Chapter Sixteen

With the disturbing thought of being followed by two different people the group continued their journey, Viper originally thought they were lost thanks to Starblazes twists and turns before but apparently they knew exactly where they were headed so Viper didn't question them anymore.

Viper and Tatsuya weren't very keen on going to meet Hazuki, the Hazuki they knew was pretty different from the Hazuki that raised the girls, maybe she was different now, maybe not, who knows, they'll only find out when they get there.

At the moment they were still walking, already really far from their last location which cost them about a thousand calories and a quater of the mystical world population.

They weren't moving as fast as before thanks to the constant running but they were still at a constant pace in their movement. Star blaze kept listening closely and observing their surroundings just to make sure they weren't being followed or cornered on the way.

"hey is it just me or is the scene changing pretty fast" they stopped after Tatsuya said this and looked around to find that he was right, the surrounding forest was nowless lively and more dead, the trees were basically almost black and leafless, the only animal they saw was a slightly malnourished bunny that ran past but that bunny disappeared into one of the trees which didn't exactly shock them anymore than everything else in this journey, there weren't any type of flower around making the path look empty and larger than the other side, what was weirder was the fact that the trees didn't have leaves to cover up the sun but the forest was suddenly darker on this side. They looked around, looked at each other in a confused manner and then turned back to see that the part of the forest that was there before had disappeared.

"Star don't say what I think you're about to say don't" Karla said sinking to the ground

"it's inevitable there's no turning back now we've gotta keep going" Starblaze said taking a first step

"wait Star how do you know we're going the right direction"

"yeah we've basically been following you, and you don't even have a map" Tatsuya and Viper said

"I don't need a map" Star blaze said with a smile then she jumped up onto the highest tree there and looked towards the road

"I recognise the road we usually take so I can tell where exactly we're going" she said sliding down the tree before starting the journey again

This time the journey was a bit weird becdause they had gotten accustomed to the lively sounds in the forest but at this point there weren't even living birds in this part of the forest

"guys?" Karla called

"what" Viper replied

"nothing the silence was just pretty tiring"

"so you called us for nothing"

"no actually there's something sleeping up front just a heads up" they quickly stopped in their tracks, Viper and Tatsuya looked hard to see what exactly was there but Starblaze stared a bit before turning to them

"it's a serpent kinda thing" she said waking towards it casually

"are you mad" Viper asked

"are you scared" Karla asked looking at Viper

"for your careless lives yes very"

"oh don't get this wrong I'm not going near that, I actually believe in the saying run away from danger, carelessness is a Starblaze thing" Karla said

"guys it's injured!" they looked at each other before running to stand by Starblaze and she wasn't wrong, the serpent had a pretty serious injury on it's side

"how did she get this hurt" Viper asked looking like she might've blown up if she wasn't feeling so sorry for the poor creature

"yeah ask me I was here when it happened we all were" Tatsuya said earnig a smack which sent him flying

"yah why so mean, I wasn't wrong" he said walking back all the while rubbing his nose which received more of the impact

"you know if I were normal that would've broken my nose" Starblaze and Karla looked at him in confusion while Viper looked at him in an 'are you mad' and 'fix it' way

"you may not be elves but that don't mean elves are weak" Starblaze said turning back to the serpent on the floor

"yeah I believe you" with that he went flying again this from a direct punch from Starblaze

"should serpents be this um not sensitive? I mean we aren't exactly talking quietly especially that girl over there" Karla said nodding her head towards Tatsuya who was just crawling out of the tree he landed in

"Starblaze what are you doing!?" Viper shouted just as Starblaze was about to touch the serpent

"huh? What?" she asked still reaching out to the serpent

"put your hand out of motion!" Karla said with wide eyes

"sorry" with that he confidently put her hand on the serpents side next to its injury

"oh no"

"what the" the others moved away as the serpent grabbed Starblaze with its tail and threw her into a tree and then it slowly stood up not moving to fight but growling ferociously, it didn't make the first move to attack as it was waiting to see if they were enemies and were going to attack.

"nice and easy nobody move" Viper said but Starblaze must not have heard her as she jumped from the tree and landed in front of it, it took it as a sign of attack and breathed fire at them which they all dodged at the last minute jumping straight to the trees. It didn't make any other movements waiting for an attack again

"it's a serpent with legs?" Karla asked

"it's a water serpent but it's one of the rare ones with legs"

"if it's a water serpent why does it breathe fire" Karla asked again more calmly

"what do you want it to breathe? water?" Tatsuya asked

"Karla did you notice something about its or her eyes" Starblaze said

"what about it they're emerald green I think"

"does that click somewhere?"

"what emerald green? I dunno let me see emerald dreen, emerald green? Emerald green, oh my God emerald green?"

"follow me I know what to do" Karla and Starblaze jumped off the tree and split mid air, Viper was going to shout at them and practically send fire flying at them but she was much smarter that apparently Tatsuya wasn't

"what are you girls doing!" the serpent looked at them and breathed fire which they nearly got caught in, they landed safely on the ground somewhere. They quietly watched Starblaze and Karla corner the serpent, they thought they were going to hurt it but Viper gave them the benefit of the doubt, Starblaze seemed to be holding some kind of crystal as she was approaching it, Viper watched the crystal glow in her hands and was praying that in the name of everything that was holy she would not do something to hurt the it. The girls stopped at some point and seemed to be counting before they jumped in front of the serpent, they immediately pointed their crystals at it, Viper and Tatsuya were both expecting the worst but nothing happened, the serpent was just sitting there, the siblings looked at each other and slowly walked towards the girls wondering what was going on.

"Miss Belinda we know you're in there, if you are give us a sign" Starblaze said

"girls?" they were really shocked when the serpent began to shrink in size then they heard some bones cracking and suddenly they had their favourite teacher standing before them in slightly shredded clothes and an injury smaller than before on her side.

"that was a pretty convincing sign" Tatsuya said before she began to fall but thankfully Starblaze and Karla caught her and sat her down leaning her back onto a tree.

"so, how are you all"

"definitely not questioning our best teacher"

"I guess I've got a lot of explaining to do huh"

. . . .

The weather was quite cool as it was already evening time although it wasn't obvious in the mystery forest. The group was seated around their found teacher, they gave her water and a bit of leftover from the last time they ate which she appreciated a lot eating quite fast.

"so by the looks of it you must've been here for quite a while" Viper said

"is it so obvious"

"well if your ravenous appetite there doesn't tell us your life story, I'm not sure what else does" Starblaze said

"still airing you views in the most unique ways huh Ry- I- I mean Star"

"okay then if you're done eating mind explaining yourself?" Viper asked

"oh yes, sorry for trying to scorch you earlier" she began

"scorching? You mean roasting" Starblaze said looking at the burnt spot of the earth which seemed to almost blend in with the dark forest floor

"hm as you can tell by now I'm part of the dragon community specifically the sea serpents" she said pausing in case of any remarks

"if you're pausing for a remark? No need I wanna listen now" Starblaze said with a smile

"why are you out here then also how did you live around elves for so long without been recognised as one of the dragons of the east" Viper asked

"I'm out here because I was being hunted for a while thus the now almost completely healed wound on my side, I hid among the elves for so long just like some people" she paused looking right at Viper and Tatsuya before continuing

"but the difference is that I had the protection of the beast men of Black moor the leader being Mcgrissly actually just Grissly"

"wait a second you mean the principal isn't an elf?" Karla asked with wide eyes

"no a lot of the people you may know of aren't elves, Mrs Talia, Mr. Raivo and even your parents"

"say what?"

"yes you heard me well your parents aren't elves"

"so we aren't elves" Karla asked

"nope not even a drop of blood in you is elvish"

"so what are they?" Miss Belinda looked at her with some kind of expression

"that is for you girls to find out later and to share if you feel it" she said turning back to the girls with a smile

"well what are our parents"

"wizards"

"so we're wizards"

"nope" by now the girls were extremely confused to the extreme

"well um"

"why are being hunted dragon hunting stopped a long time ago as it's illegal" Starblaze said filling up the disturbing and confusing topic, Miss Belinda looked to the sky and looked at them

"lets keep moving it's night and you don't want to be out here at night"

"how can you tell" Karla aske standing and going to help her stand

"I can stand, I was injured not old" Miss Belinda said standing up and dusting herself off, Viper and Tatsuuya stood up later looking at each other as if communicating.

The group where now walking again trying to find a decent place to sleep for the night, they walked for about thirty minutes before seeing and actual animal, before they could make any statements two speeding kunais embedded themselves in the animals head killing it instantly, they looked straight at Starblaze who had shot the kunais.

"I'm hungry" was all she said before going to see what she had caught, she spent some time before coming back with the animal hanging on her bag, it was a mixed animal, half deer, half tigress by the looks of its striped body and huge definitely dangerous antlers.

"where?" asked Miss Belinda

"I'll explain later" Karla said as they continued their journey

They had walked for another thirty minutes before finally seeing a hiding in the trees, it was pretty ok for five people to sleep in. They started to get ready to rest for the night while Karla told Miss Belinda about their journey and where they were headed Starblaze made a fire and they ate, they all fell asleep pretty easily this time.

Viper opened her eyes when she heard movement, she saw Starblaze sitting outside and went to talk to her.

"hey you okay?"

"I think, I mean I found out a lot today but yeah I'm pretty okay"

"what do you think about your parents being wizards"

"a lot actually but theres only one thing I'm focused on"

"you realise it don't you"

"they aren't my parents, what identity do we have now"

"I might know what you are"

"really? What?"

"girls? You really should sleep you don't know what could happen tomorrow"

"oh yeah you're right night" after that Starblaze went to her spot

"you can't hide it forever" Viper growled walking to her spot

"as long as I need t for their own safety".