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Tiana shyly sniffed Noah and retreated a few steps behind her friend, ignoring the man's question. "Is that a human..?", she whispered.

Being significantly smaller than Crystal, Tiana wasn't much taller than Noah. Still, humans were obviously much larger than what she expected them to be. They were so much smaller in the books!

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Fly's eyes opened as he regained consciousness:"Uggghhh.... What happened?!" He groaned and rolled over, feeling a lot of sharp pain coming from his neck and shoulders. The green dragon started picking the things that were stuck in the wounds on his face, when he saw a large blue creature near him. "GAAAHHH", he immediately recognized the beast that dragged him into this mess and jumped back. He took a few steps back and then backed up against a tree, his eyes wide open in fear.
 
"Yes," Crystal whispered back, "Surprising, isn't he? I thought people were a lot more like, well... people. Though I'm pretty sure this is a good guy." The amount of time that the human and dragon worlds spent apart had shocking results for both sides-- not only were dragons a lot smaller now and had outdated views on human society, but the human dimension has changed dramatically and even passed off mythical creatures as nothing more than fantasy of olde. The references and documentaries of both worlds alike were no longer accurate!

Noah shuffled his feet and let out a silent laugh-- the feel from Tiana's sniffing had tickled him a bit, though he soon recovered from this unexpected event with a grin still slapped on his face. What kind of adult was he, giving into such childish pleasure? Moving away from the window, Noah navigated his way over to the back door where the duo stood waiting and opened it. "Well... I suppose it would be alright to let your friend here stay for the night. I mean, if she wants to." Looking back into the room, he spoke once more, "Yeah, just uh... step into the living area, but be careful not to break anything. I don't own this place." He wasn't sure how this was going to work out, inviting a big lizard that he barely knew into the house, but in a strange way he kind of wanted them to be here.

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An offended scowl momentarily appeared on Gem's face, but then reverted to a slight grin. This guy's reactions were kind of comical, at least to her. "Awww c'mon, surely I'm not that scary?" she said, obviously joking around. Sitting upwards, Gem picked up the stolen bundle a waved it around to get Fly's attention. "Look, man, I'm sorry about, uhh... what happened earlier. I didn't mean to run you over, 'kay?" she paused for a moment before continuing, "So I went out of got a peace offering for ya. Pain killers included." On that statement, she dropped the bundle of goods in front of Fly, introducing the contents. "If you don't want them, that's fine... though I highly suggest eating some of these before I do. My name's Gem." After introducing herself she backed up a bit, trying to show Fly that she meant well. Even though her first impression as a raging monster might've not been the best approach, hopefully this one would make up for it.
 
Without bothering to speak, Tiana bobbed her head and carefully entered the room. After making a few steps she looked back at Crystal, with a little of uncertainty in her eyes. She pulled her bag over to an empty corner and lay beside it. Her eyes were now locked on Noah - the strange creature she had never met before.

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Fly slowly got down and carefully reached out and took the bag of chips and the fish. "I-I'm Fly.", he was staring at Gem. Seeing as she had scales, webbed wings and even horns, he realized this was no Ornitean. A hybrid, maybe? He never saw a Pterroct before. "What kind of animal are you..?" Fly resumed picking pine needles from his face, following Gem's every move in untrust.
 
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Crystal paced back over to the window to keep an eye on both Tiana and Noah. Fortunately, the cold didn't bother her too much due to having many traits of an ice dragon, though she still felt uncomfortably cold. Fanning down her fins to keep them from frosting, she then poked her head through the window once more to get a better look at the inside, "I'll be right here if you need anything," Crystal said, aiming her statement towards Tiana. Yawning, she retracted her head from the window and lay down against the wall. A bright light began to envelop her body, shifting into something of much small size-- a husky with unnaturally pure white fur, but with the same turquoise eyes of the dragon that once stood there. Crystal, now a dog suitable for the chilling night air, fell asleep outside.

Noah closed the door and turned, not noticing the sudden flash of light coming from outside. The living area was somewhat messy, littered with stray pieces of clothing, books, and equipment, though it could've been worse. Imbedded in the wall of the living area was a small fireplace with a kettle and canned soup nearby, whilst the room to the right appeared to be the bedroom. Momentarily disappearing into the parallel room, Noah came back holding a blanket and a pillow. He could feel Tiana's cautious gaze on his neck, who seemed to have settled over in the corner. Surely these creatures weren't scared of him? Regardless of his uneasy feeling, he wanted to earn their trust. "I brought you something," he said, holding up the spare blanket and pillow. "Would you like it?"

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"I'm a Pterroct. You know, a prehistoric cockatrice," Gem said, thinking that it was pretty obvious, at least to her. Then again, the stranger didn't really seem to know what was going on, and she did find him in a building full of aliens. Maybe he wasn't even Aurophian? Deciding to add a bit more detail, "--From the planet Aurophia, also known as the mythical world. You might've heard of it, I dunno." she shrugged, picking up the pasta combination and took a bite out of it, wrapper and all, and swallowed. She frowned for a moment, thinking about her goal and what all happened earlier, "I came here looking for two guys who were teleported here. Well, one of them is a girl, but whatever." A hint of boredom and tiredness began to cross her mind. "So, what brings you out here, to this freaky world?"
 
Tiana skittishly stood up and reached for the blanket and pillow: "Yeah... Thanks".
She stared at Noah with wonder. Not many people were nice to Tiana, and this stranger she had just met shared his source of warmth with her.

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Aurophia... I'm pretty sure I've heard of that....

"That's pretty interesting.", Fly opened the bag of chips after picking the unpleasant specs out of his face. "I am just traveling through this world. I'm trying to go back to my home planet, Ornitea."
Fly slowly started opening up to this 'pterroct' creature. Maybe this thing isn't so bad after all...
"I was invited on an important mission by it's king. Guess I'll miss it now that.." Fly stopped in the middle of his sentence when something silvery and sparking showed up in his field of vision. He touched his shoulders and back as if searching for something: "Goddarnit my pack!", he quickly rushed to the broken machine, flipped it around and pressed some buttons."No, no, no! Earl is gonna kill me! He paid a bunch of money for this thing!" He spoke some stuff under his breath, and continued to flip switches around.
 
"You're welcome." Noah replied, possibly the most simple thing he could think of. He stood there for a moment, not really sure if anything else would take place. "Well, good night, miss. I'm off to bed." He turned and left Tiana by herself, turning off any oil lamps along his way to the bedroom. After briefly changing into his pajamas, Noah hung up his intimate trenchcoat on a nearby post and plopped into bed. By now, he felt fairly comfortable around the lizards, having spent nearly all day with at least one of them. They seemed just as timid as he was, after all. "What a night..." he muttered to himself before closing his eyes, putting an end to possibly the strangest day of his life.

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"Mhm." Gem acknowledged Fly's statements, even though she didn't exactly speak in a sentence. She wasn't much of the nosy type, usually caring only about her business, but the comment about a mission from the king made her slightly curious. And, where was this 'Ornitea'? Gem hadn't heard of it before, but then again, her homeworld was familiar with only a few other dimensions. However, she soon forgot about that after hearing Fly's sudden outcry. Apparently, he was upset about the broken device that used to be strapped to his back. Recoiling with a bit of anxiety, "Sorry, man, I didn't mean to break that. I really didn't."

Gem felt guilty about the trouble that was recently caused, an emotion that didn't cross her mind very often. "Can ya fix it?" she questioned. After all, she certainly wasn't capable of repairing any technology by herself, at least not for now. Maybe she could convince Vector to take a look at it unless it's already fixed by then, or maybe even trick Zein into doing the work for them. The fool could be tricked into doing lots of unnecessary things thanks to that stubborn pride of his, and Gem knew just how to use it. Speaking of the devil, she wondered, what has he been up to?
 
Meanwhile...


Everything went wrong right from the start.

Of all the places to end up, Zein found himself crashing into a street in broad daylight. A street! And this was no deserted city, either-- all of the people on the aisle stopped and stared in horror at what appeared to be an armor-clad raptor, whose landing made a large dent in the concrete. A few nearby cars screeched to a stop before landing into the crater themselves, the drivers not daring to exit the vehicle and confront the unknown creature that stood before them. Not wanting to draw any more attention to himself, Zein immediately fled the scene and ran into the nearest alleyway, which resulted in a dead end behind some secluded buildings. Fortunately, no one dared to follow to follow him, having barely believed what just happened regardless.

The alley was dark and eerie, littered with bits of trash and debris. Even though Zein would much rather withhold in a cleaner environment, this place would conceal his appearance from any prying eyes for the time being. Letting out a deep, metallic sigh, he stopped to lean against the shady wall and began to think about the current situation. He had been tricked into running through a portal that lead to the human dimension, though the destination software hadn't quite been completed yet. If those meddling heroes hadn't invaded his business so soon, then he might've had enough time to finish his task, and neither him or Crystal would be stranded here. It was also likely that her companion, Gem, was here as well, seeing how tenaciously loyal she was, though he had his doubts about their bird-shifting pet, whatever that was. His goal was simple-- warp to the human dimension, find a powerplant and steal the nuclear energy, then warp back out. Unfortunately, being stuck in a human-infested city was going to make things lot harder.

Much time had passed and it was around midnight now, the atmosphere outside much darker than it was before, though the streetlights that dotted the sidewalks still illuminated many specks of light. Zein's ill-tempered mood had long passed since then, and he simply lingered in the alley for the rest of the day, trying to come up with ways to get out without being noticed and did some daydreaming to fight the lingering boredom. He only had a few human encounters, all of which being naive thugs who, unbeknownst to them, tried to rob a cybernetic bird. They all ended up getting a lot more than they asked for, and not in a good way. Annoying creatures! These people are surprisingly bold, but then again, they can't actually see who they were messing with, he thought, knowing that no one would even come near the alley if they knew what was inside. After his last encounter (who was thrown out of the alley like a toy), it became evident that now was a good time to shut down for the time being. Still standing in the darkness, Zein's glowing crimson eyes dimmed to grey, extinguishing the only light source left in the alley and indicated that he had gone to sleep.
 
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Tiana fluffed her pillow, softly lay her head on it and closed her eyes. She didn't sleep much - what happened on this crazy day were surely a nice topic to think about.

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Fly turned around and looked at Gem, a little angry showing in his gaze. He continued pressing buttons and typing in commands into the shorting machine after a few moments. "Of course I can't fix it, I'm not a mechanic!", he raised his voice, still working around the broken jet engine. The machine stopped shorting out for a few seconds and then let out a couple dosen rapid bleeps. "Take cover!", Fly gasped and jumped behind the rotten log he crashed into awhile ago.
 
So much for remorse, Gem thought, taking slight offense from Fly's outcry. She could hear the anger in his voice, which was somewhat upsetting to her nerves. Crossing her arms, she watched him struggle with the broken pack for a few moments before it started to emit some bleeping noises, which was followed by a distraught warning from the Greeny. "HUH?!" Gem yelled, scrambling to hide behind a small pillar of rock and shielded her face with her winged arms. Was this thing going to explode or something??

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"Hey, you!" shouted a new voice in the alley, "Step out of them shadows and hand over all your valuables!" A pair of red eyes flickered on from inside the darkness with a sharp click, waking the cybernetic bird from his sleep. Swiftly turning his icy gaze, Zein confronted the voice that had so rudely addressed him: There were two thugs this time, a lanky one with a beard and simple t-shirt, the other one stout and wearing a plaid jacket. They were both armed with guns, which were pointed right at him. "Didn't you hear me? I said hand over your valuables, now!"

Zein was tired of being disturbed. After all, sleep was a cherished activity that he didn't do very often, and being woken always put him back in a bad mood. Feeling his ill-temper slowly creep back, the red light in his eyes intensified from anger, which in turn illuminated the area around and revealed his scowling face. The thugs, now seeing for the first time who they were attacking, dropped their guns and took off running. Instinctively wanting to pursue them, Zein swung his tail like a lance and smacked the bearded man across the back, sending him flying across the lane and into a nearby trash chute. He did not move.

The plaid jacket tried to make a run for it after his partner took the blow, but he didn't make it very far. Zein grabbed the man by his neck, hoisting him upwards and flung him deeper into the alley, which resulted in a dead end. The man backed up against the cold brick wall as the monster advanced towards his prey, trapping him in a dead end. There was nowhere to run.
 
It didn't take long before the jet engine burst into flames, chugging out thick clouds of black smoke. "Aaaaaawwwwww maaaannn!", Fly peeked behind his log.
The machine then exploded, sending out shrapnel in all directions. They didn't do much damage around Fly and Gem, but a few parts fell into some nearby trees and set them on fire. Fly stared at the place his jet pack was a couple of seconds ago, not noticing the fire that was slowly spreading.
 
Gem cringed as a few pieces of shrapnel bounced off her wings, but thankfully didn't do much harm. When she was sure the rain of metal was over, she peeked out from behind her arms and stared at the smoking pack. "Really..?" she muttered with sarcasm, still surprised from the engine's sudden combustion. Not that Gem was concerned about being burned or anything, but the amount of smoke and fire that it was emitting would surely capture all sorts of unwanted attention if they didn't do something soon. Panicking, she ordered, "Put that thing out before it gets outta control! That smoke will draw in the whole street!" Without waiting for Fly to respond, she began to flap her arms and send waves of air toward the flaming pack, though it only seemed to make things worse. Ugh, where was a water dragon when you need one!
 
With nowhere left to run and no help in sight, the thug backed up against the wall as far as he could, the monster's shadow looming over him. Zein was about twice, if not three times the size of a human and significantly taller. Still furious, he reached out and lifted the man upwards with one arm, holding up to eye level with his fingers wrapped around the man's upper torso. A wicked idea had begun to form in his mind: since this person had so rudely woken me from sleeping, then maybe he could provide something else in return. Overwhelmed with a sudden curiosity, Zein, still holding his captive, began to prod at the man with his free hand, particularly around the midsection. He was obviously toying around with his victim, but the thug didn't understand nor care about the creature's sudden interest. As long as he satisfied whatever it was looking for, then maybe it would let him go, right?

A wicked grin had replaced Zein's usual grimace. Slightly opening his mouth, a row of pointed teeth retracted out of his beak with a sharp ching sound. His eyes narrowed with horrifying pleasure, and the message found in his expression was clear: I know just what I'll do with you! Reality of the situation slowly dawned on the thug and he began to yell in defiance, but after gaining the reaction that the fiendish raptor wanted, Zein leaned over and clamped his jaws over the man's head, snapping his neck and delivering a quick and painless death. He then began to devour the lifeless body like a snake, swallowing in large gulps and only stopping once in a while to regurgitate bones, clothing, or anything else that might harm his digestion. Swiftly finishing off the last of his victim, he placed the bloody remains near the entrance of the alley as a warning to anyone else who might want to enter.

Content but still ravenous, Zein looked over to see if the other robber was still there. Apparently, the bearded thug had played it smart, pretending to die on impact and slipping away while the cybernetic bird was distracted, but a small trail of blood suggested that he was still injured nonetheless. Zein sighed with disappointment-- he was hoping to have some seconds, but at least sleeping would be possible now without those pesky creatures bothering him. Making his way back into the shadows under the wall, he fell asleep once more, and this time nobody came back to disturb him for the rest of the night.

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Fly's jaw dropped, showing a concerned expression: "But.. but.. but I'm a fire elemental! How can I help?!"
 
"I don't know!" Gem replied, rapidly paced back and forth with loose chirps of anxiety escaping her throat. She wasn't used to facing a situation that she couldn't control, and fire wasn't exactly a tame element. If they didn't do something soon, the fire would undoubtedly spread would draw in all sorts of unwanted attention, but then again, it didn't seem like there was much that could be done. Turning to face Fly, "Greeny, I hate to admit this, but I have no idea what to do. We need to get outta here!" Of course, they could always make their way back to that Centre of sorts, but Gem really didn't feel like dealing with those creeps at the moment. Doing the only logical thing she could think of, she turned and ran out of the undergowth and onto the side of the road, desperately looking for somewhere else to hide. Whether or not her dragon companion had a better idea or not, she didn't know.
 
Fly stood in place, glancing in all directions and looking for a solution. Being a Fire elemental, he wouldn't be able to do much good here.
"Uuuh, ok!", Fly ran after Gem before of thinking of anything better to do.
 
A few vehicles whisked by, but didn't stop their track as the two mythical creatures ran away from the fiery scene. Hopefully they wouldn't notice due to the dark outside. Still running, Gem looked back to find that Fly had followed her as well. A tinge of relief swept over her mind; even though they didn't exactly know each other, she didn't want the guy to get caught, either.

Soon enough, what appeared to be a large red vehicle approach the scene, along with a few black and white ones. Dozens of the little creatures called humans poured out from inside, trying to put out the flames with water-filled hoses. A few of the ones that looked more like guards pointed in the direction of the two, but Gem couldn't tell whether or not they were just guessing or if they actually saw them. Fortunately, the rest of the squad seemed more concerned about the task at hand rather than the possible delusion of monsters of the street.

However, staring backwards soon took its toll. Unaware of the trench in front, Gem ran strait ahead and fell into the small muddy abyss. Thankfully, it was mostly covered from outside view and littered with various pieces of granite rock on the bottom. The pterroct landed head-first onto one of the of the duller fragments of granite, though this certainly didn't prevent any pain from occurring, despite having a thick skull. Tightly shutting her eyes and mouth, Gem tried her best not to yell out from the impact, and invisible stars once more started to float around her head. "You know what, Fly?" she muttered, clearly dazed from the hit, "I'm just going to sleep for awhile." Of course, she never intended to give up and simply go to sleep in the middle of fleeing, but the pain from her throbbing head strongly suggested otherwise. Besides, an empty trench seemed a lot more welcoming that whatever was back on the streets.
 
''Uuh, what?", Fly looked inside the hole after Gem. "You're gonna SLEEP?! What about me?!" Fly had no intention of waiting for the pterroct to wake up, especially with loads of humans around. He had his fill of those things. Without more thought, Fly jumped down the hole.

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Meanwhile, Tiana woke up in the night. "Another centipede nightmare...", She whispered to herself and rubbed her eyes. After keeping quiet for a few seconds, it was clear nobody was awake yet. Tiana corrected some eyelashes that bugged her and looked around the dark room. It's pretty spooky.. being all alone in the middle of a forest... full of strange birds and strange ....... human thingies. Dang, they're so strange!
Tiana stared at the window, she saw light was slowly starting to come out of it. It was almost dawn.
 
"I'm telling you, I saw something there in the darkness!" exclaimed one of the nearby policeman. "First, missing people in Denver, and now creatures roaming in the darkness? Something isn't right here, and it all started when that rookie detective left. Yeah, I bet he's in on whatever's going on here."

"Don't just to such harsh conclusions. It was probably just the dark playing tricks on your mind, I'm sure," replied his companion, the second officer. "The only monsters that exist out here are the people with criminal minds."

"Nuh-uh, I know what I saw, and I'm going to prove it to you." On that last statement, the first policeman to left the charred expanse and vehicles behind, slowly maneuvering his way over to the trench with his pistol raised...

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Noah, who was currently outside of the cabin at the time, had slipped out sometime before dawn to make a call. His arm was raised toward the sky, holding the phone upwards to get a WiFi signal. Faintly, the ending of his conversation could be heard by anyone nearby, "--You're not going to believe what has happened to me the past few days. I've encountered some dr-- what? What do you mean, you need me right now? Yes, I'm available. Are you sure? Ugh... alright." he stopped talking for a moment and let out a heavy sigh, "...Fine. Yes, I'll be there. Just don't start without me, I really need the experience, okay? Good. Bye." Noah pressed the power button on his phone, ending the call with a pleasant beep. Soon after, the back door gently swung open and the detective stepped inside, surprised to find that Tiana was already awake. Freezing in mid-track, he wondered if the blue dragoness had overheard anything that he had said.
 
Tiana heard some mumbling coming from the outside, tho she couldn't quite make it into anything that sounded like real words. What is that... Is is a bear? A moose? Probably a moose.....
She flinched when the human entered the room. So it was him... He was talking to a moose? No, that's ridiculous... Who was he talking to then if he said he was all alone here?!
Tiana let out a soft grunt: "I thought you were still asleep". Although Tiana was pretty nosy, she didn't wanna bother Noah about who he was talking to. She didn't wanna insult his heritage or something.
 
Peeking into the trench below, the first officer realized that he was indeed right-- there were two creatures huddled on the inside of the ditch, one green and red, the other grayish-blue. Still pointing his gun the at the duo, he motioned for the rest of the group to come over and check this out for themselves. But then again, how would they be able to detain two monsters?

Gem, still laying on her back with her legs up in the air, began to twitch with anticipation. She wasn't fully awake, trying to fight going into a coma-like state thanks to her previous injury, though she didn't know how much longer this would last.

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Crystal's head peeked though the window once more. She must've transformed over night, since she was back in her usual dragon form. A glint of worry shone in her turquoise eyes, "Did you hear that?" she muttered to Tiana.

Noah sighed and held up his phone. "No, I just got up early to make a call," he frowned, looking somewhat upset. Oh well, he had to tell the the bad news sooner or later... "Now that my arm's all better, I need to get back to Denver. It turns out that my colleagues need me there to investigate a new death. They're completely baffled!" Making his way back over to his room, Noah began to pack up his stuff. The 7-day lease wasn't even up yet, and yet here he was, already leaving.

"Sorry girls, but I need to go."
 
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