Yes, let's cry together Princess-Shadow

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When Dragon was entirely out of the room, Alpha broke down to his knees- pulling Sori along

Sobs managed to escape his throat- letting the pack shudder... their Alpha... is crying? For once and for real, he's actually crying...

"Alpha..." most of them called, full of concern are very much visible to the younger wolves

It was just a quick minute of silence...

Before Alpha entirely broke down and started releasing his river of tears while letting out the roar of his cries as he tightened his hug on Sori

"ALPHA!" The wolves yelled and ran over to him, surrounding the two crying wolves

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The dragons didn't say anything other than standing- or in Yuki's case, sitting around awkwardly.

What can they even say? It's a private matter, they can't just barge in those matters like how you barged into your best friend's house.

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.    .    .

Dragon walked through the hallway of the cave and took a turn to the right. He walked a few more steps before coming to a stop at a door with a fire and ice symbols on it. If it wasn't because he's carrying Flóga, he would have opened it. But thankfully, he has a tail that he can use to push open the door. Once the door was fully closed, he strode towards the bed and laid his son on the said bed.

He sat beside Flóga on the bed, hands reaching up to pet the soft hair. As he did so, he was reminded of his first children, who he had lost to that old dragon. He didn't know what he did to them, but he knew that they're still out there, alive but hidden from him.

He remembered how joyful it was when he finally realized that he would no longer be alone for another century when he created them.

"Where are you, my little gems? I missed you so much..." Dragon felt tears running down his cheeks.

.   .   .

As he lamented, until he remembered his talk with Alpha this morning. He let out a laugh remembering the flustered face of his other self from a different universe. He was shocked to see the thick cut on the other's knee, though he didn't say anything about it as he didn't want Alpha to be upset. He also thought about him showing his scars to Alpha...

He never showed those scars to anyone, not even his own children. "But a deal is a deal," Dragon murmured to himself.

.    .    .

Then... He was suddenly reminded of his harsh treatment to the wolves. He had to admit, he felt bad for not forgiving the little one for his mistakes. But what can he do? He had lost all of his children for centuries, thinking that he'd never meet them again. He had just found seven out of 14 of his children. He doesn't want to lose them again...

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".   .   ."

Alone.

Well... not really, Alpha only asked his pack and the dragons to leave him be, by himself

Which to they agreed and all just transferred to another side of the lobby- the space was enormous either way

The wolves decided to rest for a while- due to all the chaos that had occurred, they needed to reclaim some energy for upcoming events

Meanwhile, Alpha sat on the opposite side, alone, all by himself on a couch

Can't blame him... he just stopped crying from his sudden outburst of mental breakdown a moment ago and he needs some time to think for himself...

His eyes were red, lining down his cheeks with tear stains-

He stared at the ground emotionlessly, with one same sitting position- crossed arms, one leg up resting on the other's lap

".   .   ."

Long silence...

Felt like hours of nothing had passed

He tiredly exhaled and closed his eyes, sliding into his own mind...

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".  .  ."

Eyes and nose sore, cheeks with heavy tear stains... so uncomfortable...

Wolf groggily opens his eyes... his body aches, unable to move properly- he had never slept this long...

Vision blurry as he tiredly blinks to readjust...

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"Ah, good morning little pup. How was your rest?"

A voice was heard from the left side of the bed, who was pretty much sitting on a chair near the bedside table with an open book in his hands.

"How are you feeling?"

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".   .   ."

He couldn't reply, he realized his throat was burning sore- dried precisely... he only shifted his eyes to see who the voice belonged to...

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The voice belongs to the Alpha's dragon counterpart. Dragon saw Alpha looking at him with blurred eyes, so he closed the book and stood up from the chair then went towards the Alpha.

He helped Alpha sit up so he could clear up his head.

"..."

"Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

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Again, with the sore throat- the said tiredly rubbed his face to get rid of the stains, hiding his 'hideous' face behind one palm and use the other to point at his throat

".    .    ."

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The dragon understood the sign.

"Wait here, let me go grab some drink for you"

He immediately walked out of the chamber to retrieve some food and drink for both of them

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Moments later, he came back with a warm porridge and cold water on a tray. He put the tray on the bedside table and handed the water to Alpha.

"Here, drink up. Then eat this porridge, I'm sure you're hungry,"

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The wolf steadily took the cup, just to realized his hand was shaking- tired muscles perhaps... he then exhaustedly drank the water, actually emptying the cup-

He exhaled faintly and held the said object with both hands- sat it on his lap, making sure he doesn't unconsciously dropping it as his eyes droopily blink

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Dragon saw that Alpha is having some difficulty in holding the bowl and staying awake for that matter, immediately took it out of Alpha's hands.

Steadily holding the bowl, he scooped up the porridge, gently blew it and held up the spoon towards Alpha's mouth.

"Say, 'Ahh..'"

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The wolf blinked and registered what his equivalent was doing- he shuddered

He felt his face heat up, what? He's a 5000 years old furry and not once in his life he had anyone fed him- just he, himself

But be honest, having someone who you just met- babysitting you when you're literally old enough and capable in taking care of yourself- would be absolutely embarrassing

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Dragon raised an eyebrow, confused before realization settled in. He inwardly grinned.

Then, he carefully put on a blank face and said, "You are in no way capable of handling a bowl as of now. Your hands are literally shaking so I'm offering my help in feeding you,".

Dragon is laughing so much on the inside but he never shows it on his face.

"So, unless you want to make a mess, let me help you"

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Alpha lightly groaned, eyes looking elsewhere he hates this... is embarrassing and his blushing face says it all- even if he tried to hide it, his poker face betrayed him

But he knew there was no way out, he's too tired with the low energy bar- running would be useless and going against his counterpart is a big no-

One, the guy is literally a dragon- who knows what he can do. Two, Alpha doesn't want to hurt the said any further- knowing still his equivalent was also sick

He sighed and accepted his fate...

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Dragon grinned in victory. Subtly using his power to heat up the porridge, he stirred the porridge a bit to even out the heat before scooping up some of it.

He held the spoon to his counterpart's mouth, "Open wide~ The airplane is coming~"

He said while mimicking an airplane's noises

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(Insert Author Shadow breaking down- wheezing her azz off as she's having a crisis while continuously slamming her table- trying to continue writing-)

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That only made the atmosphere more awkward for the Wolf- making his eyes widened as he blushes harder- but wanting to get everything over with-

His eyes shifted to look elsewhere- just tried to accept the food in front of him, opening his mouth

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(Insert Hana cackling and wheezing her azz off at Author Shadow while having no regrets in making the scene awkward by writing her part)

Dragon smiled, though this time it's in a teasing way. He continued repeating the action until the bowl was empty. He put down the empty bowl on the tray and petted Alpha, "Good boy~"

(Hana: Cackling in no regrets)

"Wait here so I could return this tray to the kitchen. In the meantime, why don't you try to get your legs working? I'm sure you want to go and clean yourself,"

Dragon said while walking towards the door and went out of the room with the tray in his hands.

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(Insert more struggling and crisis from Author Shadow-)

When the dragon had finally and entirely left-

"HUURRGGGHHHH—" Alpha hid his red face into his palms and screamed all his embarrassment into them

No words nor number could describe how much awkwardness he felt during the process and the amount of embarrassment that heated him- he was lucky this was private or he'd be so dead dead for real-

He aggressively ruffled his hair- brushing everything that had just happened off and tried to stand up, knee betraying him- making him stumble as he held the bed frame for support

Exhaled, he rubbed his face- he felt a little messy but was wide awake now

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Dragon walked into the chamber right at the moment where Alpha stumbled down the bed. Chuckling in amusement, he leisurely strides to the fallen leader of the pack and stared down at him with a teasing smile. Holding out his hand, he teasingly said, "Need a hand or should I carry you to the river nearby? Your legs seemed to be asleep at the moment"

He giggled, "I can do both parts"

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Shook- Alpha look up- face to face with the teasing smile again that's returning his blush

He exhaled, "I-It's fine..." he slowly got up by himself "My knee... it just... not so stable, s-so... sometimes it's hard to stand up without...stumbling" he explained, looking down to his right knee

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Dragon huffed a laugh. But his laughter was stopped when he noticed something... wrapping his counterpart's knee.

"What is that thing on your knee? Some kind of bandage?"

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Wolf tiredly hummed, "I... guess you could say it that way..."

"Balak said it's something... that helps stabilize my leg... If not- I'd be stumbling every steps and... tripping at random moments..." He sweatdropped

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Dragon blinked, trying to absorb the information

"I see, may I take a look? I might be able to heal it... if not all"

He said while sitting down on the bed, feeling a bit sick for a moment

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"Save your energy old man, you're still sick" Alpha snorted jokingly, he meant no harm in that sentence

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Dragon deadpanned then rolled his eyes. The audacity of this little pup, he knows that he's a sick little old man but that doesn't mean that he doesn't know when to rest or not.

"Hey, just because I'm older than you and sick, that doesn't mean I can't do some healing," he retorted back at Alpha.

"Alright, how about this, if you show me, I'll show you one of my scars"

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That caught Alpha's attention, his pointy ears perked with his brow rose- eyes shifted again. Exhaled, "Fine, fine..." he came and sit next to Dragon

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"Alright, show me your leg. I promise I won't judge," Dragon claimed to him.

"Once I see it, then I'll show you mine,"

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Sighed, Alpha took off the 'bandage'- which not to mention, it has a belt like design- pulling up his jean to his knee

Revealing a faint, thick cut that looked like his knee was cut off from his leg, he sadly sigh again- slightly touching the cut- remembering what had actually happened

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Dragon stared at the scar on the other's knee, feeling sympathetic for Alpha. He wanted to know what happened but he knew that it wasn't the time to ask such questions.

Well, not yet anyways.

"I may not be able to fully heal your injury, but I atleast can lessen the pain so it doesn't hurt as much,".

He hovered a hand over the thick cut and a lime green aura appeared from his hand. A few moments later, the glow stopped and Dragon retracted his hand back to his side.

"Better?"

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Alpha blinked, staring at the scar for a few seconds before feeling his knee and nod, "T-Thanks..." he recovered his leg back up- by pulling his jean back down and placed the 'bandage' back in its original spot

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Dragon nodded, face showing nothing but sympathy.

"Alright, as promised. I'll show you one of my scars,". As he said that, he slowly raised up his shirt to show his waist. He hovered his hand over his waist then whispered 'dispel'. The area around the waist shimmered and the scar revealed itself.

There, shown to the eyes of his counterpart, a medium and jagged sized of a scar. It's dark, symbolizes that it happened long ago. The scar itself looks like the owner of the body was chopped by a jagged blade. And around the scar seemed to have some patterns, that looks like he was tased and burned by the perpetrator.

"Heh, it's pretty... right?" Dragon looked at his scar with an emotionless look on his face, yet his eyes showed the actual emotions behind them. Eyes are the windows to the soul, after all

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The wolf stared at it... cut... tased... and burnt...?

His hand unconsciously slide up to cover his mouth- with his X pupils shrunk a little as they shivered- displaying his shocked and full of concern for his older self- 

His mind spiraled- having many hints and possibilities on what could've happened- and most thoughts... has to be something that laid in the hands of the so-called bastard of a king the dragons all threw their hatred on...

".   .   ."

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"Heh, I can tell you're pretty mad at that old dragon. Believe me, I also dislike that bastard,". Dragon huffed, remembering that time.

"But, I can't do anything. I was young, and he runs this kingdom with an iron fist. The reason why he hasn't found us yet is because we never stayed in one place for a long time," Dragon explained to the other with a blank look on his face.

Dragon wanted to show more, so he slowly reached up to the back of his neck and took off his choker. Once he took off his choker, he gently pulled down his shirt collar and revealed a nicely thin, jagged scar on his neck.

"Did you know that I was once beheaded?" Dragon smiled at his counterpart.

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Slight gasp... He sweated a little...

Eyes still closed, mind still deep, same position

".  .  ."

Alpha had sat there for quite a while now... and isn't moving a muscle-

".     .     ."

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Gaia stared at Alpha for a while, in truth, he's been watching him from the beginning.

Then, he noticed that Alpha is pretty much- slightly leaning to his side. He closed his eyes and tried to sense through the ground what was happening before his eyes snapped open and stared at Alpha-

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Who was fidgeting to the side as a sign he was going to fall

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Gaia sighed, he scooted slowly to the Alpha's side slowly as not to alert the others.  He silently counted to 10 - 1 in his head, then at the count of 2, he felt something landed on his shoulder.

Taking a glance to his right side, he saw the Alpha had fallen asleep with his head on his shoulder. Giving out a smile, he gently repositioned their posture so that the Alpha's head could rest on his lap.

Looking at the sleeping Alpha, he leisurely ran a hand on the other's hair before murmuring a soft "sleep well" then falling asleep himself.

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(Shadow: *cough-* Gaia is Boi's second parental figure- change my mind")

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A few moments later, a figure was seen walking back into the spacious room. The figure is Dragon himself, who went to check on his children and the wolves.

Once he did, he stopped at the sight before him. A soft smile was seen spread on Dragon's face as he looked upon the sleeping wolves and dragons.

As he looked around, he noticed that Gaia had fallen asleep with Alpha's head laying on said dragon's lap. He walked up to them to get a closer look and to check on them, and couldn't help but noticed the tear stained face of Alpha. He felt his heart clenched guiltily at the sight before summoning a flower. He carefully and gently opened one of the Alpha's hand and closed it around the flower's stem. He caressed Gaia's hair and stood up. Giving one last look at the scene around him, before walking to the kitchen to prepare for lunch.

(Hana: If you're wondering what flower it is, it's a Purple Hyacinth. The flower means "I'm sorry", "Please forgive me", and "Sorrow".)

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Somewhere in the cave

Dragon was seen conversing with someone. That person is the exact copy of Dragon himself except that their hair is the exact contrast of Dragon. If you think it's Reverse, then yes. That's Reverse, a figure that is tasked to spy on him, the current king of the kingdom.

"So, he's still looking for me?" Dragon inquired.

"Yes, My Peony. From the intel I gathered, He had almost found out your current hideout. If it hadn't been for me misdirecting his attention, he would have sent his army to this location," Reverse explained to Dragon.

Dragon sighed, feeling tired all of a sudden. He pinched his brows, frustrated about the situation. Then he put on a thinking pose, before asking his creation, "What about them? Have you found out about that?"

Reverse nodded, "Yes, My Peony. It took me a while, but I managed. Turns out, he had created an underground room where he put yours under lock and key. A very secure place, might I add."

"And what about the others?"

"That, My Peony.... Is how he created that underground space."

"WHAT?!"

Dragon growled, his fists clenched tightly to the point where his palms were bleeding. "He used them as his own gain?!"

"Unfortunately, yes. We must rescue them before they break," Reverse turned even more serious.

Dragon starts pacing back and forth, clearly worried. "Yes, we must. Before it's too la-," He was cut-off by his own coughing. He gripped his chest, before falling down to his knees.

"My Peony!"

Dragon coughed, then he vomited. It was not a normal one, but blood. "My Ruby, hang on! I'll get Ankáthi-," Reverse panicked, not wanting his creator to die.

"No, it's fine. This is nothing new, so no worries,"

"But-"

"No, just go. Continue to spy on him, find out the safest way to go through such a secured place."

Reverse sighed, obeying his creator. After he made sure Dragon was fine, he turned and walked away. "I will, My Peony".

Dragon was left alone with his own thoughts

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Then he sighed. Standing up, he wiped the blood that's still dribbling from his mouth. As he wiped the blood, he heard something, something that doesn't want to hear in his life.

CRACK

A crack. Dragon felt a chill running down his spine. Face pale, he shakily raised his right hand, the hand that's used to wipe his blood, and saw a small crack. He felt his face become paler, "No..." He whispered, terrified. He took a shaky step backwards, feeling lightheaded all of the sudden.

CRACK

Another crack. This time, the crack grew bigger. "No... please, no..." He stepped backwards until he felt his back hit the wall of the cave and slid down. Once he did, he pulled his knees to his face and sobbed, "Please not now... I still have so much to do,".

He knows that he doesn't have much time left, but he wishes that he'd still have more time before he'll completely vanish.

"My sons, if I die even before we could retrieve them.... I'm sorry...", He whispered as he sobbed, feeling heartbroken and guilty at the thought of leaving them behind once more

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".   .   ."

Not long after, faint footsteps were heard- a breeze of someone's presence was standing right in front of Dragon's breaking body

".   .   ."

The figure said nothing though, they were waiting for the elder to notice

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Dragon felt someone standing in front of him. With his tear stained face, he wordlessly looked up to the person. The first thing he saw was a hand, his eyes followed the trail of the hand to the owner of said hand. It was Alpha, who had held his hands out to him.

He huffed out a laugh, having one of his secrets being uncovered by someone he didn't expect. He merely took the hand and stood up.

"Heh, how long have you been there?"

Dragon couldn't help but ask his counterpart.

CRACK

He looked down at the crack that was getting bigger on his hand, now it reached his arm.  "Heh, the crack is getting bigger now," Dragon laughed thoughtlessly.

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".   .   ."

The wolf stood there, silently...

Eying his equivalent, emotionlessly- yet, his black and white eyes show everything...-

The guilt, concern, worries, anxiety, frustrations- every negative emotions possible, all mixed into one ball of apprehensiveness

He took a step forward, gently wrapping his arms around the father figure- if his pack was here, they'd take the confirmation and admits how rare this scene is-

Their Eldest being soft and affectionate to someone else other than them...

".    .    ."

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Dragon felt his eyes widen, not expecting a hug. He felt his body frozen in shock for a few moments before he shakily hugged back.

Then he felt tears running down his face in rivers, he sobbed once again. Because of their difference in height, he can only bury his face into the Alpha's cap.

.   .   .

After a while, he stopped sobbing. Stepping back, he wiped his tears. He looked at Alpha, "How much did you hear?"

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The wolf blankly blinked, "Starting from your spy..." crossed arms

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Dragon blinked, "Ah, so everything then..."

Then, he noticed the flower that he had gave it to Alpha. He chuckled sadly, "I take it you know what the flower means?"

Dragon smiled sadly, still guilty of his actions.

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Huffed, the wolf looked down and closed his eyes, "You're not to blame... You're stressed and heartbroken from many things that have happened..."

"You've been through more than I did, but we share the same knowledge in some parts..."

"Family is one of the most important needs to me and my pack... And I promise that I'd help you and your family..."

"I promise we'll destroy him- I promise we're gonna get back your lost ones, I promise we'll get you out of the reaper's grasp..."

"Let's have faith in each other."

Wolf must admit he had tried wording out perfectly- he's not a good adviser when it comes to emotional support- when he's literally an emotional wreck himself-, yet he's still a good listener and would always try his best in lighting up moods when needed the most

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Dragon laughed, "Never thought you to be the one giving advices but yes, what you said is true. We must stick together to defeat the monster,"

He held out his hand, his cracking hand, to Alpha. "Let's dethrone him"

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Don't wanna be a moment ruiner, but this is one of the reasons why Alpha doesn't give emotional support advices- he feels and knows he'd get tease for something he rarely does

He's literally screaming anxiety inside right now, and masking it with a blank, emotionless face- he hates getting teased, it embarrass him

When he saw Dragon let out the damaged hand, he felt arrows impaling into his apprehension more- he slide in his smaller palm, gently trying not to grip too hard

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Dragon winced a little, but didn't show anything more. Then he let go from Alpha's hand, and let it fall to his side.

"You heard what my spy said, my gem is located in the underground and we have to retrieve it before it completely breaks,".

"Do you mind gathering the others so we can all plan it together? I don't know how much time left for me,"

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"Of course" Alpha quickly nodded, dashing off like a flash- going back to the lobby

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Dragon watched as his counterpart dashed off back to the front. He tiredly sighed and ran down a hand to his face. He winced, and realised that he used his cracked arm for it. Taking a last deep breath, he turned and walked back to where Alpha is gathering up the others.

"We will meet again, Retak'ka. But this time, I won't be running away from you... no more."

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       To

          Be

            Continued....