Dirty Paws

[Ryan Lee]

It wasn't as if a human could resist his power, no matter how determined he appeared or how loyal he thought he was to the dragon. Ryan watched his struggles without a change in expression, hardly moved by what he believed to be a foolish display. One corner of his mouth did turn up at the boy's last question, however.

Leave the dragon with people who cared about him?

As if that was enough to change his mind. It made him pause but not exactly in a good way. Did this boy think that he cared about the dragon--or that the dragon cared about him? The curl of his lip evolved into a derisive smile. "Care?" Ryan spoke the word like a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't turn his head to look but his gaze slid to the side and toward Kotaro.

Maybe at one point in time, he cared--when he thought that he had someone dedicated to his cause. Someone he could trust in and rely on to carry out his instructions. Maybe he cared too much then, and lured himself into a false sense of security. Look where caring had gotten him now. Ryan thrust the human child aside, more roughly than before, flinging him off of the dragon.

"Why should I care about a servant?"

[Kinley Sima]

"Ugh!" Kinley's shoulder hit the ground with a sickening crunch this time. Slowly, he rolled onto his other side, then sat up, holding his awkward arm. Why-- what was this guy's problem? Seeing the way Ryan briefly flicked his gaze at the other guy, Kinley rose to his feet and tried to appeal to him, instead. Obviously, Ryan and this guy were friends. Or allies or partners or something. The guy seemed to agree with Ryan, at least.

"Please," he said, "don't you--"

He cut himself off, Ryan's harsh words sinking in.

"Servant? What's that supposed to mean?" Who was the servant here? Dragon? Dragon was this guy's servant?

"If he's just a servant to you then why... why do you... why can't you just leave him alone?" Surely a man with a servant could afford a new one? Kinley's eyes lit up and he took a stumbling, hopeful step forward.

"I can just repay you, then, right? Damages? Replacement? That shouldn't be a problem to you if you don't care about him."

"Oh, boy," the long haired man said with a shake of his head. "That's about the stupidest thing you could have said."

[Kero Sima]

"Kin!"

Kero rushed over to his brother's side, helping him up from the ground after something... some kind of invisible hand swatted him aside like an annoying fly. His hand shook as he grasped onto Kinley's arm, only to have his fingertips brush it instead as his brother took an unsteady step forward. The other arm looked bad, dangling by his side. Maybe dislocated or... or broken, though Kero didn't want to think about that.

"Kin, don't..." He said fearfully. Why was Kinley arguing with Ryan? Dragon looked bad but... but what if he was just sick because he was far away from home? Kero didn't want everybody to keep fighting. Ryan seemed to know what he was doing. They could just let Ryan handle it and go home and forget this whole episode! It wasn't fun anymore; now it was scary and they were in way too deep for Kero's liking.

He watched the smirk on Ryan's face, the unpleasant light in his strange eyes. Kero couldn't describe those eyes. Just that they weren't human-like. "If you want the dragon that badly," Ryan said, as the smirk grew, "then you'll have to give me another servant to replace him." His hand shot out but it wasn't Kinley that he pointed to. It was Kero. "Him. I'll take him and leave the dragon."

"M-M-ME?!" Kero pointed to himself, mouth open. "What?!"

[Kinley Sima]

"NO!"

Kinley stared, all the air in his lungs flagging. How--how could somebody be so cruel? How could he ask Kinley to make such a choice? His little brother over Dragon? That was... no. He couldn't give up Kero. They had been together all of Kero's whole life. Kinley remembered his little red monkey face when he was first born. He was the one who helped him learn how to walk and dragged him around in his little red wagon. They still talked in the middle of the night about stuff--serious stuff, dumb stuff, just stuff. Brother stuff. No. No way he could give up Kero.

"Not him. Take me. Take anybody else. Not Kero."

[Kero Sima]

ME?!

Kero was in shock. Ryan wanted him?! Was he--was he some kinda pedophile?! Eyes bugging out of his skull, Kero clung to the back of Kinley's shirt, like he used to do when they were little--or when he was little--and he was afraid that he'd be left behind. Only this time it wasn't a trip to the creek or into the woods. It was some kind of weird ultimatum for Kinley to choose between his little brother and... a dragon.

"You have one minute to decide." Ryan sounded completely calm but he turned his head as if distracted. His eyes flickered away from them, not even towards the bad guy cop. It looked like he had heard something that none of them could hear, or like somebody just called his name.

[Kinley Sima]

ONE MINUTE to decide?! How cruel could he be? Didn't he hear all those suggestions that Kinley threw out there? ANYBODY. ANYBODY else! Well, not ANYBODY else. He had another brother he'd rather keep, too. And he had his friends, of course. Why couldn't Ryan just take somebody random that wouldn't haunt Kinley's dreams for the rest of his life? Because that was how it felt in that moment, with panic bearing down on him and those two possibilities before him. Life without Kero or life without Dragon. It felt like such a no brainer and he opened his mouth.

But... but he... Dragon... Dragon had nobody. But Kero had him. Him. Kinley. Dragon did, too. Didn't he?

"Aggggggggh! A minute isn't enough time!" Kinley cried. And then he immediately felt guilty because... it really should have been a no-brainer. He quickly turned to Kero and held onto him, half afraid if he didn't, that what he just said was enough to make him dissolve into ink or something like it seemed like Dragon was. Kero was blood. Blood was thicker than water.

He held on tightly to Kero.

"I... I..." He felt such resolve. Save Kero. But then he looked over at Dragon and his heart skipped one powerful heartbeat.

[Ryan Lee]

Gabriel was calling him and it sounded--felt, rather--quite urgent. Ryan already felt the tendrils of forbidden, dark magic through the air but he hadn't concerned himself with it just yet, as it had no bearing on him. But now it seemed that Gabriel had gone to investigate and felt it worthwhile to call him.

And here in the park, he was preoccupied with a stupid human and his very human attachment to nothing more than shadows and ink. The dragon wasn't even moving anymore; what was left was a mere imprint of his physical self, like a faded tattoo stretched across the bushes. There was more shadow than substance and Ryan could see his form deteriorating.

As the human stuttered, Ryan turned his head back. He was completely serious about the one minute deadline and as the seconds ticked by and no firm decision was made, Ryan's patience wore thin. He had no real need for the little boy, although that one seemed easy to manipulate. Perhaps an agent here in Hazleton, to keep an eye on the supernatural population for him?

Everyone had their use, even a seemingly innocent little boy.

"Your time is up." Ryan lifted a hand, palm up. His fingers curled inward as a bright flame formed in the center of his palm. As the flame brightened, the form of the dragon darkened and began to sink down into the bushes.

[Kinley Sima]

"NO!" Kinley immediately tried to grasp onto the wisps of Dragon that were left behind. "No! No!" His shouts were wild, more frantic with every word. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, right before his eyes. His eyes, which stung and his heart, which felt too tight and throbbed with an aching pain he never wanted to experience again. There was nothing, or very little, left of Dragon.

"Bring him back! What did you do to him?!"

His gaze burned as he turned toward Ryan. Pure hatred rolled off him in droves as he stared at him, fists balled up. With anger and despair coursing through his veins, Kinley made a run for Ryan, determined to pummel him down or strangle him until he took back whatever he did to Dragon.

"Bring him back!"

He thought he almost landed a solid one on Ryan but even as he went for him, somebody grabbed him by the forearm and pulled him backward.

"Not so fast, kid."

That stupid man that was working with him!

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Kinley twisted his way out of the hold, aiming a hard and solid kick at the man's knee. It worked. The man went down, his knee cracking. And Kinley came at Ryan again.

"Bring him back! Now!"

[Ryan Lee]

Even had the blow landed, Ryan wouldn't have felt it. The human was only that--a pitiful, weak human. There was spirit in him, sure, and fire and determination and hatred (for the time being) but Ryan wasn't affected by emotion any more than rocks were capable of shedding tears or blood. He stared dispassionately as Kotaro pulled the human back, mostly for his own good. Ryan didn't think that it mattered much to Kotaro, whether he was punched or not.

It didn't make a dent in his feelings when the child kicked Kotaro and wiggled free. Ryan watched the human charge again, but there was a magical barrier around him, protecting him against such puny attempts. He crushed the ball of light in his fist, right in front of the human, as the bushes gave one final weak rustle and the ink and shadows vanished.

When Ryan opened his fist, he turned it over. Something crumpled fell from it--the dragon card that once held the key to the portal, from which his servants entered this world. He let it drop carelessly at his foot, the picture on the card now still. Ignoring the humans completely, he turned his stare onto Kotaro. "I'll deal with you another time." Then he turned and stepped through towards Gabriel, who was still frantically trying to summon him to his side. Behind him, he heard the small human shouting something about a card and the shuffle and scrape of shoes against the dry grass.

[Kinley Sima]

"No! Wait!"

Kinley couldn't believe it. Just like that. Nothing. His heartbeat thumped so hard that he could only hear his own blood, pounding and erratic. When he took in a breath, he felt like he couldn't take in enough air. Gasping, he scrambled toward the card, the empty, crumpled card.

"Dragon?"

Even he could barely hear his voice or maybe it was still the rush of blood to his head. He felt like everything around him had slowed and muted, the colors had vanished and there was nothing left in the world except his own helpless despair and the card in his hand. If he had given up Kero... But he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head violently, as if to push the thought far from his mind. He couldn't. He wouldn't. Ever. Would he?

Now he didn't even know. Swallowing hard, he held the card closer and tried to push back the other feelings that threatened to overwhelm him. When he looked up, Ryan was gone. No more time for deals left. He was just gone, like that. And so was his deal. His hand trembled and he tried not to crush the card further. Instead, he attempted to smooth it out, tried to recall Dragon as he was when he first found the card. Funny how a world could be brought to a standstill in wonder and shock by the same thing.

He had to still be out there somewhere. Dragon. He... he had to be. He just had to be.

[Kero Sima]

It all happened so quickly.

One moment, Ryan was giving Kinley a weird choice and then he was gone. And Dragon was gone, melted into the bushes like ice under a flame. Kero gaped for a long second at the spot where Ryan used to be, before running over to his brother's side.

"Kin!" He looked at the card in Kinley's hands. The beautiful inky drawing was still, no longer shifting and sliding across the face of the card. It was just a card now, like any trading card. Except it used to be magic. It used to be alive--Dragon used to be alive. Kero swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat, remembering the way that Dragon used to be, the innocence and child-like wonder that made him so fascinating. A visitor from another world, dragged suddenly back into that other universe.

"Kin..." Kero didn't know what to say. It was him or Dragon... and Kinley chose him. He couldn't even be happy about it, though. That was the sad part. He couldn't be happy because in saving him, Kinley had to give up Dragon. A real live Dragon...

[Elke Chan]

Elke watched the brothers from a distance. Deep down, he felt like he was watching something that was not meant for his eyes. It was a private affair, like watching people be sad together wasn't something to stare at. So he tore his gaze away from them and looked up at the suspicious man who was supposed to come to the rescue. Upset that he'd called somebody who ended up making things worse, Elke boldly moved forward and struck the man hard on the side.

"Hey!" The man immediately narrowed his eyes and whipped his hand out, grasping Elke by the arm to stop him from attacking him again. That didn't stop Elke, though. He thrashed about and struck him again in the leg. He could hear the man having problems with him, if the muttering of curse words under his breath was any indication.

"You're supposed to help us! You're supposed to help and all you did was stand there!"

"There's nothing I could have done."

"You could have stopped him!"

"Doubtful." The older man lifted Elke up and tucked him under his arm so he couldn't attack or do much more than wriggle uncomfortably for a few seconds before losing energy and drooping. To the brothers, the man said, "I am sorry, kids. But there's really not much you can do against somebody like... him."

[Kero Sima]

"Who IS he? What's his problem?!" Kero cried out in outrage, feeling some kind of righteous anger sweeping over him. It just--it wasn't right! It wasn't right and it wasn't fair that somebody could steal their dragon from them! Besides, Dragon wanted to be here with them! It was pretty obvious to Kero that he wanted to stay (cause he kept making out with Kinley).

He whirled to look at the tall bad-cop stranger, shaking a fist in his anger. "He can't just take Dragon!! We gotta get Dragon back!"

Kero wanted to learn magic from Dragon, and maybe how to become a dragon (eventually). Dragon even knew how to turn invisible! The one time Kero came across real, actual magic and somebody like Ryan had to come along and steal him away!

[Kinley Sima]

He couldn't stop staring at the card, willing it to move, for the ink to show its lively self again. When he first came across that card, it had been a magical force that changed everything in his life. All that he thought he knew had been turned on its head. Kinley did things he never would have done before, like defying his parents. Something inside him compelled him to protect Dragon. There was something vulnerable in his eyes and now, now... Kinley's eyes stared blankly and blearily down at the card and he could feel his shoulder start to shake. He could see his hand shaking.

Somewhere beyond him, there was a scuffle or an argument but Kinley was so transfixed by what he'd lost that he had a hard time pulling himself away.

And then he heard the man talking. Everything he said was a blur of words until he said, "Anyway, it's not as if the dragon is dead."

Before the man could speak another word, Kinley turned on him and he pounced forward, grabbing him by the front of his jacket and staring him head on. He card was curled up carefully in one hand, pressed against the older man's chest.

"If he's not dead, then how do we get to him?!"

[Kero Sima]

"Can we really go there?!"

Excitement built again as Kero bounded forward, though he didn't latch onto the crooked cop. He grabbed onto Kinley to make sure that he didn't sock it to the guy--no point starting fights with the only guy who could give them some answers! Staring at him with wide eyes, Kero tried to will him to give them an answer that was useful. If they could get to Dragon's world...!!

"How do you know he's not dead?" The dragon on the card wasn't moving anymore, which seemed like a pretty obvious indication that Dragon was... not around anymore. Then again, what did Kero know about stuff like that? He only met Dragon a couple of weeks ago! And before that, he didn't even know dragons were a thing!