Zeke?” “Yes Cryo.” “Any chance I can take a rest for a bit. I’m getting tired again.” “Alright. I’ll leave you to get some sleep. Is there anything you need to help you sleep?” “Actually. Any chance there is a radio or something that can play soothing music to help me sleep?” “Yes. Hang on a second.” Zeke left the room and them brought back a small radio, after flickering a little bit with it, a soft tune began to play from it, which began to ring in Cryo’s ears. Cryo gave out a yawn and began to drift off. “Have a good nap Cryo.” Soon Cryo’s mind began to get fuzzy and he closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber.

Ch 7

Fish Food

Cryo gave out a yawn and rubbed his eyes a bit. He began to pick himself up and looked around. He realized he was back in the makeshift tent he made. He looked back at his back right leg and touched it. He then began to drag it across the ground a bit, seemingly testing it. “Feels fine. I guess I better wake up Mom.” Cryo thought. Cryo began to shake Tide a bit. “Hey mom. Wake up. Wake up mom!” “Mmpphh. Cryo?” She wiped her eyes a bit and began to pick herself up. “It’s morning. Ready to go mom?” “Yeah… Ughh… What time is it?” “Come on Mom. We have to be able to keep moving. They’ll find and catch us if we don’t.” “Yeah. I know son. What will we do with the tent?” “We’ll have to crumple it and hide it. It’s too big to carry with us and they’ll know we headed this way if we leave it. “Alright.” They exited it and began to quickly crumple it and then they separated it into several places around the area. ”Alright mom. Let’s get a move on. Come on.” They then headed forward from the river and continued on.

2 days passed as they continued following the river. On the third day though, as they were traveling, up river, they decided to to rest and eat some of their fruit. But they realized quickly they were starting to run a bit low. “We’re going to need to find more food soon. We probably still have a long way to go,” said Cryo. “Well. Your the one who seems to be an expert on this. What do you think we should do?” asked Tide. “Hmmm…”

Cryo looked at the river and saw schools of fish swimming through it. He then looked at the surrounding forest. He then went over to one of the trees and saw it had some long sturdy vines around it. “Hmm sun vines. Grow typically on trees near freshwater. Pretty sturdy and long , but easy to fold.” He then looked back at the river. “Hmm. Maybe…”

Cryo then slashed several of the vines with his talon and gathered them up. “Now then. I need something to support its frame.” Cryo looked around the trees and flew up toward the branches. Cryo quickly slashed off two large branches and gathered them up. “These branches should be able to make a good frame. I’ll just need to trim them off to make them smeller and easier to carry.” He quickly shorten and separated the thick branches using his talons making it into 2 smaller pieces. ” Alright, I better get started with this quickly.” He headed back toward the his mom, and began spreading the branches side by side.

“What are you doing, Cryo?” Tide asked. “I’m making a small fishing net.” “A fishing net?” “Yes. I’m going to use the branches as its frame and the vines to make the net. It’s going to take a little bit to finish it. It should work with these types of vines.” So Tide watched as Cryo tied the vines along the branches, loop after loop after loop throughout. Soon it was completed. “Alright then. Let’s make sure this works.” Cryo flapped his wings and flew over the river. He took a quick look down and saw many schools of fish swimming though it. “Alright. Let’s try this.” Cryo made a dive towards the river and dove under the water. A few minutes passed and Cryo’s head soon popped up from the river.” He slowly made his way back to the shore. As he emerged, with the net, Tide saw the net with several fish caught in it. “It looks like it worked. Now. we’re going to need to keep this fresh. But that’ll be simple enough,” Cryo said. Cryo took in a big breath and breathed a cold stream on the captured fish, freezing them solid. “There. That should keep them fresh. Now I’ll attach the net on my back for later use.”

Cryo took the net with the fish and folded it in half. Then he slung it over the back of his coat, and finally took one more vine and tied it around his back. “Alright. Now let’s continue, Mom. We’ve spent enough time here. Remind me to refreeze the fish in maybe an hour or two. We’ll need to keep these frozen so that they’ll be safe to eat later.” “Alright. I’ll try to remember Cryo.” The two continued on their way.

Ch 8

Mud buds

A storm began to hover over the forest and spayed rain down upon them, and the sun began to set as they moved forward. But as they did, Cryo thought he heard the sound of rustling somewhere further back. Cryo turned his head to take a quick look, but saw nothing. “Is something wrong, son?” Tide asked. “No… It’s nothing.” They continued moving forward. Suddenly, Cryo heard a tree branch crack and quickly looked back again, He could see movement behind, ducking in the bushes! “Mom! Run!” Cryo exclaimed!

The two quickly began to run away from the river through the forest. “They’re getting away! After them!” It seems they have finally found them. Cryo continued to hear the boots trampling the leaves on the wet ground as they continued going forward. They darted in different directions around and around, but they always seemed to be able to continue tailing them! Even worse, is that it wasn’t too long before Tide began to get tired. “I’m not sure how much longer I can run like this!” exclaimed Tide. “They must be wearing thermal goggles! They’re tracking the heat from our bodies!” Cryo said. “We have to do something!” Tide exclaimed. “Umm…! Uh….!”

Suddenly, Cryo and Tide slipped and rolled into a very large and quite deep muddy divot in the ground. “OOF.” As their head span a bit, they heard the quick sounds of footsteps being very close. “NO! It can’t end like this! They aren’t going to take us without a fight!” thought Cryo. He gave a angry scowl and slowly poked his head out just enough to see with his heart beating faster then an engine.

He saw their figures come into view of the area from behind the trees. They slowly crept in. 8 heartless figures wearing forest camo, goggles, and carrying tranquilizer guns. Cryo was about to climb out of the divot and prepare for the fight of his life, when they began to speak. “Where did they go?” said one of them,” “Huh?” thought Cryo. Cryo then stood as still as a statue, keeping an eye on them as the group walked right past them, around the deep divot in the ground. “Thermals not seeing anything. “How is that possible?! Two mythical creatures DO NOT JUST DISAPPEAR! These two have already caused enough trouble for us already! We’re not the only ones combing the forest for those two!” “Huh?” Cryo thought. “If those military boys find them first, we’ll never be able to get those dragons! They already know that Mick betrayed them. There’s no way he’ll be able to get us back in!” “Mick… I’ve heard that name multiple times. Did he used to work at the base?” thought Cryo. “They may be further ahead. Let’s keep moving forward. It’s possible they split up. You 4 go towards that direction. We’ll head this way. Come on. They can’t be far.” Cryo saw their retreating figures as they continued further in until they we’re no longer in sight.

Cryo gave out a sigh as he slowly ducked back in. His heart rate slowed. “That was really close…” he said. “I don’t understand. How did they not find us?” asked Tide. Cryo was confused for a bit, but then he looked at himself, and saw that his entire body was completely covered in wet mud. “The mud. I think the mud… hid us.” “The mud?” “Mud is cold, slick, and messy. When we fell in, We got covered and soaked in it. The mud is masking our body heat. They didn’t see us in the divot since they were seeing in thermal. and they just… walked right past us.” Cryo checked again to see if the coast was clear. “They should be gone.” Come on. Let’s head back in the direction of the river. We can use mud to keep ourselves hidden from their thermal vision. We’ll have to get more once it starts to dry on us, but the soil near the river and in it should be wet enough to keep us hidden from their goggles.” Cryo then quickly turned his head back and breathed some ice on the frozen fish. “Let’s head back towards the river. Those bad guys headed further ahead in opposite direction of the river, so we may be able to put much more distance between us and them before they realize they ran right past us.” Cryo pulled himself out of the divot. “Once we head up the river a bit more, we can start a fire and cook these.” “Do you know how to make one?” “I never tried it. But I might be able to do this.” The two went back towards the river, and continued to head up it.

Ch 9

Campsite Creatures

About 3 hours later, the storm had calmed and the moon rose up quickly into the sky. The two dragons had grown tired and had decided to set up camp for the night. Cryo began to make a shelter, this time using mud, clay mixed a bit with his saliva as an adhesive and bark from a tree he ripped off with his talons. Tide sat down and watched Cryo as he worked, wondering how he was so resourceful. “Cryo really knows how to survive out here. It’s almost like he was born in the wild,” she thought. “I don’t think a survival show alone could prepare him to actually survive out in the wilderness like this. I think there might be something more…” Cryo had begun to attach the bark to the frame for their shelter. Tide began to wonder something.

“You know, Cryo’s life growing up… He was raised in the mountains, the whole first year of his life.” She began to lay herself down. “He grew up near a lush forest, filled with rocky terrain, high up. He slept in a crib in a barn, with love and care that only a loving family could give. He watched his “older brother,” take things apart and he was able to pick up on it. Even if the amount of time with them was short, its what he grew up in. Maybe that’s why. I know he doesn’t get much time outside back at the base. Perhaps… Perhaps this is reminding him of his time with them.” Cryo had just finished with the shelter. And had walked over to Tide. “Alright mom. I’m going to try and make a fire,” Cryo said “How will you?” asked Tide

Cryo took out a black stone out of his pocket and the metal nail. “I’m going to use this flint and the nail from the “compass.” “Flint?” “Yes. I going to try to scrape the nail on the flint to create a spark and start a fire.” “Where did you get that, Cryo?” “It was where I found the magnetite. I picked it up since I knew we might need it.” Cryo took in a deep breath and exhaled. “Alright. Let’s try this.” He began to scrape the nail quickly against the flint. After a little bit, he began to see sparks coming out. “Come on. Come on,” he thought. The sparks began to hit the wood. After a little bit of time, a small ember began to light up. “Alright. There’s a start. Now…” Cryo began to take some deep breaths and blew slowly on the small fire, with each breath making it a little bit larger each time. Soon, the fire blazed and he was ready to cook. Cryo quickly pulled his paws away and stepped back. “There we go. Now…” Cryo then unwrapped his fishing net from around him and gave it to Tide. “Hold these for a bit, Mom.”

Cryo then began to quickly created a stand out of twigs and logs to help cook their dinner. Taking a bunch of sturdy branches and wet soil from under the river, it soon was built. “Let’s get cooking.” Cryo then quickly skewered the fish and began to cook their meal over the open fire. The sound of crackling meat could be heard as they it cooked. Cryo began to turn the stick to cook the fish from all sides. “It shouldn’t be long before their done.” Cryo said. “It could probably use some spices and breading, but it should taste good still,” said Tide.

After about 12 minutes of cooking, the fish were done and the two had started eating it. A crunch of satisfaction was heard as they chewed their food thoroughly. “The fish tastes good, son,” said Tide. “Your right about it needing some breading, Mom. I’ve never eaten fish without it. Both gave a small chuckle as they continued eating. Tide looked at her son, who stared back. “Is there something you need, Mom?”

“Cryo. Do you like being out here like this?” she asked. “Huh. What do you mean, Mom?” “Well its just that you seem to be knowledgeable about how to live out here. You’ve spent most of your life indoors at home. It can’t just be from watching a silly TV show.” “Well…” “I’ve just been thinking Cryo.” “About what Mom?” “When you were living with Greg and the others, you were mostly outdoors. In the mountains next to a forest. Yes, your “bedroom,” was a barn with a crib inside. But its still outdoors nonetheless.” “Well. I was just a hatchling then Mom…” “Maybe. But that’s what you grew up with. Even if the time with them was short, it was your first year on this world. You and your “big brother,” would play together outside for most of the day. You would take naps several times a day in your room, with very warm cloths on your back, and then wake up again to continue until you ran out of energy again or night fell. I really love that silver jacket Cryo. You look quite cute in it.” Tide chuckled a bit. “It’s defiantly proven very useful since we’ve been out here. Those pockets on it are quite convenient to carry our supplies. It also looks nice and comfy on you, even if your covered in mud right now. I can see now why humans wear cloths. I’m glad they could share that experience with you.”

Cryo began to sit back a little, thinking about it a bit himself now. “It’s a little more then that mom. But… I don’t think you’d want to know the more “specific,” reasons.” Tide continued. “Sometimes Noble would take you indoors and play inside. Sometimes he would take things apart and you watched him with curiosity. Over time, you began to pick up on it yourself.” “Yea. Much of my knowledge of how most machines work was from watching him taking things apart and talking and telling me about them…” “Then you had to leave them behind. Your life changed. You had to live in a “different world.” While the researchers there eventually realized your potential, they kept you inside most of the time. They watched you work. They watched you play. You would really only go outside only for “breaks,” or when you wanted to play catch. I think what it really is Cryo, is that, being outdoors like this. It really is a small reminder of what it was like for you back with them. The researchers didn’t realize what outdoors really means for you. It reminds you of home, and its why you can live like this out here. The painted walls within your room can’t really simulate what its like there.”

Cryo looked behind him, and then looked back at his mom. He took another few bites and gave a sigh. “I admit mom. Your right. I don’t really get a chance to spend time outdoors at the research center. For security reasons, I admit. I can easily see why they were concerned with me being outside, considering we were kidnapped like this. But… I endured it. I had to. For them. Cameron… well… he was there to support me through the changes. He reminds me of Noble. Not exactly, but he always had my back. But… he still isn’t him.” Cryo took another bite and looked up at the stars in the sky.” “I had hoped that I could see them again one day. But after what happened now, I doubt they’ll ever allow me out of their sight again.” “Maybe they would, Cryo. I think they would allow you to see them again one day still.” “Why do you think that, Mom? It’s been 6 years since I last saw them.” Tide looked at her son, took a bite, and gave a grin. “I think once we get back home, you’ll see what I mean.” Cryo pondered what she meant, but decided not to push further. The two soon finished their meal, and soon it was time to go to sleep. Cryo gathered mud from the river and spread it all over his body and Tide’s. “Hopefully the mud will keep us hidden during the night. While it may feel weird being covered up like this, hopefully we both can get some sleep. The two went in their makeshift shelter. While feeling a bit icky made it a bit more difficult to sleep, they eventually fell into a deep slumber.

Ch 10

Patch Pro

Cryo woke into the sight of the hospital room room again. As his head span a bit, he saw that several armored bugs were in his chamber talking to each other. His head felt a bit hot for some reason. He also felt a tiny bit numb and felt a sting in his upper right arm, and looked over at it. He saw there was medical gauze and bandages over it. “Hmm?” Cryo heard.

He looked toward the front left of the room, and saw a green dragonfly in blue hospital attire and cap. It turned around to look at him. He seemed to be sitting on a rolling rounded doctor’s seat with body facing back and towards Cryo. He seemed to had been typing on a small computer attached to the wall next to the window. “Oh. Good afternoon, Cryo,” it said in a soft and calming male voice. He smiled at Cryo and typed in a few more things and pressed a button on the side of the console. He then began to slide the computer back a bit, and then picked up his long wings and began to fly with a low whir sounding off them towards Cryo with the seat in his hands. The other soldiers noticed he was awake and began to face him as well. “Glad to see your awake, little guy,” said a red centipede in the room. He smiled at Cryo. The dragonfly set down the chair softly next to Cryo’s bed and sat himself down on it.

“How are you feeling?” the dragonfly asked. “Oh… Umm. I feel… a little hot,” replied Cryo. “Hot?” “Yeah.” Cryo began to cough a few times. The dragonfly seemed to take notice. “I noticed your head getting a little red while you’ve been asleep. I can check that in a minute.” “Um… ok. Thanks.” Cryo gave a faint smile at the dragonfly. He began to cough a few times again, and settled down on the bed again. The dragonfly nodded and put a medical mask over his mouth. He then put some gloves on his front arms. “I’m a medical expert Patch. I’ve been your primary physician while you’ve been here with us at this hospital.” “Oh. You’ve been my doctor?” “That’s correct.” He rubbed Cryo’s right arm a little bit. He then took an electric thermometer from a nearby wall.

“Could you open your maw, Cryo? I want to take your temperature.” “Oh yeah. Hang on.” Cryo opened his mouth, ready for the thermometer. “Good. Now please keep this under your tongue.” Cryo nodded. The dragonfly placed the thermometer under Cryo’s tongue and Cryo closed his mouth. “Good. Now just wait a few moments, Cryo.” Cryo laid still in the bed, breathing slowly. Soon enough, the thermometer began to beep a few times. “Alright. Now let’s check your temperature.” Patch gripped the thermometer and Cryo released it from his mouth. “Hmm…” said Patch. He waited a few moments while Cryo waited in anticipation. “About… 69.2`F.” “Oh… I am running a fever.” said Cryo. He coughed a few times again. “What’s your normal body temperature, Cryo?” “About 68`F.” “Ahh. I see. Hang on. Give me a minute.” Patch looked at his wrist, which had a shiny watch or something similar around it. He leaned it close to his mouth.

“Healic. Could you get a cold pad, Ferintoph, and maybe a few cough drops. Patient Cryo is confirmed to be running a small fever and is coughing.” “Yes Patch. I’ll get that for you.” a voice called back on the device. “That wristband must be some type of comm band, like at home. Although the screen seems to show a bunch of other data on it. I wonder if its a small computer as well.” thought Cryo. He put his wrist back down and looked back at Cryo. “Alright, son. It should only be a few minutes before Healic comes by with the meds and cold pad for your head.” “Um. Ok. What exactly is, Faintoph?” “It medicine that will help bring down that fever.” “Oh. Ok.” Cryo nodded and smiled at him. He gave a nod back. Cryo looked back at his bandaged right arm again and become a little curious. He looked toward Patch.

“Hey. What was this for?” Cryo asked. “We put an iv in your arm with a sedative. We just wanted to run a few tests, and didn’t want you to awaken.” said Patch. “What tests?” “We wanted to run an x ray, blood, saliva, and a few other tests.” “Why didn’t you want me awake for it?” “Well… We wanted to know a bit more about your biology and we didn’t know how you’d react to that.” “You could have just asked. I don’t mind having to take a few medical tests to get better. I know that it helps you help me get better.” “We didn’t know how you would take it. Please understand.” Cryo thought about it for a moment and gave out a sigh. Cryo began to cough a bit again. He looked at Patch and smiled. Patch rubbed Cryo’s head a few times and then asked “Do you need anything while we wait for the meds, Cryo?” Cryo smiled and said “Yes. Can I have some water.” “Sure thing hang on a second.” Patch turned to the centipede in the room. “Firestorm. Could you go out of the room and get our patient here a nice bottle of water from the supply cabinets. “Yea. Sure doc. Hang on for a few minutes, little blue bud.” He began to walk over and was about to open the door to the chamber he thought he heard something outside the door. “What in the…” Suddenly, the door to the room burst open from an explosion!

Ch 11

Will in the Wilds

Cryo shot up with his eyes wide open, and realized he was back in the forest. He breathed a bit heavily and began to slow his breathing to calm down. His head span a bit. “What is with these dreams…” Cryo began to nudge his mother to awaken her. “Come on, Mom. Wake up.” “Mphhh… Cryo?” “We need to get ready to move out quickly. Come on.” “Alright. Ughh… Hang on a second.” Tide slowly picked herself up and climb out of the makeshift shelter. Cryo soon came out as well. “Alright mom. We’ll first need to take this apart apart and spread it about in case they come back this way. We also need to replace the mud covering us from the soil near the river and we need to fish for some food for tonight.” “Alright.” They took apart their shelter and spread its parts around. Then they headed back towards the river.

Another 9 days passed as they travelled. They spent the time travelling through the massive forest. They would wake up and spread mud on themselves. As they continued on their way, they heard the sound of jets more often. Patrols were now happening much more frequently. They had to slow down with each ship and duck under the forest canopy to make sure they couldn’t be tracked by them. They spent their time talking and walking as they tried to make their way towards home. Cryo would always take time at least one point during the day to catch fish in his net for food and fill up their water bottle with clean water for the long road ahead. During those nights, they’d build a new shelter and a campfire and it was here that Cryo would introduce Tide to the concept of ghost stories. Tide seemed to like the idea of telling spooky stories while sitting by a nice fire in the darkness of the night and eating cooked fish. She was surprised that this was an activity humans took in when camping in the wilds for fun. She eventually was able to spook Cryo with her own brand of ghost stories. When it’s time for bed, they’d spread mud on their bodies again and settle in their built shelter for a nice sleep.

And so the sun rose again. Cryo knew he had to fish for some food. After destroying their tent, they headed towards the river. Cryo poked his head from behind a tree to see if the coast was clear. He looked around, and saw no one. “Alright. I better do this really quickly before they possibly see us.” Cryo motioned his mom to come forward and they immediately headed towards the river. Cryo immediately dove into the water while Tide spread mud on herself to conceal herself. After a few moments, Cryo poked his head out and pulled out a small bounty of seafaring wanderers. He immediately took his catch and blew a small stream of ice. he then quickly folded the net and tied it around his waist. “Alright. Let’s move out quickly, Mom.” The two began to head forward.

The two walked for a while, with the sun beaming down their backs. A smooth wind began to blow as they walked. Tide looked over at her son, who seemed to be very focused on something. “Cryo seems to be deep in thought,” thought Tide. “I wonder how far we’ve traveled since we have been out here. Perhaps he is trying to calculate the distance in his head. Or maybe something else is on his mind.” Tide looked ahead and began to think. “How long are we going to have to go to get out of this mess. We’ve been out for nearly a month. We’ve seen no rescue yet.” Tide looked back at Cryo. “Cryo may be thinking of what he heard those mercenaries said perhaps. They did get our message from the radio. I just wonder where they are looking for us from.” Tide began to look toward above to see birds flying above. “Perhaps they are looking further behind of us rather then on the path to home. We may have to get back all the way on our own.”

They walked for a couple more hours and Tide needed a small rest. So they decided to take a break under a big tree. “We can stay here for a bit. We’ll have to get back on the move soon though, Mom.” “Alright, my little boy.” Cryo pulled the water bottle out of his coat, and realized it was almost empty. “I need to scavenge some more water real quick for us mom. Hang on.” Cryo headed back towards the river. Taking out scavenged water filter and leaf, he dipped the leaf in the water, and then poured the contents into the pebble filled tire. It flowed through it and came out the bottom, filtering into the water bottle. “Alright. There we go. Now let’s get back to Mom.”

Cryo was about to head back, but then he heard a rustling nearby. He stopped immediately. Turning his head, he looked around. “What is doing that. Is that them?” Cryo began to slowly walk back, looking around as he went along. The rustling was closer now. Cryo began to pick up his feet and moved quickly. “It must be them! How did they find us?! I have to get back to Mom fast!” Cryo quickly galloped toward where his mother was, with the sound of rustling continually coming closer. Cryo’s heart began to race like a base drum and soon he found his mother resting under the tree. “Mom! We have to go. Now!” “Whats going…” “Come on, Mom. Quickly!” She picked herself up but the figure was very close by now. Cryo looked back and saw the rustling very close by in a bush. “Quick Mom. We have to run!” “Wait, Cryo!” said a familiar voice.

Ch 12

Rescue Relief

Cryo immediately halted and began to look at an emerging figure from the wood, wearing dark forest camo. Cryo immediately recognized his voice. “T… Ty?” Cryo asked. The man took off his helmet and googles and Cryo recognized Ty’s face immediately. “Yes Cryo. We’ve been looking for you. You don’t know how happy I am to see you here and safe.” Ty smiled softly and turned back and waved his hand forward. “Come on guys! Form a perimeter!” A bunch of soldiers quickly came in all around and took different positions around the area. “Come with me Cryo. Let’s get you two home.” Ty motioned Cryo to come forward and the soldiers took point and formed a circle around the two dragons as they moved.

A little ways ahead of them was a small airship. They quickly loaded Cryo and Tide and headed out for home. “You two are a mess,” said Ty. “Yeah. I know Ty,” replied Cryo. “ You two will defiantly need to get cleaned up when we get you back home. We’ll also have to get those nasty collars off of both of you.” “How did you find us?” asked Tide. “We got your call. When you contacted us on the radio with the coordinates, we immediately dispatched a team there. They were using the crashed ship as a command post for their search for you both. We assaulted it and managed to split up their entire group across the woods. And we also managed to get info on the direction that you were last seen from. When we realized you we’re heading directly in the direction of home, we quickly began to make our way back. We made several sweeps over the forest with our airships, but didn’t find you.” “Yeah. Sorry about that Ty. They had thermal vision so we needed to hide ourselves using mud,” said Cryo. Ty nodded to the little dragon. “As you could guess, we then decided to try to track you on foot.” “I see. So that’s how you found us.” “You don’t know how worried we were for you two. You’ve spent almost an entire MONTH out in the wilds alone, with no food, clean water, or shelter.” “Well that’s not exactly the case Ty…” “Yes Cryo. I kind of noticed.” Ty took a look at the fishing net Cryo made, wrapped around his back. “I’m impressed about how you’ve been able to survive out here. You made a water filter out of a tire, a net out of simple sturdy vines and branches…” Ty looked back at him. “You we’re able to survive all on your own, with nothing but a coat and items from the outdoors.” Cryo took a swig of water from his water bottle and nodded. “Alright. Let’s get you back. We’ll get you cleaned up right as we get home.”

Time passed and soon they arrived back at the base. They soon docked the airship into the hanger, and as the hanger door opened, The two saw a whole bunch of personnel waiting for them. They all saw the two Dragons and immediately cheered. “Wow! Quite a reception,” said Cryo. “Everyone here has been worried about you two. News traveled fast after you two were taken, as you two probably expected,” replied Ty. “Come on you two. Let’s get you back to where you belong.” “Is there any chance I can go with my son?” asked Tide. “Yes. We have moved your things into Cryo’s room while you both been out. If you guys don’t mind, I think we would like to hear about what happened to you guys after a bath and a good nights sleep.” “Alright. Let’s go.” The group headed back through the hanger with the sound of cheers ringing throughout it. Cryo looked back and saw some of the other kids from school cheering with them. “I didn’t expect to find any of them here… Wonder whats with them?” Cryo shrugged as he walked through. After walking through the hanger to the outside and then to the building where his room is housed. Soon they arrived, back into their rooms.

Ch 13

Sunset and Safety

Cryo saw that there were some things were added to the room since they’ve been gone. There was a much larger hay bed a bit away from Cryo’s own bed, on the other side of where Cryo’s closet and dresser was stationed, with a large blanket with a regal image of Tide, sitting proudly next to her loving son, covering it. Cryo thought it was most likely meant to be Tide’s bed. Cryo’s tv and “relaxation,” area had been moved a bit further back on that side to make room for it. There was also a new relatively low to the ground table a little ways away from his dinner table with and 2 small cushions seated next to it. Cryo thought it might be a dinner table meant for he and Tide to eat together. Ty safely removed the nasty collars from Tide and Cryo, using a key stolen from the downed airship and placed them on Cryo’s work bench. “Alright. Do either of you guys think you’ll need help with anything? Cleaning yourselves up? Making dinner?” Tide and Cryo looked toward each other and then looked back and both gave a smile. “No. I don’t think we’ll have any trouble,” said Tide. “Alright. I’ll leave you both to yourselves. Have a good night.” “Alright. Thanks Ty. I’ll see ya soon,” Cryo said. Ty gave a nod a left the room.

Cryo took in a deep breath and looked towards Tide. He gave a small smile and asked “You want to wash up first, Mom?” “You sure you don’t, Cryo?” “Don’t worry mom. I can be like this a little longer. Besides. I need to take my coat off and get it prepared cleaned as well.” “Alright son. I’ll just leave you for a bit.” Tide headed her way into the washroom and closed the door. Cryo could hear the sound of the tub turning on. Cryo gave a nod and began to make his way toward a small laundry hamper in his room.

He unzipped his muddy coat and held it out in front of him. He took a look at it. It was dirty all over, but there was a few spots of silver still glistening through it. “This coat was one of my favorites. I remember. It was a present from Cameron for my 4th birthday. I admit that I’ve never liked my birthday, but this jacket makes me think of the old cloths I used to wear at home. The design was made similar to my old ones, but, its made with sturdier fabrics. Not like the ones Greg and the others back home made for me. Its a stiffer, but feels warm nonetheless.” He stuck his hand in his coat pocket and took out a small metal tag inside. He read it. “To my best friend. Happy birthday Cryo. From Cameron.” Cryo closed his eyes and gave a small smile. “Things were simpler then.” Cryo placed the metal tag back into his pocket and zipped it up. He then placed his coat into the hamper and was about to head near the bathroom door to wait for his turn when he noticed something on his bed. He went towards it, and he saw a letter on it. It said “A group apology to Cryo.” “Huh?” What’s this?” he thought. He quickly opened it up. He saw that it was from kids from school! He began to read it.

“Dear Cryo. If your reading this, you have returned. For the past month, we’ve seen just how important you are to everyone here. It seemed so different around with you being lost. No one here seems to be happy. Not even us. Everyone is talking about what horrors you might be going through. There were even rumors you might have passed on or even worse, been turned into slaves to an evil group. The more we heard this around our homes and around the base, the more we began to realize how much we have wronged you and Cameron over the years you’ve been with us in school. We’re sorry for how we treated you. We want you to know we won’t mistreat you or Cameron again. Perhaps maybe, we can be friends when you are back to being with us again. If you need time alone after your ordeal, we understand. Please be safe and be happy.”

Cryo gave out a small smile and placed the letter back on his bed. “I guess even they could not accept me being lost.” Cryo went to take a look out the window towards the outside of his room, with a view of the vast mountain range towering ahead. He sat down on his bean bag and began to relax and stretch his wings out and then to his sides. He gave out a small yawn and looked toward the horizon to see the sun setting in a brilliant red hue.

“Looks beautiful,” he said. Cryo sat there and began to think of his time out in the wilds. “I never really got a chance to see the sunset since I was taken,” he thought. “I was on the run, so I never really got the chance to watch it.” Cryo began to think. “Who were those people. They wanted us because of our tech.” Cryo began to lay down. “From what I heard back, someone named Mick was somehow involved. I don’t recognize that name. ” Cryo tilted his head and scratched his neck. “Whoever Mick is, he apparently betrayed us. He sold us out to whoever those guys were. Cryo picked himself back up. “Why would he want to do this. Is it just because they wanted our tech to sell on the market, or did they have more sinister plans with us?” Cryo gave out a sigh and continued to watch the sun set.

The sun soon disappeared under the mountains and stars filled the skys above. Cryo looked toward the skies, lined with many stars, and began to become sleepy. “I haven’t got a chance to take naps during the day for the past month… I’m probably going to have to take an extra nap or 2 during the day now that I’m home.” Cryo gave out a yawn. Cryo heard of the washroom door opening behind him. He turned his head and looked back. He saw Tide come out, cleaned up and freshened with her scales slightly glistening from the light. “You look fresh, Mom.” said Cryo. “Thank you, son. You ready to get washed up?” Tide asked. “Yea. Thanks Mom.” “Do you need any help washing yourself?” “I think I’ll be good, Mom.” “You sure?” Cryo began to think for a moment. He then gave out a smile. “You know mom. Maybe I could use a little bit of help washing up.” “Alright son. Let’s get you cleaned up, my little boy.” Tide picked up Cryo with one arm and walked Cryo to his washroom.

Ch 14

Bath time buds

As they entered, he saw that there had been some renovations to his washroom since he was gone. A much bigger and deeper bathtub had been installed in and there was a bigger mirror inside. The sink was also larger, along with a new set of large dragon talon clippers, a large talon file, a rather large dragon toothbrush, and other dental items, nestled against the side of the sink, on the opposite side of Cryo’s items. “These must have been installed for Mom,” Cryo thought. “Come on Cryo. Let’s get you in the tub,” said Tide. “Oh. Hang on for a second, Mom,” Cryo turned his head towards his bathroom radio. “It’s been a long while since I had a chance to listen to any music. I want to listen to something calming now that I’m back home,” Cryo thought. “Voice command.” “Voice command recognized. Radio model 4510 Beach bather is ready to receive command.” Tide smiled and started stroking Cryo’s back a bit. “Silly Cryo. Has to listen to some nice relaxing music while getting cleaned up.” He smiled back at her, and faced back to the radio. “Play music from Capsule Creatures game playlist.” “Which song to start?” Cryo thought about it for a moment. “Play encounter, Bountiful king of crops in the snowy tundra, Callareity,” “Playing music.” A soft yet upbeat melody played, giving a mix of calmness and royalty, like being challenged to a friendly battle by a soft and royal legendary creature. Tide smiled back at Cryo as she listened to the tune, giving a small chuckle. “Perhaps my young boy wants to feel like a prince tonight,” she thought. She carried him to the tub and gently placed him in it “Alright. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Tide said.

She turned on the water for the bathtub and it started to fill with nice, warm water. Cryo began to relax as the warm water began to engulf his lower body. Soon the bathtub was filled up.. “Ahhh. I haven’t felt this in a while.” said Cryo. Tide gave a smile and grabbed a bar of soap. She began to rub it all across Cryo’s back, chest, and tail scales. The mud began to chip off little by little.

“Alright. Turn over and lay on your back, Cryo.” Tide said. Cryo began to maneuver himself in the tub so he was laying on his back with his legs up, out of the water. “Now let’s get those limbs and belly cleaned up,” she said. Tide began to slowly and carefully rub Cryo’s scaly limbs with the bar of soap, with the mud being slowly chipping off bit by bit. She then took it and gently rubbed it across Cryo’s belly, each stroke taking chunks of mud off. “Now let’s get your head, Cryo. Sit back up.” Cryo obliged and maneuvered himself back on his feet, with his head up high. Tide grabbed some dragon shampoo began to rub her hands together. “Alright Cryo. Close your eyes and hold your breath for a bit.” Cryo obliged and Tide carefully rubbed her paws across Cryo’s head, making sure to rub every spot of his head. Cryo began to feel very comfy as Tide’s firm, yet delicate grip massaged Cryo’s head. The mud chipped off and Tide poured water over Cryo’s head. “There we go Cryo. Now, let’s get you out and dried off.” Tide opened the drain to the tub as the water began to drain out. She picked up Cryo and placed him outside the tub. She grabbed a towel and began to slowly and carefully rub it against Cryo’s scales. Soon enough, Cryo was dried off, his scales glistening in the light. “There we go son. Clean and fresh. I bet you feel much better now,” said Tide. “I do, Mom. I feel like a new dragon!” said Cryo.

Ch 15

Burgers and Bed

Cryo went to his sink and brushed his fangs with his toothbrush. Once done, he gave the command for his radio to turn off. Afterword’s, Cryo exited his washroom with Tide by his side. “Alright son. Let’s make something to eat,” said Tide. They both went to the refrigerator and pulled out some Zurburgers from the fridge. Cryo and Tide cooked it on a small grill and brought it to their dinner table. “I haven’t eaten any meat except fish for a while. It’s going to be nice to have some Zurburgers again,” said Cryo. “I haven’t had these since the incident. When I fell into deep sleep…” replied Tide. Cryo thought for a moment. “Well mom, I hope you’ll still like them,” replied Cryo. They put their Zurbergers on seeded buns and began to eat. “Mmmm. Good stuff. Right Mom?” “Yes. It tastes just like I remember it.” They both smiled to each other and continued to eat their dinner. Soon enough, all their Zurbergers were gone, and their bellies filled and satisfied.

You ready for bed?” Cryo gave out a big yawn and his eyes grew droopy. “Yeah, Mom. I’m really tired…” Tide walked to a drawer near Cryo’s bed and rummaged around it a bit. She then took out a sky blue t shirt, with a picture of a sleeping blue dragon nestled in a bed of white clouds, with the words, Dream Little Dragon, below the picture. She then stepped towards Cryo’s bed and stopped right to the side of it. “Come here my little boy. I’ll tuck you into bed tonight.” Cryo nodded and walked over. He stopped in front of tide and gave a small smile. “Lift your arms up, my little blue boy.”

Cryo complied and lifted his arms towards Tide. She slowly maneuvered the t shirt over Cryo’s body, making sure the wings could slip through the back slits. Tide then picked up Cryo and Cryo’s blanket and carefully and gently wrapped it around Cryo’s body tightly. She then nestled Cryo onto his hay bed, head on the pillow. Cryo gave out another yawn and looked towards his radio. “Voice command,” he said. “Ready to receive order,” the radio replied back. “Play soothing bedtime music.” “Now playing Naptunes channel.” The dj on the radio station began to speak in a low, soothing voice.

“This is the Naptunes channel. This next song is a classic, known for giving dreams of adventure, strength, and hope. Inspired by dream of a mighty battle against time itself. Now playing, Primal, Time and Space. The radio echoed with the tune. “I’ve never heard this one before,” thought Cryo. “It’s beat is a bit fast, yet it feels so soothing, with the flutes and synthesizer.” Cryo gave out a big yawn, and soon his eyes began to get droopy. He then slowly closed his eyes, and fell into a deep slumber. “Look’s like Cryo likes listening to lullabies when he wants to sleep,” thought Tide. “I’ll admit it, I like this tune as well.” Tide pulled her head down and gave her dreaming son a small kiss on his forehead. Tide then went towards her hay bed and slowly laid herself down and covered herself in her big blanket. “Goodnight my precious son. Maybe I can try to sing you to sleep one day.” thought Tide. She closed her eyes and soon fell asleep.

New abilities

Ice pick: Can cover the tip of his talons with ice to pick locks by breaking the inner workings with ice.

Cold Claws: Can coat his talons with ice to slash at things more effectively.

New known Likes:

Food and drinks of “Earth.”

Outdoor activities

Spending time with his Mom

Being accepted

New known dislikes:

Cyantrinian metals

Being on the run

Suspenseful situations

His mother being scared, worried, or unhappy.

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

Prologue

Cryo’s mother, Tide, and Ferrin dragon, had just left her war torn homeworld with her precious child, who was still in an egg. She used a special portal to escape the clutches of a group of warmongering dragons. The portal was destroyed in the jump, along with her lab and all the data.

She woke up on a world where humanity had moved to after earth fell to some cataclysmic event. She was found and tended to by a family of humans. Their names were, Suzy, Greg, and their son, Noble. They tended to Tide and helped her get better, while also keeping her egg safe.

After some time with living with them, she learned to speak with them and told them about her home planet and the plight she witnessed. Greg had plans of revealing her existence to the world, but worried about what could happen if its known she built a portal. But it didn’t take long for things to go sideways.

A massive storm hit the suburbs they were in right as they were going to move out to reveal Tide to a group of biological researchers. Tide’s power prevented the town from being destroyed but, she fell into a deep deep slumber as a result. Even worse, the military had taken interest in the storms dissipation and sent units to find the cause of the massive storms sudden disappearance.

But during that time, the little dragon hatched. With his help, they were able to escape the suburbs and out deep into the mountains. Greg decided it would be best to go into hiding to protect the little dragon and his mother and wait for tide to wake up, so they might be able to find someplace safe to live. They named the little dragon Cryo and got to work taking care of him

A year passed and the little dragon was liking his home and his family. But one day, His big brother, Noble, was running late. Curious as to why he was taking so long, he went to find him at the school. But when he got there, he saw that he was being bullied by some kids there. Getting mad, he soaked the kids with his water breath and Noble quickly take him back home, hoping he wasn’t seen.

The next day, it was Cryo’s first birthday, and he would be taken near a lake deep into the forest. Cryo would play with his big brother and have a birthday feast. Cryo would have a strange dream when he took a nap later, dreaming that the dragons from his home world were trying to take him and his entire family. He woke up and finally got a chance to swim. Unfortunately, it turns out someone did see Cryo when he soaked those bullies. They made a call and the military units showed up and ruined his party. Seeing the military trying to get the info on where he was, Cryo surrendered himself and said one last goodbye to his adopted family before being taken away, leaving heartbroken knowing he’ll probably never see them again…

Ch 1

Depressed Dragon

Cryo was taken to a military research center all the way across the mountains in a region of the planet called Crota (the base was located outside the limits of a city called Midnook Bay near the mountains. The area was in a warmer part of the world, and a much lower elevation than his previous home). The soldiers had allowed him to look through the tinted windows of their armored vehicle the whole time since he gave himself up earlier and was behaving. The trip took quite some time, but they at least kept him in relative comfort while riding. They also made a small bed for him and he took a nap in between the trip as well. As they made it into the city, he was a bit surprised at the scene. This was the first time Cryo had ever been close to a big city and took at least some interest in it. They traveled outside the city’s limits and drove off road to a military research complex a bit away from the city itself.

They brought Cryo inside a medical center in the complex for a checkup to see if he was healthy. The medical team inside the base immediately got to work. While they had taken the research notes that Greg had in the house, all but 1 medical professional disregarded most of it due to how ridiculous it sounded for when he was watching both Tide and Cryo. So instead, they decided they would observe on their own. They gave Cryo some booster shots, took blood and saliva, checked blood pressure, took x rays, and took some physical tests, such as height, weight, running on a treadmill, and other things, similar to what you would have at a regular doctor’s appointment. The researchers there noticed how Cryo wasn’t making any attempt to resist them, including when they were taking blood and giving booster shots. He wouldn’t even fight back. He just closed his eyes tightly and looked away, as they put the needle into him, seemingly bracing for when the needle would pierce into his scaly skin. They also began to think that he seemed to understand them, as he seemed to follow their lead and commands on each procedure. Managing Cryo through each of their procedures was surprisingly incredibly easy for them, something they really didn’t expect at all.

After his checkup, they moved him into a secure observation room that had a small pool of freshwater in the back (for Cryo to swim and bathe in), two bowls for feeding, a couple of chew toys, and pink leaved tree, and a glass window and an orange floor below it, made of metal. It looked towards the vast mountain range and forest in the distance… The ground around the rest of the room seemed to be made of a sandy substance, perhaps trying to replicate a small beach. There was a security camera overlooking the room in the back right corner of the room, near the metal sliding security door. The commander released the muzzle and thin chain leash from Cryo and let him be. “I hope this little dragon doesn’t cause too much trouble,” he thought. He looked back at Cryo. “You’ll eat at 5:00, Cryo. Don’t get into trouble…” he said of their new project. The commander left the room and Cryo looked around. He began to feel very lonely and went towards the window to look out toward the outside world. He laid himself down right at it and stared at the outside world.

At 5:00, 2 of the researchers investigated the pen from a very small reinforced glass window on the door. One was carrying some diced meat and water to feed him. When they entered the pen, Cryo was still at the window, staring outside. “How long has that dragon been there, Gerald?” one of them asked. “I think he’s been there the entire time, Ty. I don’t think I’ve seen him move away since he got here,” said the other. They both paused for a moment. “What do you think he’s staring at?” asked Gerald. “I don’t really know. I haven’t seen anything outside that would be mildly interesting. Even if there was, it wouldn’t have been there that long. He’s been there for 3 hours at least.” said Ty. “That’s not good psychological behavior. Do you think he wants to go outside?” “I’m not sure. I don’t think it would be a good idea to have a dragon outside right now, especially since he might try to fly away. We’ll just keep him under watch. Anyway, let’s get this food in. Keep a sedative ready in case he attacks us.” They came in with a hand in their side pocket. Cryo heard the security lock for his door release.

“Cryo, you hungry?” Cryo looked behind and saw the two researchers. The man holding the food to the left had light skin with a bit of red mixed in blue eyes with some type of strange item on his nose that put some strange type of glass in front of his eyes, and brown hair. Cryo was able to make out what seemed to be his name that seemed to be pinned onto his coat. He saw the letters that spelled Tyler Jerrin, but he didn’t know what they said.

The other person, standing beside him on the right, had very dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair. He was wearing similar clothes to his counterpart. He saw more letters, pinned on the coat like his counterpart. He saw the letters, making the name Gerald Jones, but couldn’t read it either.

Cryo looked at their expressions as they walked in as the security door shut behind them. As they looked upon him, Cryo felt a little uncomfortable. The two looked at the majestic creature in the room, first looking at it in amazement. They then softened their eyes with a slight look of concern for their new pet project. They slowly crept over a bit to get a slightly closer look at the dragon.

Cryo gave out a small sigh. He soon slowly turned back to look outside the window. “He’s not even interested in the food. I hope he doesn’t plan on starving himself.” said Ty. “Just put it in for now. We’ll see if he eats if we leave the room,” said Gerald. So, they both filled Cryo’s bowls and left the room. As the door closed, Cryo immediately went to eat from it.

“Look. At least the dragon’s eating,” said Ty “That’s good and all. But why was he so afraid to eat while we were in the room?” asked Gerald. “I don’t know. Something must be wrong with him psychologically. He was pulled from the ones who were taking care of him. I’m sure things will change in time once he gets used to being here.” “I hope so. I can’t stand seeing a magnificent creature act like this.” They both continued to watch Cryo eat until the food was gone. Cryo then went back towards the window to look out towards the mountains again, and soon fell asleep as the moon rose into the sky…

“Looks like Cryo fell asleep,” said Ty. “At the window…” replied Gerald. “Why is he so obsessed with the outside?” “We’ll worry about it tomorrow. Let’s have the staff watch him overnight and make sure he’s ok. We’ll come back when Cryo wakes up. “Alright. Let’s go to bed.” So, the researchers went to bed while security watched the little dragon.

Ch 2

Surrender and Sorrow

At about 9:00, the research team woke up. The two in charge of the research called in to check on their project. “Security team. Is Cryo awake yet?” asked Ty. “No. He hasn’t woken up yet.” a voice replied. “The dragon must be a late sleeper. Keep watching him. Let me know when he’s awake.” said Gerald. 3 more hours passed, and they called in again. “Security team, is Cryo awake?” Ty asked again. “No, he’s still sleeping.” “Why is he still asleep after this long? Something must be wrong with him. He must be sick or something. Let’s get him into the medical bay. Come on,” said Gerald.

They picked up a muzzle and a chain and headed to Cryo’s pen. “Alright, he might fight back once we get the muzzle on him. Have the sedative ready,” said Ty. They both opened the door to the pen. Sure enough, Cryo was still asleep at the window in the back. “Alright, do this carefully. Try not to wake him…” They crept closer to Cryo with their tools ready. However, Ty stepped on a branch broken off from the tree, and a couple of its pink leaves fell as they did. More importantly, Cryo immediately popped his head up, and looked back, seeing the two! “Uh oh,” said Gerald. Cryo gave out a small yawn, saw them with the restraints, and headed towards them.

“Quick… the sedative…,” said Ty. Cryo kept walking towards them. As Cryo approached them, the two were getting ready to sedate him. However, Cryo stopped a few feet in front of them and laid down. He tilted his head forward, with his maw shut. He then clasped his paws around his maw and placed them back on the ground. Ty realized something was amiss and began to take a closer look.

“Wait a minute, Gerald. Look at him,” he said. “Huh. Wha…?” said Gerald “He’s… stopped. He’s not coming closer. His head is tilted forward. I think… he’s letting us muzzle him,” said Ty. “Wha…? Why?” “I don’t know. Give me the muzzle. Get ready with the sedative just in case he bites.” Gerald handed the muzzle to Ty and he approached Cryo slowly. “Alright Cryo… Just going to put this around your snout… No need to get panicky…” Cryo continued to just sit there ready for it. “Alright then. Just relax, little guy…” Ty wrapped the muzzle around Cryo’s snout and then put on the chain leash around his neck. “Alright. Cryo’s good to go. Now come with us.”

Ch 3

Window Watching

They escorted Cryo down the hall and into the infirmary building within the facility. They ran several more tests on him, but each confirmed that Cryo was completely healthy. The medic in charge of the tests gave her report to the head scientists. She had dark skin, blue eyes, and was wearing a light blue medical uniform and cap, black pants, and white shoes with black soles. Cryo sat patiently next to the scientists in charge of him on the ground, staring and seemingly paying attention to his medical doctor.

“As far as I can tell, this dragon’s completely healthy. We may not know too much about dragon anatomy quite yet, but I don’t think he’s ill. It must be something else… I suggest you keep watch over him. Try interacting with the little guy a bit more. Maybe try to get a positive reaction out of him.” she said. Cryo gave a sigh and began to lay himself on the ground. “How do you suppose we do that, Nancy?” said Gerald. “I’m not sure. Didn’t you pick up the notes from his original caretakers?” she asked “The family treated this dragon like a baby. It’s an animal. Not a child…” “Maybe take another look at it,” she replied. “Alright… Come on Cryo. Let’s get you back to your pen.” Cryo slowly nodded and stood still, waiting for his leash. They wrapped the chain around Cryo’s neck and started to head out and lead him back to his room. Nancy took off her cap to let out her short black hair. “This poor creature needs more than what he has now. There’s something very special about it. I can feel it.” She began to head back into the room to take another look at his test results.

The two researchers soon had made it back to Cryo’s pen and they released the muzzle and chain from him, who then proceeded to head back to look out the window. “Come on, Cryo. Stop with that now! What’s wrong with you?” asked Ty. Cryo continued to stare at the outside. “Are you hungry?” Cryo shook his head and continued to stare. “Maybe try playing with him?” said Gerald “How?” “Maybe fetch?” “Alright. Hey Cryo. Want to chase this long chew toy?” Cryo looked back but turned his head back to the window. “Come on little guy, it will be fun!” Cryo gave out a sigh and picked himself up and headed towards Ty. “I think we’re getting somewhere,” said Gerald. Cryo sat himself in front of them both. Ty picked up one of the chew toys in the pen. A long blue wolfy chew toy. “Alright. Fetch!” Ty said as he threw the toy toward the tree. Cryo walked his way to the chew toy and picked it and brought it back to the two. “There we go. Want to go again? Alright fetch!” Ty threw the toy and Cryo gave another sigh and begrudgingly walked over to the chew toy again and picked it up and brought it back over.

Ty this time could see the big frown on Cryo’s face. “This doesn’t appear to be working after all. Cryo seems to feel this is a chore to him,” Ty said. “What now?” said Gerald. “I don’t know. Maybe he needs a little alone time. Come on. Let’s leave him be. They left the room and Cryo slowly tilted his head down and dropped the chew toy. He began to dig in the sand a bit and put the chew toy in. He then swiped his tail over the sand to bury it under. He gave out a low sigh and yawned. He walked back towards the window and sat down. The two scientists looked into the room again from the security door.

“He’s back at the window again! What is so interesting about the outside!? It’s just a view of the mountains!” exclaimed Gerald. He began to think for a moment while Ty scratched a bit under his chin… “It must be a desire to be outside.” Gerald said. “No, I think it’s more than that Gerald,”. “How do you know?!” “I… don’t really know. It’s… just the feeling I got.” he said. “Should we board up the window?” asked Gerald. “No. Whatever reason he’s staring outside seems to be at least keeping him out of trouble. He’s not trying to resist us in any way. Looking outside might be therapeutic for him. For now, let’s keep a close watch over him. Hopefully his behavior changes soon. I don’t know what else to do at this point. Come on, Gerald.” The two left the area as Cryo continued to stare at the outside world.

Several months passed, and things were not getting any better. Every day. Cryo would stare and stare and stare at the outside world. His entire day was as follows: Wake up at 12:00 p.m. or later, stare at the outside, take a nap at 3:00, wake up at about 5:00 or later for food, and then stare out the window again until he falls asleep. The researchers were baffled as to why he was acting this way. Attempts to try to make him happy seemed to never work, and it started to drive the researchers crazy. They knew the dragon was far more interesting than this. But they couldn’t figure out why he spent all day staring outside…

Ch 4

Repair Reptile

The head researchers came into Cryo’s pen again, with some diced meat and water for feeding him. “Cryo… Are you hungry…?” Ty said. Cryo woke up from his sleep and gave a small yawn. He walked over as they filled his food dishes. He began to slowly eat from the dishes when Gerald suddenly turned towards the little dragon in frustration… “What does it take to make you happy, Dragon!? What more could you need!?” shouted Gerald. “Leave the poor dragon alone Gerald! He’s clearly not in a good mood…” “He’s never in a good mood! Months have passed and we still know very little about what makes a dragon, a dragon! He’s done nothing but stare out that window in this pen all day. What else can we do!?” “Calm down. Jeez, Look… We’ll… figure out something.” “What something?! What else are we going to do?! We’ve sent him to the medical wing multiple times, and all we get from Nancy is to check Greg’s notes! We know that this dragon ISN’T A CHILD! It’s bad enough that my phone dropped on the floor and now it won’t turn on!” “You’re making a scene in front of Cryo. This is not helping.” “Nothing is Helping!” 

Cryo was getting very annoyed while he was trying to eat as these researchers were arguing. He stopped eating and scratched his head a few times. He then decided to try something to calm them down. He sneaked up while they were arguing at each other and snatched Gerald’s phone from his pocket and went towards the back towards the window where the floor was hard. He began to observe it closely and then started to use his talon to carefully unscrew the bolts off the back and take it apart. By the time he took off the back, the two researchers noticed. “What do you think you’re doing, Cryo!? Don’t tell me you broke my phone! Is this some sort of prank!?” Cryo shook his head gently and continued to fiddle with the parts. The researchers however realized quickly that something strange was happening…

“Wait a minute! Take a closer look Gerald! He is not trying to break it! He’s being careful not to damage any of the inside parts!” Wha…? What do you…?” Gerald looked at Cryo with confusion as he continued to fiddle with the phone’s parts. As Cryo looked at the inner battery, he saw what the problem was… A chip connected to the battery had become loose. Using a tiny bit of saliva from his mouth, he carefully dabbed around the chip. A set of tiny sparks came out as he dabbed it. He then pushed it down and then began to put the phone back together, using his talons to screw in the bolts again. Soon enough, Cryo had perfectly put the phone back together and handed it back to Gerald, then went back to eating. 

“What… Was that all about.” asked Gerald. “Gerald… Try turning your phone on…,” said Ty. Pressing the power switch, the phone turned on and was working perfectly. “…It’s working…. I spent hours trying to turn it on, and Cryo gets it to work in 4 minutes. In fact, its battery and speed seem to be working much better than it was before.” He turned back to Cryo. “Cryo… How did you…?” Cryo turned to face Gerald and gave a small smile and wagged his tail a bit before going back to eat. “Cryo gave a smile! He seemed to like doing that! We may be on to something!” They both looked at each other, and finally realized that this tiny Dragon was FAR smarter than they previously thought… They decided to leave the pen for now while Cryo continued eating. “Gerald. Can you go around the base to see if anything small needs repaired. I want to… check something…” “Alright. I’ll ask around.” Gerald went to talk to the others while Ty decided to re-read the notes Greg had on Cryo.

He read the entire journal in the course of a week. As he read, an idea began to shape in his mind, based on the notes. Why was Cryo always staring out the window? Simply because he was raised near the forest on the mountains. He spent the first year of life there. Looking out towards the mountains, reminds Cryo of not only his home, but his family that took him in and raised him. Him trying to adapt to a new life like this, is impossible. It’s clear he hates being cooped up in a small pen and treated like a wild animal. He wants to be treated like an actual person. And it’s clear he’s smarter than he looks.

The notes included Cryo’s fascination with technology. After all, Cryo always watched Noble take apart different pieces of old technology, and it’s clear he learned how they work as a result. He was no different than a gifted human (except for being a dragon of course). Cryo seemed to understand human speech, despite not being able to talk himself. But it was possible for him to learn to talk, just like his mother, Tide, who was still comatose, despite their efforts to wake her. Tide herself was from somewhere farther away than they thought possible, and came from a place that fell apart, just like Earth.

Ty finally realized that there was a need for a change. On the night he finished the journal, he made an important phone call. “Hello? Command? I think we just made a breakthrough with Cryo! But… I need a list of favors done. Things need to change quickly. Sending you a list of requests that I need done as soon as possible…”

Ch 5

Relocating while Resting

Another month passed. The researchers had just finished with their little “project,” for Cryo. Now they just needed to move him in. It was late in the day, a few hours late for feeding Cryo, but they decided to add something extra into the dish… The 2 head researchers headed to Cryo’s pen.

Cryo was working to repair a Zen portable system (ZPS) from one of the children living with their family at the window, with a custom tool kit made for his paws and talons. They supplied Cryo with two trays for new parts and scrap (Cryo still didn’t talk yet. When he needed replacement parts, he would point to the parts to show the researchers what parts he needed to replace it). He screwed in the final screw and got finished right as the head scientist came in.

“Cryo. Dinner,” said Ty. “Sorry, dinner is late Cryo,” said Gerald. “We… had to restock on the food… Can you take a little bit of time off from repairing the device to eat?” asked Ty. Cryo looked back at them, smiled, and nodded. He put his tools away and started to eat. He devoured his food quickly and was about to start working to repair a Spark strike laptop for one of the soldiers at the base a bit before bed.

But suddenly, he started to feel lightheaded… His head started to spin a bit. He felt like his whole body was going numb. He felt extremely tired. His eyes began to lose focus. He gave a big yawn, and slowly laid himself down on his side and fell into a deep, deep sleep on the sand. Ty and Gerald stood over him. Gerald lifted his arm and brought the silver object around his wrist close to his head. He pressed a button on the side of it and then began to speak into it.

“Cryo’s sedated. Let’s get him moved into his new room quickly. Hopefully this will work. Bring in the stretcher.” The security team soon entered with a stretcher, and strapped Cryo onto it. “Alright, let’s get him into his new room,” said Gerald. “Will he wake up?” asked one of the soldiers. “He shouldn’t, Kyle. The sedative should last until morning. Although, we never tried this on Cryo before, or any Dragon for that matter… We have an injection ready in case he wakes up,” said Ty.

Ty took one last look at the sleeping baby blue dragon, resting peacefully on the stretcher. He knelt and rubbed his forehead a few times and smiled. “Rest easy, little one. You’ll be home soon…” he said. He looked to the left of Cryo’s workspace and saw the long chew toy they found once buried in the sand in the room. Cryo started to keep it close to him after he repaired Gerald’s phone. Ty stood back up and looked back to the others. “Alright team. Let’s get him in.” They carried Cryo away and picked up all his tools and the few toys within the pen, including the long wolfy chew toy, to somewhere else within the large facility.

That night, Cryo dreamed of his old life. He remembered his family and all the fun times he spent with his “brother.” He really wished he could somehow see them again. But it seemed the boundaries of space and time had all but split them apart from him, and it was unlikely he’d ever hear their voices again. While life had become better for him at the base, now that he was doing something more fun, he still misses his old life. As he dreamed about his old life, no sooner did mourning come and now Cryo had to wake up from this daze.

Ch 6

Toddler Time

Cryo blinked a few times and gave out a yawn. His head was still a little fuzzy and his eyes had some trouble focusing from the sedative. He realized that something had been wrapped carefully and very tightly around him. As he began to recover from his daze, he began to realize that it was not there to restrain him. It was soft, warm, and felt a bit stiff, but strangely comfy around his body. Looking around, he saw he was surrounded by walls that were a shaded darkened cyan with a bunch of tiny holes in it, allowing him to see through. Feeling the numbness wearing off he picked his head up a tiny bit to get a better look of where he was now. He realized that the thing around him now was a comfy blanket. He looked closer to it, and saw it had a cartoonish blue dragon smiling and laying down in a red shirt and a cyan scarf on the front of it, with the words, “Cryo’s Blanket Buddy.” reading under it. He also saw that his head was laying on a pillow. It was light blue, with a sleeping blue baby dragon on a cloud, with the words, “Sweet dreams, in a sea of clouds,” in an arc above the picture in blue letters. He then realized that the ground he was resting on was also very soft, like a large pillow. Or maybe… a bed?

Confused a bit, he looked around toward the walls surrounding him. Moving his left paw from inside the blanket, out the front, he touched the wall, and it felt soft like a cushion as well. They were on all sides except above. They were also pretty high up from his position, and would be very hard for him to climb out. Cryo picked himself up putting his other front paw to the front outside the blanket and his back limbs from the back. He lifted himself up with the blanket still wrapped around his body. He saw the long blue wolfy plush from back in his old room in the dwelling, but it seemed to have been cleaned. Cryo smelled it a few times, and it smelt like fresh citrus. The smell relaxed him a bit. He grabbed it and held it against him as continued to observe around this strange place. He realized quickly it seemed that the room extended beyond them. 

Cryo looked past the 4 surrounding walls, and could see that the room beyond had a different wall motif. The room was pretty large and was square in shape. The dwelling he was in seemed to be nestled against the farthest corner inside the room against the two adjoining walls. He saw what seemed to be the exit on the exact opposite corner of the room. The walls all around the room were painted to have an image of a large mountain range, complete with forests, snow, rock formations, animals, and a village with both dragons and humans together in it, with some even flying in the air.

Cryo also realized that the area he’s been sleeping in seemed to be suspended off the ground a bit. Looking down around the room, he saw the ground seemed to be mostly made of soft, dark blue carpeting, with many different toys around, like balls, small toy spaceships, and many other different items. One even looked like his favorite white dog plush he had back with Greg and the others, but brand new.

Looking to the right directly from his dwelling, he saw a large dresser, connected to the adjoining wall, with several large drawers on it. Next to it was what seemed to be a closet with a glass door, which he thought he could see some jackets and sweaters in it. His size… Next to the closet, was a long rectangular mirror, low to the ground.

Looking further down, he saw that there was a large, metallic brown work table nestled at the far right corner much further back in the room, made to fit around his needs when repairing items. It wasn’t suspended very high from the ground, with a hard black floor around it and a long, very low to the ground, sturdy seat going across from it. He saw that the tools the researchers got him were already there along with strangely, only the scrap parts tray. To the right of the work bench nestled against the adjoining wall, seemed to be a massive metal cabinet, with a large amount of large drawers attached to it. Above the cabinet, it read in large letters, “Spare parts cabinets.” Cryo didn’t know what it actually said though.

Cryo then tilted his head directly to the left of his dwelling and saw what seemed to be a medium sized flat screen tv close by. A little ways away from it, was a large and comfy looking bean bag chair that looked a bit like a blue asteroid. A movie player was also sitting to the left of the tv. Under the tv and movie player was a black cabinet with see through doors that looked like they carried movies in their cases in it. He saw one of the cases out and sitting out on top of the tv stand. While a little hard to see from where he was, he thought he could see a character from his favorite tv program, Capsule Creatures, on the case.

Further down, connected directly to the left corners of the room, he saw what appeared to be a very large window, with the bright light of the sun beaming in. From his angle, he could see a bit of the mountain range. He saw that there was a step leading up to the window and there was also a bright yellow bean bag placed there. The ground was also red carpet, with a large picture of a sun with the bean bag centered on it. He thought for a moment that it would be a comforting place to watch a sunset during late hours or even to take a small nap in.

Looking forward toward the entrance again at the front of the room, he saw what seemed to be a small kitchen. The ground around there seemed to be made of tiles. There was a small standard steel fridge and freezer in the back. There also seemed to be a large array of drawers and cabinets to the left and right of the fridge. Some were connected to the ground and some suspended against the ceiling above the ground ones.

A little ways away from the kitchen area was a medium sized rectangular wooden table. The legs seemed to have been carved to resemble dragon heads. There were 4 wooden chairs surrounding it. Each of the chairs’ backs had been carved to make the picture of the dragon’s head and neck and the back. One however, seemed to be bigger than the other 3. It was wider, raised a bit closer to the table, and the dragon carving on the back showed a full dragon on it. He thought it looked a bit like him. Cryo could see his name, painted in blue above the seat.

In the very center of the room, there seemed to be a medium sized playpen, that was similar in style to the dwelling Cryo was in now. On closer inspection, Cryo could see a few toys inside, which felt a bit strange to him. When he normally took a time out inside of one, he’d not be permitted to play with toys, at least back on the mountains. He could also see that the ground inside seemed pretty cushiony as well and it looked like there was another blanket folded and placed towards the corner inside of it.

Cryo began to step back a bit where he was standing and bumped into the back of the strange dwelling he was in. He stumbled onto his bottom, but slowly got back up with a look of bewilderment. Cryo started to wonder if he was still asleep. He began to shake the blanket from his body. As it fell to the ground, he realized that there were some more things on him. It seems he also was wearing a soft blue shirt with an ice covered mountain with snow falling around and a cartoonish blue dragon looking like him standing at the very top smiling. The words “Climbing to a new life. Cryo the Dragon, Brave explorer,” were below the mountain picture. Around his neck was a new purple scarf, with pictures of blue dragons seemingly running forward on it.

Cryo believed now that his time here must be affecting his dreams now, and tried shaking again to try to wake himself up. But nothing happened. He shook again. Nothing happened still. Cryo thought that either he must be in a very deep sleep now, or maybe this actually is real! But he realized something else. While he was shaking, something else was attached around his neck and was moving around under the scarf. He reached into it, and realized it was a pacifier on a strap. This one however was made to be bigger to be able to fit in his mouth more comfortably. Now Cryo was really confused. 

However, an idea began to take shape in his mind. Why was everything surrounding him right now so soft and secure? Made to keep him from falling off the bed or to keep him from getting out and into trouble? With a comfy blanket and clothes made for sleep. Could this be… a crib? And the outer room itself. It seemed like it was made for someone like him. With different toys around the ground and a comforting wall art. A place to be fed, play, and a place to work on repairing things? There was even a place for clothes that seemed to be his size… Why else would it look like this compared to what it was before?

“Good morning Cryo,” said Ty. Cryo looked toward the front of the room now, and could see Ty, standing in the doorway of the room, smiling and wearing a blue sweater and some nice black jeans. Next to him was Gerald, who had a Cyan sweater and gray pants. They slowly walked to his crib until they were looking over him.

“Do you like what we did little guy?” Cryo walked himself over to the closest end to him and sat down, looking confused. “We made some arrangements to create a better room for you little guy. We hope you like it. We read about a few things and we think this should be more adequate to your needs than what you had before.” said Ty.

“Are you thirsty?” asked Gerald. Gerald went to the kitchen area in the back and took out what seemed to be a bottle from one of the upper cabinets. He then went to the fridge and took out a white container and poured some of its contents into it. He came back and placed it in front of Cryo. “Here you go, little guy.”

A little hesitant at first, but it didn’t take long for Cryo to pick it up and start to drink from it a bit. He realized quickly that it had very fresh milk in it. He gave out a smile and then laid on his back with his bottle in his front paws and continued to drink from it. “Once you’re done with that, would you like to take a “break.” Get a view of the outside?” Cryo lowered the bottle and gave a small nod with a smile. “Alright little buddy. We’ll take you outside for a bit and get you back to play a bit. We also have a few things to repair or take apart if you would like as well.” Cryo gave another smile. He moved the bottle back into his mouth and continued to drink from it. It didn’t take long for Cryo to finish his bottle after that. He got off his back and stood up. He held his paw up and gave the bottle back to Gerald. Gerald smiled and rubbed the back of his head a few times.

“Let’s change you out of those night clothes first. It’s a tiny bit colder today, so I bet you’ll want a nice shirt to wear today, won’t you?” Ty lifted the shirt off of Cryo, and placed it in a laundry hamper next to his crib on the adjoining wall on the left. He went to the drawer next to his crib. He looked through the shirts a bit, and picked one out. “Alright little guy. Hold your arms up.” Cryo obliged and lifted his paws forward. Ty then put on Cryo a nice yellow shirt, with the picture of a cartoony Cryo swimming in the water at a beach, with the words, “Beach Buddy,” on the bottom.

“Alright Cryo. Let’s go out. Gerald will be coming with us.” Cryo gave a nod. Ty picked up Cryo and took him out of his Crib. They put a harness on Cyro and attached a small, thin chain onto it and soon they left his room and down a couple hallways towards the outer walls of the research center (luckily, the area was fenced in and had plenty of grass and shrubs dotting around it). This was the first time Cryo really got a chance to see around the research base. He was quite excited to be able to finally really move around and stretch his legs. After Cryo’s “break,” they took him back into his room. “Do you need anything from us Cryo. Another bottle? Some play time?” Cryo shook his head. He put his pacifier in his mouth to chew on it and headed to play with the white dog plush. “Alright, we’ll be back in a bit, Cryo.” 

Both the scientist’s headed out the room and shut the door. “So… how long are we going to keep him like this? We have to wean him off of these things sooner or later,” said Gerald. “Let’s keep him in a more familiar setting for now. We’ll work on communication and basic etiquette in maybe a couple months or a year. By then we should be able to start weaning him into being more mature. After that, we’ll try to teach him some math and science, and other subjects.” “Are we going to homeschool him?” “It may be best to try to teach him like any other human. We need him to get more used to us and to trust us more first. Until then, it’s best we do this,” replied Ty. “Alright then. When should we come back?” “Give Cryo an hour right now. We’ll check back on him then.” They both began to walk away through the hallway.

“We should probably give him a nice bath tonight. He’s probably been wanting a bath since he came here. Getting him cleaned up might make him feel nice and cozy after so long.” said Ty. “Yea. Let’s give him one at 7:30 tonight. A little bit before bed,” said Gerald.

So a year passed. Cryo’s life became much happier. The researchers there spent much time with Cryo. They made sure that he had play time with them, sat together for meals, watched over carefully, given baths, and given plenty of breaks. It wasn’t long after that they started to teach basic communication and etiquette to Cryo. They got him talking quite a bit, so it was now easier to know what Cryo needed (and of course, they were very careful trying to prevent him from becoming spoiled). With his language skills becoming more streamlined, they started to change his room around. They slowly replaced items in his room and in his daily activities, and of course adapted Cryo to these changes. His crib was changed to a hay bed. His “hatchling,” bottles were changed to proper cups. Cryo’s pacifier was slowly weaned away from him (this was particularly hard for Cryo). And Cryo was now given more freedom to move around the base (of course there was still always someone watching him). Things are progressing smoothly now. As Cryo slowly matured, so did the scientist’s fascination with him. But now, came a real test. With things going so well, a new important question came up.

Can a dragon go and learn from school? There was no telling how Cryo would take up to learning. He was still pretty smart. Seeing he has a fascination with technology, could they possibly take him further? Is it possible that maybe instead of learning by taking technology apart and putting it back together, or repairing old devices, can they actually try to teach him the basics of knowledge and maybe even in the future, he may be able to create new devices himself? This new project would be long and difficult, and there was no telling how Cryo would respond to actual school work. But this was too good of an opportunity to let slide. It had to happen. 

Ch 7

School Serphant

Ty woke up from his bed at about 8:30 A.M. It would be the first day for “school,” for Cryo (take note. they were not going to send Cryo to a school outside the research center. They had made a makeshift school at the research base for the families of researchers and military personnel living here). They had been building up to this point and have been trying to pump Cryo up for it. He had been given a much better understanding from reading from “storytime,” with the researchers. Ty got up, and went to put on a set of casual clothes and went to the door of his room. He found Gerald waiting outside the door to his room.

“Are you ready Ty?” he asked. “I hope so. We’ve never tried something like this on any creature other than a human before.,Ty replied “Is it a good idea to mix Cryo with other humans in a kindergarten setting? The kids around the base sometimes came to the window in Cryo’s room to watch him go around. The kid’s here were always told to leave Cryo alone until they think he’s more ready to socialize. They really never had a chance to know him.” “My son always said Cryo looked cute and silly. He kept telling me he always wanted to play with him. He actually always liked watching Cryo eat and drink from a bottle when I was in the room with him.” “But what about the other kids? You know that bullying usually happens to kids who look different. I really don’t want Cryo exposed to something like that. Remember the reason we were able to find Cryo in the first place?”

“Yes… the report called about a strange creature who attacked those youngsters. In reality, these three kids attacked Cryo’s “brother,” to steal from him… It would be really bad if something like that happened again. There is no telling how he would react. He blasted the 3 of them with water. Span their heads quite a bit…” “Should we just “homeschool,” him in the room instead?” “He needs interaction. Cryo told me himself that he wished he had some friends. He’s been thinking about his “brother,” Noble lately. He said that the only ones he’s played with are adults. He wishes he had a buddy like him.” “Nothing is like him… Except maybe his mother…” “I know. I know… As much as I hate to say it, Cryo’s right. He needs someone else. Someone who could be a good friend to him.” “Isn’t your son starting school today as well?” “Yes, actually. My wife brought him early to the classroom, and told him that Cryo would be joining at about the time class starts.” “Maybe try telling him to keep an eye on Cryo? To watch his back?” “Maybe. Anyway, let’s get Cryo ready. It’s a little colder today, so I have Cryo’s silver jacket ready. Let’s get him ready.” So the two scientist’s headed out to pick up Cryo for school.

They made it to Cryo’s room, and unlocked the door (while Cryo was allowed to move more around the base, his door would be locked when it is time for bed or when no one was available to watch him). They headed in, and found Cryo still asleep in his hay bed, tightly huddled in his blanket. They came toward the bed and gave Cryo a small nudge. “Cryo. Wake up. Time for your first day of school,” said Ty. Cryo slowly opened his eyes and locked eyes with Ty. He then gave out a big yawn. “Oh… Mworning mwister Ty. Mwister Gerald. It’s finawy time to lern?” “Yes it is Cryo. Let’s get you ready.” They changed Cryo out of his nightshirt and into his silver jacket and a nice blue scarf. “I hawvet seen muy jwacket since my birfday. It remimes me of mi big brofer. “I know Cryo. Try to work a bit more on you language, Cryo. Be more clear. Think a bit more on your words. “Yes mwister Gerald.” “Alright let’s get going Cryo. The others are waiting. So the group headed to the classroom near the front of the facility.

They soon enough made it and now it was time to say goodbye to Cryo. They were a little late, but class hadn’t started yet anyway, so it was fine. They opened the door to the classroom and stepped in. They were greeted by a bunch of prying eyes of a couple of kids watching the dragon from the front, including the eyes of Ty’s son.

“Alright Cryo. We really need you to be a good boy here. Absolutely no attacking anyone Cryo. Understand?” “Wy wud I awtack somwon mister Ty?” asked Cryo. “Because your different Cryo.” “Becuse I’m dwiffwent?” “Yes. None of the kids really know you Cryo. They don’t realize your a good kid. Your not like them. Neither in appearance or in personality. That might not rub off the right way with the other kids. “Wy?” “It’s… a weakness in humans Cryo. A major one. It’s something that all of us have. “Weally?” “Yes. This was one of the reasons that we had to leave Earth, our home world. We couldn’t get along from our own differences. We took from our home and from each other more then we gave. As a result, earth was nearly destroyed from the strife. We had to leave because there wasn’t much left for us after. While we as humans have somewhat learned from our past, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen every now and then. Please Cryo, no matter what happens here. No matter what the other kids say about you or anyone else. Just know one thing.” “What, mwister Ty?” “Your a very special kid Cryo. No one can take that from you. No matter what they do to you or say, no one can change that. Ever. No matter what happens, don’t attack anyone for any reason. No matter what they say or do to you.” “Ok. I pwomise I won’t.” “Ok. Cryo. Have a good day at school. Goodbye Cryo. See you soon.” “Goodbye mwister Ty. Mwister Gerald.”

They both gave Cryo a hug and sent him away. Cryo stepped forward into the classroom and looked around to get a better look at it. There was a group of desks looking towards the front of the class with a chalkboard furthest down the room attached to the wall. As Cryo stepped forward the teacher soon stepped in behind him to greet him.

“Ahh you must be our new very special student.” Cryo looked behind toward a towering lady looking upon him. She had white skin with red mixed in, red curly hair, glasses like Ty, silver earrings, and wearing a pink shirt with a red vest, blue jeans, and brown shoes. She also looked a bit older.

“You are Cyro, are you not?” she asked. “Yes. Im Cwyyo, miss.” “Excellent. I’ll take you to your seat. Do you have all the supplies you need?” Cryo remember the backpack Gerald gave to him before coming here. “Yes miss. I hawv it in hewe,” Cryo said. “Good. I’ve heard good things about you Cryo. Come with me to your seat,” she said. “I’m Mrs. Crowder. I’ll be your teacher for kindergarten. She took Cryo to a seat in the back, a little bit away from the other kids, and class soon began. “Alright kids. We have a very special new student joining us today. I’m sure some of you have seen this little one walking around the base. Why don’t you introduce yourself.” All the eyes of the classroom immediately began to stare at the little dragon. While getting nervous now, Cryo managed to speak up. “Hewwo evwyone… I’m… Cwyyo… Cwyyo the dwagon…” No one gave an answer. “…Welcome to our class Cryo. We hope you’ll be able to feel welcome here. Now class. please turn to page 10 of your math book. We’ll be starting with learning some addition and some subtraction today.”

Ch 8

Outlier Outcast

So the day continued. Cryo seemed to pick up on the basic subjects quite quickly. It wasn’t very long before Cryo got done with his work in the classroom. Soon enough. It was recess. Time to get a break and play for a bit. The kids left their seats and left to play with toys. Cryo himself decided to take a break to try and play with the other kids. He approached a group of the kids and said “Hi evwyone. Can I pway with you?” They gave no answer and stared. “Can you guys talk to me.” “Be quiet you dumb reptile…” one of the kids said. “Wha?” Cryo said. “Why is there a giant dumb lizard in the classroom? It’s obvious it’s too dumb to learn anything here. Can’t even talk correctly,” said another kid. “Wha! wha do you mean!” “Look at that stupid blue skin. I’ll probably get sick just by touching it.” another kid said. Cryo was starting to feel like an outcast. “Stupid lizard. Go away. You’re no smarter than a rock.” The other kids started to laugh and Cryo knew he wasn’t wanted.

Feeling very sad, he went to the right side of the classroom to be alone. Taking his book bag with him. He took out his tools and a broken device, and started to tinker with a broken device to try and repair it. “Look at that overgrown lizard, trying to mess with that tablet. He’s probably breaking it even more!” the other kids chuckled a bit, making Cryo even sadder. But he realized there was nothing he could do so he continued to tinker with it to try and fix it. He took in a deep breath and continued.

One of the kids over there though, came over to Cryo and began to watch him. Cryo felt his presence and began to get nervous. “What are you doing?” the kid asked. Cryo didn’t answer. “You ok?” he asked. “Whet do u want?” replied Cryo. “I just wanted to see if you were alright…” “Aren’t u just gowing to make fwun of me like the ofers?” “No. I’m Cameron. Nice to meet you.” Cryo started to feel a little better. He looked towards the other. This kid was had white skin mixed with red, brown eyes, straight, brown hair, and wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt. “I’m Cwyyo.” “My father has talked a lot about you, Cryo.” “He haws?” “Yes. You know my father well Cryo. He’s Ty.” “Your fawthr is Mister Ty?” “Yes. I’ve seen you playing with him in your room here.” “Yu have?” “Yes. I always thought you were really cute when you were playing with him.” “Weally?” “Yes. I think you’re a lot smarter than everyone here is thinking you are. They just don’t understand you.” Cryo thought about it for a moment.

“None of the kids here know that you’re more than just what they see. My father has told me a ton about how special you are. I’ve heard several stories from my dad about your mom, your previous life, what he’s been doing with you here, and more. I think you’re really cool.” Cryo looked at Cameron and gave a small smile. “Don’t let the others get you down. I think they are just jealous of you?” “Why are they jelos of mwe?” “Because, they want to be able to fly like you. They want to be able to have powers like you. They hate not being dragons, so they try to take it out on you to put you down. They think you are just a mindless reptile who doesn’t deserve them.” “What about u?” “I only want to be a friend to the one being put down like the others.” “Fwiend…” “Can I be your friend, Cryo?” “Won’t the others mwak fun of u too?” “I don’t mind them. Their words are empty. They don’t realize how special you are. So can I?” “Cryo thought for a moment, and then gave a big nod. “Wow. Cameron must be as mindless as that reptile…” one of the others said. The other kids giggled. The pair looked back at each other and gave a nod and a smile. “So what are you doing Cryo?”

So the day passed. Things were much better for Cryo now. While the others still teased, he felt comfort knowing at least someone accepted him. Soon it was time for Cryo to go back to his room on the research center. Before he left for his room, he wanted to say thank you to his new friend. “Thwank u for being nis to me. “Maybee you could com to my home here som tim. Away from all these other bullees.” “Maybe if my father lets me. He’s nervous about letting me around you. “Why?” “Well, he doesn’t really know how you would really take playing with others. “I pwayed with my brofer where I used to liv.” “Don’t worry Cryo. I’ll ask Dad if he’ll let me see you sometime.” “Twank Yu.” “One more thing Cryo.” “Yea?” “Definitely work on your speech, ok?” “K.”

So time passed again. The others continued to be mean while Cryo ended up easily being one of the smartest in class. Subjects and work came naturally to him (though it took him a while to get proper speech down). He was naturally curious and asked plenty of questions about the subjects presented to him. Ty was nice enough to set up “play dates,” between Cryo and his son. Things worked out very well. The extra companionship helped Cryo get out the anxiety of the other kids just being dumb and mean. Cryo had begun to upgrade and change some of the devices around his room with the help and planning of some of the skilled technicians and engineers in the base. He even built some himself with a little bit of their help as well. Soon enough, years passed. Cryo’s body began to change a bit, his Cyan scales on his belly became blue and was slowly growing bigger and bigger. With time passing, Cryo was soon ready to start 4th grade learning soon.

Ch 9

Ocean Opening

It was summer vacation now though, and Cryo wanted to swim. However, taking Cryo somewhere to swim around the area would be difficult, as there would be way too many prying eyes of people. So there was a small full day trip out to the ocean on a boat (with “personal escorts’,” for Cryo and the researchers) near the forest on the coast. This was too good of an opportunity to finally test Cryo’s more water based ability and traits in an unrestricted environment. Cameron would also be allowed to come along. So the group left towards the ocean a little bit away from the city and mountains.

They arrived and made sure no one else was around for their “family trip.” They then unloaded their supplies. “Alright Cryo. Are you ready for a nice swim today? “Yes Ty. I’ve been waiting so long for another chance to swim. I don’t remember the last time I’ve actually swam in deep water outside of the small water facility at home. I’ve wanted to go somewhere outside the base for awhile.” “Good. Let me put this around your arm real quick, Cryo.” said Ty. “What is it?” Cryo replied back. “This device is to measure your speed and heart rate while you’re swimming. We want to see how fast a dragon like yourself does in open water and how much exertion it has on your body.” “It’s electrical, right? Won’t it short circuit in the water?” “It’s been made specifically to resist water damage. Don’t worry about it Cryo.” “I was actually hoping it would be a little. Maybe I could have taken it apart to fix it after…” “Maybe we’ll let you when we’re done here anyway, little repairman. “Alright then. Put it on.” Gerald strapped the device around Cryo’s front arm, which looked similar to a watch, with two straps and a very flat and smooth across Cryo’s wrist. The screen was a small rectangle with a pointed top, which bent around Cryo’s wrist and adjusted as he moved it. Cryo looked at it, and saw it showed his vitals. “Hmm. I would think a device like this would be much bigger and bulky. I shouldn’t have any trouble swimming with this on,” thought Cryo. 

Soon enough, they unloaded their supplies on the boat, which included food, drink, standard swimming gear (for the human occupants), and a boat tube for tubing (they also hoped Cryo might try it as well, with the hopes to test his ability to balance himself. Cryo’s claws before the trip were trimmed and shortened as well and the tube itself was reinforced with lightweight plastic to prevent it from popping). With the crew ready to head off, Ty started the engine to the boat. “Why do we have a couple of armed crew here Ty? Is it really that dangerous out on the ocean?” asked Cryo. “It’s… just a safety precaution. You never know what you might encounter on the ocean.” Cryo thought for a moment. “Well. Ok then. Are we ready to set sail?” “Yes. Let’s shove off.” So the crew set out on the open sea.

Cryo enjoyed the feel of the wind and water as the boat rushed on ahead. Looking over the side of the boat on the vast field of water gave him a sense of thrill and adventure. He talked with Cameron as they sailed on the open sea, with some of the crew watching them intently and taking notes. After some time of sailing on the sea, they decided that it was time to see Cryo swim. They stopped the boat with the open water surrounding them, and looked toward Cryo, who was still looking at the sea. “Alright Cryo. Are you ready to go on the open water?” “Yes I am Ty.” He looked toward Cameron, who was putting on a life jacket. “Will I have to put on a life jacket too?…” he asked. “No you won’t Cryo. I think you will be able to swim well enough.” “Thank goodness… That “safety device” would just slow me down!” “Alright Cryo, why don’t you and Cameron jump in and show us what you got!”

So the two stepped over the side of the boat, ready to make a splash. “Last one in, is a rotten blowfish!” said Cameron. The two quickly jumped into the water, making a nice big splash as they both hit the water. Their two heads popped up soon after.

Cryo’s body began to change. His talons retracted completely inside his feet and his feet became webbed. His tail shortened quite a bit and his head and body became much more smooth, and his head now had a small fin at the top and another large one across his back. His wings become smaller and much more smooth. The research team had seen Cryo’s transformation before when they ran swimming tests with him at the base. They watched as the two swam around the boat. They soon started to talk to each other.

“This water is much colder than I’m used to,” said Cryo. “Did you swim much back on the mountains?” asked Cameron. Cryo paused for a moment at the question. “Oh, I’m sorry Cryo. I forgot…” “No… It’s… fine. I… really only had one chance to swim with them. It was… on my first birthday.” “Is… that’s why you usually don’t want to celebrate it.” “Yeah… I guess…” “You miss them, don’t you?” “Yea… but… there is nothing I can do to see them…” “Why Cryo?” “I know these people want me to stay here. And I can’t just try to get away from here. They probably have ways to figure out where I’m going. I repaired a tiny tracking device for them once. I wouldn’t be surprised if they inserted one in me. Even if I somehow removed it, they would know I would be trying to find my family. I don’t know where to go to find them. They probably know where they are now. They may go after them to get to me. I… I can’t get them in trouble again for my sake. It’s better they live without me…” “I understand. I don’t know what I would do if they ever sent Dad away.”

They started to slow down a bit, with the crew listening in the conversation more closely. “I heard you had straight A’s in school this semester.” “Actually, I got a B- in social studies.” “Why?” “It’s hard to get into the history of another race when you wonder so much about your own. I realize I’m not a human. I… really don’t know what I am. The only one who could possibly tell me is still asleep, after all this time. I heard that there was a diary somewhere at the research center that could give me a better idea of what I am, but I never had a chance to read it.” “Maybe dad has it.” “Maybe. But I doubt he’d let me read it.” They continued to swim around the boat for a bit. Cameron turned to face Cryo.

“Why are you so smart Cryo?” “I guess… It’s because I listen and do what the others tell me. The researchers. Teachers. The ones who take care of me now.” “Dad always told me you were surprisingly obedient. In fact, he said it was incredibly rare that you’d be disobedient or ever get into trouble, even when you first came to the base. When you did get in trouble, you wouldn’t even try to argue or get mad. You’d just accept your punishment and move on without a single fuss.” “I have to. It’s not a good idea for me to resist them or cause trouble. Otherwise, the combat personnel at the base may go after my family.” “You think they would send people after your loved ones back on the mountains if you got in trouble too much or didn’t do what the researchers say?” “I don’t know. But it’s probably better for their sake that I try to be as good as possible. Besides… Taking a time out when I was young wasn’t that bad… They’d take my toys out of the play pen, but left a blanket for me to huddle up inside of it. My play pen wasn’t only there to punish me. There were times where they’d put me inside because something came up that required their attention somewhere else and no one else was available to watch me. It was surprisingly comfy inside, I’ll admit. I’d usually take the blanket and have a small nap when placed inside.” Cryo gave out a sigh… 

“Nonetheless, I miss my family so much. I wonder how they are doing right now…” “Come on Cryo. This is a nice outing for the both of us. It’s very rare that anyone is allowed outside the research center. Don’t be so glum. Why don’t you try asking them if you could visit your family?” “They would probably say no. I’m too important for their research.” “You won’t know until you try.” “I suppose… But they probably have already moved on and forgotten about me. I’m not the same as I was 5 and a half years ago. I doubt they would even recognize me. Not even my brother…” The people back on the boat shook their heads… The truth hit them hard…

“So… That’s why,” said Gerald. “He’s so obedient and good natured because he’s trying to protect his family. Even now… he’s still trying to protect them,” said Ty. “Is Cryo afraid of us?” “It seems so, albeit a little bit. We removed him from the ones he loved years ago. We introduced him to a new life. A new world then the one he was growing up in. Even when he first arrived, he still followed commands. He never fought back. Never tried to get away. Always did what he was told. Even did anything he could to stay out of trouble, while also accepting consequences whenever he did. It was all because he feared we may hurt his adopted family.” “Why didn’t he ever tell us this?” “Why would he?… When do kids ever talk about problems like this.” “What should we do?” “I don’t know. This could cause significant psychological problems in the future if we can’t find a solution. We should…” And out of nowhere, shots could be heard hitting the armored boat!

Ch 10

Dragon Danger

“Everyone! Get down!” said one of the armed crew members. Immediately Cryo and Cameron, still in the water, turned around, and saw a small craft jetting towards them. “What’s going on!” exclaimed Cameron. Cryo, reacting immediately, grabbed Cameron with his webbed paws and blasted him onto the boat with a small blast of his water breath. “Get out of here everyone. I’ll lead them away!” yelled Cryo. “Cryo! What are you…!” said Cameron. “Just go! You can find me later!” Cryo immediately began to swim away at a high speed and the attacking boat soon set course straight for him! Soon the Cryo and the attacking boat were out of sight of them. “Hurry! Turn the boat on! We have to move. They may come back!” said one of the armed crew members. “But what about Cryo!” said Cameron. “The tracker is still implanted into Cryo. We can track him when we have support.” “But… He’s all alone on the ocean against those bad guys! They are probably going to hurt him!” “We can’t do anything right now.” “We have to go to shore before they come back.” “Sniff… Alright,” “Sigh… take us to shore Gerald…” said Ty. So the crew left for the shore with the hopes of getting support to find Cryo.

An hour passed before support arrived. “How many we have?” asked Ty. “6 light attack boats, with about 10 man armed crew each.” Gerald looked at a military solider, who was wearing a black leather suit and carrying a small device, rounded and with a screen on the front. “Will it be enough to find him, Kyle?” asked Gerald “It will depend on how far out the dragon went into the sea.” “Any idea who they were?” “No. No Intel about the ones who attacked you in the report. Could be pirates…” “But the ocean around these parts has been clear of that for years. It wouldn’t just start up again now… And they immediately targeted Cryo right as he started swimming away. They weren’t after us.” “I don’t know what else it could be.” He began to fiddle with the device a bit. “Bringing up tracking implant,” said Kyle “Alright. Quick. Every moment counts.” said Ty. Hang on while it loads up… Alright. We got a location!” “How far is he out to sea.” “Let me see. Hmm. That’s strange.” “What is it?” “He doesn’t appear to be out to sea at all.” “What! Where is he then?!” “Subject is 5 miles east, toward the Krayen forest. Subject is immobile. “Hurry. Get a ground team to him. We can’t leave him out there alone, especially if someone else is looking for him!” So taking a group of armored vehicles, they headed into the rough terrain of the forest. “Is… Cryo going to be ok, dad?” said Cameron. “I promise you. Cryo will be fine. He’s a smart dragon. He’ll know how to evade them.” said Ty “Oh. Hang in there Cryo. We’re coming!” said Cameron. So they headed to the location, and looked upon a surprising scene.

The forest around the area where Cryo was in was almost completly frozen! Trees, shrubs, rocks. Everything was covered in a thick layer of ice! “What on earth happened here?” asked Kyle. “I… don’t know. Keep your eyes peeled.” replied Ty. They continued to head forward. “Beacon is close. 21 yards ahead.” “Ready weapons everyone. We don’t know what’s ahead.” said Gerald. They continued heading forward into this frozen forest. And soon they arrived at the center, where large, towering pillar of ice stood. Along the outreaches were several vehicles frozen in ice.” “What is this?” “Beacon is very close. It seems to be, inside the ice?” “Wha… In the ice?” asked Ty. Ty loomed close to the ice pillar. “In here?” Ty asked. He looked into the ice to try to get a better look. It was very hazy inside. But it appeared that the inside was hollow. He began to make out a small cyan figure inside in the center. He realized it was Cryo, laying on his side, breathing very slowly! “Cryo! Cryo!” yelled Ty. Cryo wasn’t budging. “Someone quick! Break this ice!” “…Ty…” murmured Cryo.” Suddenly the vast expense of ice around the area immediately began to thaw and dissipate and the once frozen forest expanse now was released. Ty looked upon Cryo on the ground. “Cryo. You ok!?” “Ugh…” “Cryo then slowly closed his eyes and fell unconscious. “We need an immediate medical team here! Come on everyone, get him on the stretcher!” They immediately strapped Cryo in and hurriedly made way toward their armored transports, where the medical team were waiting. “Quick. Let’s get Cryo in one of the vehicles. We need to get out of here fast, before whoever those others were come back!” said one of the medics. So they quickly loaded Cryo into a armored medical transport to be hauled back into the research base.

Ch 11

Worrisome Words

They immediately took Cryo to the medical building to check to see if he was hurt. Ty and the others would have to wait in order to learn of Cryo’s condition. It wasn’t long after that the moon rose into the sky and night came upon the research center. “I can’t believe this happened.. Who would be so mean and do this to poor Cryo?” asked Cameron. “I don’t know, son. Whoever it was, was there for Cryo though.” replied Ty. “Do you think they were from Cryo’s original family?” asked Cameron. “No. We’ve… kept tabs on them. They haven’t had any misconduct against us since the incident. Nor do they know where we are. They don’t seem like the type of people who would go this far to get Cryo back. “This must have been the work of a third party” replied Gerald. “A third party? Who else would know about him? We’ve sealed off the research center and no one within the nearby city should have any idea about Cryo.” “That’s the thing. It was no accident that they came on the day we wanted to test Cryo’s aquatic abilities. They knew we were going out to sea for this. They knew we would have a small crew defending him. None of us expected them. If there was any other time to get to him, it would have been now.” said Gerald.

“Where are you going with this, Gerald?” said Ty. “What I’m saying, is that the only way anyone would have known that we were out there today, is…”  “If someone gave them that information…” replied Ty. “Someone in this base wants Cryo,” said Gerald. “Who would want Cryo? And why?” asked Cameron. “I don’t know the exact reason why anyone would want Cryo. It could be to gain a large amount of cash on a new discovery. It could be they want to harness Cryo’s powers to do something nasty. It could even be to hold him for ransom. Whatever the reason is, we need to be much more careful with him.” “If what your saying is true Gerald, then we have a mole here somewhere. Cryo’s at risk. We’ll need to increase security around Cryo. They may make an attempt to take him from here now that their first plan failed.” “Alright. I’ll get on it Ty. What are you going to do?” “Excuse me,” said a familiar voice. They turned to the right to look and saw Nancy in the doorway. “Is Cryo ok?” asked Cameron. 

“Yes. He’s alright.” The group felt a huge sense of relief hearing these words. “Cryo is sleeping right now. He’ll wake up in the morning.” “Is he hurt?” asked Cameron.” “No. He’s just feeling the effects of this,” she replied. She then took a small, thin object out of her pocket. “What is that Dad?” “That… That’s some sort of dart,” replied Ty. “Correct. This small dart was found in Cryo’s back left leg. Seems someone tried to take him using a tranquilizer gun. As you can see from closer inspection, the dart held a chemical inside which broke and leached into Cryo’s back right leg as it was injected in him.” “Must have tried to sedate him to take him without effort.” “Actually, not exactly. We ran some tests on Cryo and we found traces of the chemical, Nume, inside of him.” “Nume? From the crushed seeds of the Nueraula (Nur-al-a) plant?” “The same.” “Nueraula? Nume? What is she talking about Dad?” asked Cameron. 

“The Nueraula plant is a rare plant found very deep in dry savanna areas. Its seeds, when crushed and boiled, cause them to secrete a fluid that when ingested or injected, causes paralysis on that unlucky soul for a while. It can last only for a few hours or for several days, depending on how strong the creatures immune system is.” “That’s awful! Who would want to do that to Cryo!” Gerald stepped forward and put his hand under his chin and scratched it a bit. He then looked back to Ty. “Yes. Who would? I think it would have been far easier to just sedate him. Instead, they wanted to paralyze him? Why? The only reason I would think they would have wanted him awake…” Gerald paused for a second. “Is because they wanted to be able to talk to him… They wanted some type of information from him. It can’t be anything good…” Ty nodded. “This might also give us an idea of what happened in the forest.” “What do you mean Dad?” “Here’s what I think what happened.”

“After Cryo led the group away from the boat, he must have eventually come back toward the shore to try to escape and make his way back to us. Now that I think about it. Nancy. Did the heart rate monitor record his rate and speed during the incident?” “Yes it did. It read he went over 130 mph and exerted a heart rate of 150-170 beats per minute. As you know, his heart typically beats at 110-130 beats per minute. He had to swim pretty fast to outpace the other boat, especially considering he had to probably also had to swim very erratically to get back to the shore without getting hit with one of these darts beforehand. He seemed to be pretty exhausted by the time he was able to get back to shore, as seen here. His heart capped at this point, at 176 beats per minute.” “Could that have been when he was hit with the dart?” “Possibly. When anything is suffering from the effects of this poison, it starts with the subject finding it harder to control it’s limb movements. Running, walking, grabbing, movements like this will become progressively harder to control. Depending on the size of the creature, the effects may happen faster or more slowly. By Cryo’s size, I estimate at about 4 minutes, he would at least start to feel these effects.” “So Cryo made it to shore, but was followed into the forest by these people. They managed to stick one of these darts into him before or after he made it to shore, and they continued to follow him, knowing he would eventually succumb to full paralysis.”

“Correct. Second stage of the effect is severe numbness. Limbs and other appendages start to stop working. Heart rate slows. Subject finds it much more of a struggle to move.” “Poor Cryo,” said Cameron. “Final stage is, of course, complete paralysis. Subject loses all ability to move. Subject will probably feel light headed. Subject may lose his ability to “control his need to take a break,” if you get my drift. The subject may lose consciousness, but this is rare. Typically the subject will attempt everything they can to move after (especially in Cryo’s case), but cannot. Now the body attempts to respond to extinguish the poisons from the subject’s system. Typically through sweating.From what I can see from the heart monitor, it seems this started at about 5:12 P.M. about an hour and a half before we found him. It looks like he was able to fight it off for about 40 minutes before he completely succumbed judging by his heart rate slowing to its minimum here. Much longer than most other creatures could, especially for his size.” “If that’s the case Dad, why was the forest frozen? And how did they not capture him?”

“Hmm… I think… It’s because they underestimated what he was capable of.” “What do you mean Dad?” “Here’s what I think. Cryo was struggling to get away at this point. They waited until the paralysis took full effect before they approached him. They thought they had him. But Cryo, desperate, decided to tap into his own freezing power to save himself. It’s possible he knew how to. Or he did not. Either way, it worked. He was able to freeze the area around him. Judging how we found no one frozen there, when that happened, the people chasing him grew fearful, and ran off, not wanting to get frozen. Seeing as how Cryo also created a hollow piller of ice around himself to protect himself in, it’s clear that even if they came back, they would not be able to break it in time before we found him. Cryo’s a clever boy.” “Indeed. It seems even in the most difficult moments, Cryo seems to be able to get himself out of bad positions,” said Gerald. “Yes. But the question remains. Who is responsible? And why?”

“These will have to be questions for another time. Right now, we have to make sure he gets better,” said Ty. “Yes. I want Cryo to be moved back to his room immediately. No one gets in except us. Me, Gerald, Cameron, and you Nancy. “Why just us? Shouldn’t we just have a full security detail on him?” asked Ty. Gerald looked out the window in the back of the infirmary. “We can’t trust anyone. Someone at this base wants Cryo. It can’t be for anything good. I’m sure whoever it was will make another attempt. I have no doubt about that. Only those we absolutely trust can go see him. Until this is resolved, we cannot risk him getting attacked again. Understand?” Everyone looked at each other and nodded in agreement. “Alright, let’s move him,” said Ty. 

The group put Cryo on a stretcher and took him back to his room. They carefully wrapped him in his favorite blanket he got on his last birthday, with an aqua blue color and shows a cartoonish version of him transformed and swimming in the vast ocean with a night sky filled with stars at the top of the blanket. The words “Swim through the sea of dreams, Cryo.” were stitched at the bottom. Ty had taken time to clean it beforehand with a special wash that gives it the smell of a pleasant meadow, which helps keep Cryo calm and comfy when he needs to sleep. After he was tightly and comfortably wrapped, they placed him on his hay bed with his head nestled on a Cyan pillow with a water motif on it so he could be comfortable and stay warm. One by one, they left the room, except Cameron, who was sitting in a chair in the room by Cryo’s bed. He thought for a moment about getting up and going to bed, but he remembered what his father said. “Someone at the base wants Cryo, and they will make another attempt. These words rang in his head, like a hoard of bees, and he didn’t want to leave Cryo here alone. Ty came back in the doorway.

“Cameron. Come on bud. It’s getting late. You need to go to bed,” Ty said. “D… Dad. Can I… stay here with Cryo tonight.” “You… want to stay with Cryo.” “Yes. Please Dad. I… want to stay with him and make sure he’s okay,” replied Cameron. “He’ll be fine Cameron. Come on.” “No I… Can’t leave him, dad. Not like this. Please. Please let me stay with him.” “…Alright Cameron, let me get one of Cryo’s blankets for you. Just, don’t stay up all night watching him, okay?” “Yes dad. Thank you.” Ty went into the closet at the end of Cryo’s room and took out a red blanket with a picture of a dragon and a human, flying through the air together. “Alright. Good night Cameron.” “Good night Dad.” Ty left the room, turning off the lights. Cameron spent some time awake that night, watching the door to Cryo’s room. Wrapped up in Cryo’s blanket, he looked back at Cryo, who seemed to be sleeping peacefully now. Cameron wondered what Cryo could be dreaming about right now. He could tell it must be something nice, as he could see a small smile on his face. After some time, he would fall asleep himself.

New known abilities:

Metamorphosis: Cryo’s body changes when in water to better swim in it.

Frozen Fortress: In times of desperation, Cryo can tap into his freezing power to unleash a powerful freezing blast out of his body to freeze the area, while also creating an ice pillar around himself to make it difficult to get directly to him.

New Known Likes:

Fixing Technology

His new friend, Cameron

Swimming

Storytime

New known dislikes:

Being bullied

Loneliness

Being treated like an animal

Arguements

Not being able to go outside

His birthday