Vagabond

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Fly looked up at the officer and started to panic. He started poking Gem with his claw:"Uuh, Gem, Wake up!! GEEEM!!!".

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Tiana just squealed at Noah's words, and remained on the floor. She found this sudden move pretty suspicious.
 
Gem slowly lifted her head upwards to face the intruder, still twitching in pain. The pupils in her eyes had turned from ovals to slits, signifying both fear and anger. Animal instincts prevailing, she lost her sense of logic once again and opened her mouth-- a bright orange flame began to develop from the inside of her jaws with bits of sparks flying outside. Unfortunately, the officer realized what was happening a bit too late as a small mass of fire was sent in his direction and exploded, sending him flying backwards. The rest of the group, after witness this very unfriendly gesture, dived into the scene with their weapons raised.

"Detain them, but don't kill! We don't know what they are yet," ordered one of the chiefs. "We need to get these things off the streets."

One of the nearby squadies acknowledged this command and pointed what appeared to be a long pistol at Gem, figuring that she was the weaker target, and shot at her. However, this wasn't just a gun-- it was a tranquilizer. Gem tried her best to resist the assault, swiping and screeching at the surrounding attackers, but she was in no condition to fight and was eventually overpowered. Regardless, it took quite a few of the sedating darts to fully put the raging pterroct to sleep. She fell with a thud flat on her stomach, snoozing like a child. And, now that the bigger target was out of the way, the surrounding officers turned and pointed their tranquilizers at Fly and began to shoot at him as well.

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Crystal cocked a scaly eyebrow and let out a somewhat sarcastic, "Really?" She was beginning to question Noah's loyalty, and wondered whether or not he was planning to turn the two dragons in. Perhaps making him an ally wasn't the greatest idea. Retracting from the window, she made her way over to the back door and opened it, turning to face Tiana. "Can we talk in private for a moment?" Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Noah by the scruff of his coat and placed him outside, bag and all. This was obviously a sign of dominance, trying to prove to the human that she wouldn't be pushed around. Closing the entrance behind, "We have to follow him," she announced to her blue friend. "I really hate to say this. but I'm starting to have second thoughts about him." She paused for a moment, "But then again, he hasn't made any aggressive moves against us. I don't know... what do you think about all this?"
 
"GYAH!" Fly felt a bunch of little stings all over his body.
''Ow! Ow! Ouch!" He tried to pluck out the tranquilizer darts as soon as they hit them, but there were too many. He was now trying to scare off the attackers, roaring and screeching at them. He tried to claw at them, but he soon fell to his knees. The green dragon fiercely fought until his moves got slower, the tranquilizer kicking in. Tfoopf, he fell into a nearby pile of dust on his side, facing Gem.

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Tiana lowered her head, ''I dunno.. "
She hesitated to show her paranoid feelings to Crystal. Well... She asked for it. "Uuh.. I think he is trying to get some cops to get a tank to blow up this teeny tiny little house with us in it". She stared at her friend with an awkward expression. "So yeah... Maybe we should follow him."
 
People were scattered all over the place-- they had obviously not expected this much resistance from a single dragon, and most were afraid to get close to this roaring creature. What's more, this was usually not the kind of mess that they dealt with, so their experience was fairly limited. Regardless of this, however, their foe was eventually sedated and detained along with the other thing of sorts. Soon after their capture, two large cargo trucks pulled up near the trench, and the sleeping bodies of the duo were each hauled inside and placed in a large, steel and glass cage of some sort.

"What do you think those two things were?" Asked one of the tranquilize-wielding officers, watching as the two vehicles drove away.

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough," answered the commander, whose expression was just as surprised as the faces around him.

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Crystal let out a humorous snort in response to Tiana's last remark. The idea of army tanks blowing up a peaceful wooden house filled with flying lizards sounded pretty ridiculous to her, and she couldn't tell whether if her friend was just joking or being dead serious. Feeling that their conversation has been resolved, she stepped out into the area outside to face Noah, who had an expression that said, "What the heck? Just, why?"

"Alright, little man," Crystal began, teasing the human in a playful way, "You can go on. Thanks for your hospitality and all, but we're just going to, uhh... stay here. Yep, in these woods where we live, and totally NOT follow you." After finishing her announcement, Crystal let out a awkward grin. This is where things got hard for the cyan dragoness, other than holding her own against a stronger enemy. She was a terrible liar and knew it, usually trying harder than necessary to sound convincing, and this was no exception.

Noah's previous expression had turned into skepticism. He didn't quite believe the dragon, but then again, he really didn't have much of a choice. He really needed to leave regardless of what they said, and besides, how could two dragons follow him into a city without being noticed? A sudden wave of relief swept his mind, and without another thought, "Yeah, sure. Okay." He took a few awkward steps back while saying this, clutching his travel bag. "Alright, then. Nice meeting you girls. Goodbye!" Still saying every kind of 'bye' he could think of, Noah turned and ran down the hill, anxiously heading for the exit pathway.
 
Tiana just stared at Noah as her big friend talked to him. She facepalmed herself on the inside at her weak attempt of lying. Dude.. Just, dude... She couldn't understand how someone so much older than her could be so bad at such a crucial skill. She stared at the sentient monkey until he got out of sight. Then she looked over to Crystal, lowering her head with a "What now?" expression. She let out a soft grunt and she scratched her ear.
 
A smug smile slowly formed across Crystal's snout. Being the naive little dragoness she is, this was the closest thing she could do that would be considered 'devious'. A slightly different part of personality was beginning to show now, something that didn't happen very often. "We're going to follow him to his home and find out if what he said was true. After all, we are shape-shifters, and he doesn't know that yet." Upon saying this, a bright light enveloped her body, which in turn drastically shrunk in size. A black crow appeared where Crystal once was, detailed with the same amulet and blue eyes once more. Opening her newly-formed beak, "Well, are you in?"
 
Tiana shrugged and made a derp grin, "Sure, why not?!". Crows don't usually form groups... Oh well, like he knows that. Instead of glowing, Tiana's body started to shrink to the point where feathers started to replace her scales, slowly growing into the pitch black bird her friend just transformed into, only slightly smaller. She cawed, happy to be in this form. "You think he's gonna notice our.. accessories?", Tiana tried to hide her necklace in her feathers dark as night.
 
The smugness in Crystal's expression quickly faded from her beak, reverting back to her normal, more concerned look. "I didn't really think of that..." she admitted, pecking at her neckie whose bright colors didn't quite go well with her current hue. "Eh, if Noah notices, he'll probably just think that we either stole or got snared in it." Besides, even if he did find out who we really were, what could he do about it? Opening her dark, feathery wings, Crystal took flight without another word.

Soaring through the trees like a small, dark shadow, she eventually made her way over to where the human male was centered, and landed on a nearby branch. They were located in what appeared to be a small parking lot, and Noah busy fumbling around, trying to open what looked like a large metal can with wheels. That must be a car, Crystal thought. She rarely saw cars where she came from, since vehicles were mostly used for transporting goods and such. It was considered lazy to travel by using one, and besides, portals were much more effective. But then again, these poor creatures didn't have portals. What a pity.
 
* * * * *

Gem awoken to find her feet chained to the floor of a large, metal cage with glass windows. The room she was imprisoned in was vast and colored with white walls and a silver, tiled floor, as it were a lab of some sort. The inside of her container was empty, giving her enough room to roam around despite the chains, which wouldn't allow her to stray too far from the central area. Pulling herself up, Gem went as close as she could to the edge, looking at the faint outline of her reflection shown in the glass. A bandage had been wrapped around her head, which was ever so slightly stained red.

Upon finally realizing the truth of the situation, her expression began to falter-- Where am I? The last thing I remember was... wait, where's Fly?! Rapidly turning in circles as if to chase her tail, Gem frantically looked around, trying to spot the greeny. Relief flooded her mind after she saw that his container was seated next to hers, but at a reasonable distance away. "Fly!" she yelled, "Dude, are you alright?? Get up, man!"
 
"Hey wait up!", Tiana took off after Crystal. She struggled to keep up, yet she didn't complain in fear of getting laughed at by her friend. She wanted to start a conversation while they were going, but she didn't say any of her ideas. Keeping quiet for such a long time wasn't really easy.
"Uuh.. Yeah... Like he would watch some birds anyway, amiright?" She spoke up, panting, and landed next to Crystal, turning to face her. "Like he is an ornithologist or something", she made three clumsy bird steps toward Crystal, seeming as if she was trying to make a joke.
 
Fly was laying on his belly, his hind legs spread to his right side and hands over his face. His wings were tied to his back with a white rubber band of some sort. One of his hind legs was chained to one side of the wall.
"Uuuuggh.... Just leave me alone man, my face huuurts", Fly muffled in pain, not even bothering to look at Gem. He didn't have any bandages, but all the gashes on his face hut like hell, probably because of the antiseptic fluid the people used to clean them.
 
Crystal smiled and nodded her feathery head in agreement towards her clumsily-moving friend. She appreciated Tiana's attempt at humor and trying to make the situation seem more lighthearted, and was about to speak back, until a new voice broke the silence:

"Tiana! Are you there, Tia? I'm back at the, uh... whatever this place is. How's it going?" It was none other than Vector, whose voice suddenly pierced the atmosphere through Tiana's mic. Utterly surprised, Crystal let out a squawk and nearly fell off her branch, but fortunately regained her grip. She had completely forgotten about the the yellow prodigy, whose voice she first heard back in the woods.

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After hearing the dragon's response, Gem attempted to perform a facepalm, but quickly recoiled after slapping her damaged forehead. Her vision momentarily blurred after the hit, but soon faded away after shaking back and forth. "Wonderful," she muttered, implementing a large amount of sarcasm in her words. "So just what are we gonna do now?"

As if to answer her question, a few voices began talking somewhere within a neighboring hall. "Look, these creatures don't match your description. I'm sure this is just an accidental mix-up, nothing to get so worked up about." Said the first voice, which was female and had a soft tone.

"It doesn't matter. They were just recently caught, yes?" Replied the second voice, which sounded female as well, but with a higher and harsher pitch. After pausing for a moment, "...Exactly. So, as a selected representative of, well... you don't need to know that part. The only thing that matters is that I must see these creatures for myself." Soon after saying this, the one and only nearby door to the duo's room slid open, revealing two human females. The first one looked of Asian ethnicity with silky black hair and deep brown eyes, and wore a white labcoat. She was obviously a scientist of some sort.

Quickly after, the second voice stepped inside, revealing the questioning visitor to be Maggie...
 
"WHAT THE FLIP?!", Tiana jumped back at the strange voice that weirdly enough, seemed to come from the inside of her head. She cawed and flapped around for a moment, before realizing it was just Vector. "Oh.... Hi there, Vector.. ahehe.." Tiana landed back on the branch with an embarrassed grin on her face. "We are kinda tracking this human who we think is trying to kill us.. Well, at least I think that.."

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Fly looked as if he lost his will to live. All that fighting, and exploding and being dragged around really tired him out. He just grunted at Gem's question seconds before the voices were heard. He dragged himself a little so he could face the wall:"Aw man not humans again!"
 
"Really??" Vector gasped, sounding a lot more excited than afraid. "So you've met the natives? How thrilling! Are they like what is depicted in our scrolls? Have you been to a village yet? How is the architecture? Are--" He suddenly stopped, realizing that he had started his out-of-control rambling again. "Eeheh... sorry." Vector apologized. Quickly changing the subject, "So, I assume Crystal is still with you? Good. So, have you found anyone else yet? Please tell me that you at least found Gem," he pleaded.

Meanwhile, Noah was often glancing back over his shoulder as if expecting two blue lizards to appear at any moment. He hadn't quite bought Crystal's announcement, and even he could tell that she was obviously lying. When glancing around, the only the thing he saw were a bunch of woods, some cement pathways, and two crows on a nearby branch. The faint sound of another voice could be heard, though he couldn't tell whether if it was really there or just his paranoid mind playing tricks on him. Sighing, he finally opened his car door and slipped inside, not paying any more attention to the birds that were watching him.

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Around three different expression all warped across Maggie's face: surprise, horror, and something that looked like "I should've known." Turning to face her guide, "Yes, these are certainly NOT the ones that I... requested," she said, putting emphasis on her last word. Her usual monotone voice now sounded as if it held an certain pitched accent. "Nonetheless, I'm sad to say that I know these two. And if you don't mind, I'd like to speak with them alone."

"But--" began the scientist.

"ALONE." Maggie ordered, sharply gesturing toward the exit.

Sighing, the other female gave in to her oppressor's demand and left the room, the mechanical door sliding to a close behind her. Maggie turned to face the two were imprisoned, her expression cold and calculating and topped with a very unhappy frown. Opening her mouth, she looked as if she was about to rant: "You two have caused so much trouble it's just unbelievable! Are you trying to expose your existence to all the world? Good gosh, you've already broken two of the golden rules! TWO of them! I'll let you know that I happen to take my job very seriously. And is that any way to greet your secretary, Mr. Firehawk? Why, if I didn't know any better... ugh!" She let out a frustrated sigh and pushed up her glasses, which have slightly fallen down due to her vigorous ranting. "...Sorry," she muttered, apologizing for her sudden outburst.
 
"Uuh..", Tiana tried to comprehend everything Vector said, and replied at the same speed:"Yeah. No they're not. They are a lot different. No, we haven't been to a village and the modern architecture is kinda blocky. It resembles blocks. It.. It looks like blocks. Blocks. I guess." She fathomed that the architecture in the dragon dimension couldn't be much different than that of the human."Also, no, I haven't seen Gem or.. anyone else.", Tiana bobbed her head and let out a soft squeal, waiting for Vector to respond.

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Fly finally took his hands off of his hurt face and turned to see what the heck was going on. He turned slowly, looking at the raging woman with his eyes saying ''This chick is nuts.", not knowing what to say. "Uuuuhhhhhh..............?? You lost me there."
 
Vector went silent for a moment. "Shame. Oh well, I guess it's a but much to expect you to find more than one person each day, huh? Oh, and be sure to tell me all about it when you get through this, okay? Okay. Good." Being the quirky dragon he is, he didn't wait for Tiana to agree to this last statement. "And, uhh... thanks for keeping me updated. Yeah, thanks."

Crystal, who was still watching Noah with certain interest, poked Tiana in the side with one of her foot talons. "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but the man is getting away." She then gestured towards the car, which was currently driving out of the parking lot and heading for the highway.

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"Mr. Firehawk, you best hold your tongue until I'm done speaking to you. I don't like either of you very much, and it's been a really long day," the human female replied, her gaze still icy cold. "You see, my order has been mixed up. I was supposed to get... something else, but it seems like I'm stuck with you two instead. How typical." After saying this, she then placed her fingertips on the lobe of her head, as if she had a mild headache.

Gem let out a suspicious frown. "What were you expecting to get?" She didn't like where this was going, and started to question whether or not this human female had good interests. In fact, this 'Maggie' faintly reminded her of someone, no wait-- something, but she just couldn't put her claw on it.
 
"Uuh.. K, baii!" Tiana ended the transmission."So.... We fly along with him?", she stared at Crystal, waiting for a response.

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Fly had an angry frown all the way through this woman's rambling. Who does she think she is?! Yelling at him for something someone else did?!
He slowly picked up Gem's suspicion, and angrily huffed:"Yeah, what WERE you going to get?! As far as I remember, you were going to catch a plane!". He moved himself closer to the glass and crossed his arms, staring at the woman with an obnoxious expression.
 
"Yes, and don't let him out of our sight," Crystal replied. In a strange way, she was glad to be following Noah to his home. She was very curious about city life and wanted to know how close it was to her own, when she used to live in Oceanshine. And, even though she wouldn't say this out loud, Crystal missed living inside of those safe walls. "Let's go," she announced, probably with a little more enthusiasm that she should've used. Taking flight once more, Crystal leapt off the tree branch and soared after the silver car that just exited the recreational park.

A few moments passed without the neckied crow saying any words. A new feeling had begun to creep into Crystal's mind, the kind that felt like a bunch of butterflies were floating around inside her stomach. Opening her beak, "Tiana... do you think we'll ever get back?" She figured that since a portal was the thing that transported them here, then another one with a destination to Aurophia would be required to bring them back. But where could they find one in an energy-deprived world like this?

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"I was... I, err..." Maggie faltered. The green dragon had obviously hit a weak point that contrasted her previous excuse, and she was beginning to look much like a liar. "...That's none of your concern!" she quickly snapped. "Why should I trust two criminals with such important information?" Maggie let that statement sink in for a moment, all of the hostility returning to her tone. "Look, you two-- I don't like you. Either of you. To be honest, I'd much rather leave you here to be used as guinea pigs. But, fortunately for you, I have a strong sense of right and wrong. So for just this one time, I'll go against my better judgement and release you from coostodee--" she stopped for a moment, correcting her grammatical mistake, "--custody, as long as you stay out of my way and take your tails and head home. Got it?" Her expression softened after saying this, reverting back to her rather sleepy and tired look.
 
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Tiana looked down, "I don't know.......I guess we will after some time.."
Tiana didn't even think about how they will get back. Now that Crystal brought it up, new, much more paranoid thoughts were creeping inside her head. She stiffened up a bit in fear, but continued flying behind Crystal.

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Criminals...? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO, WOMAN?! Fly let out an angry huff. "Yeah, sure. Just HOW I and Gem are gonna get home? It's not like I can just magically warp back to Ornitea, and Gem to... wherever she wants."
Fly stared at Maggie with a questioning look.
 
Crystal simply nodded at Tiana's response. Only time could tell whether or not they'd ever make it back, but fortunately for them, things usually worked out in the end. Usually.

More silent moments of soaring passed, and an outline the city could be seen in the distance. Not the largest scape Crystal had seen, but still impressive nonetheless. Down below, Noah's car had pulled up to a nearby convenience store that looked like it had been bashed in through the roof. "Look, down there!" Crystal squawked, who then stopped in mid-flight and began to hover above the scene. Various police cars were scattered across the area, though most seemed to be centered around a nearby charred expanse. "What happened here..?" the neckied crow wondered aloud.

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A thin smile curled around Maggie's mouth, though still kept her rather dull expression. "The teleporters in the Vagabond Centre can take you anywhere, as long as we allow them to. Though, of course, that means I'd have to bring you back there.." she replied. By saying this, she hoped to possibly frighten the two into staying where they were now (a Denver research lab), which would make her job all the more easier.

"You mean exit this freaky lab to enter yet a larger and more threatening one? No thank you!" Gem huffed. She hated to be manipulated, but going back there was not an option. At least, not for her. "Besides, I'm not leaving this world until I find my friends." The words 'friends' probably wasn't the most correct term to use, but it fit the description regardless. Upon saying this, Gem sat down to make a point and crossed her wings.

Instead of taking offense from this gesture, Maggie looked mildly surprised. Arching her eyebrows, "There are others?" she questioned. She didn't expect for this kind of information to slip from such a guarded being, and by the look of the Pterroct's expression, she had clearly messed up and knew it. "Where are they?!" Maggie snapped at Gem, but when she didn't get an answer, she swiftly turned around to face Fly. "Mr. Firehawk, is there anything in particular that you would like to tell me?" This was obviously a rhetorical question, hoping to get some sort of answer or confession from Fly about the current topic.
 
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