"Wow! What a smart way to Druun-proof your house. Build right on the water. People of Talon are geniuses." Sisu said as you, her and Raya came out of the boat. You and Raya put the capes and the hats on. "Yeah. Talon may look nice, but it's a hotspot for pickpockets and con artists." Raya said. "Lucky for me. Empty pockets!" Sisu said. She showed you the empty pockets. "Okay, so here's the good news. We know where the gem piece is. The bad news? It's being held by the notorious Chief of Talon, Dang Hai. What Dang Hai lacks in style, he makes up in mean." Raya said. "Gotcha. Now, we're just gonna have to turn up the charm. Let's go get him a gift." Raya quickly stopped her. "Sisu, I think maybe it's safer for you to stay here on the boat." She said. "What?" Sisu asked. "Without you, we can't put the gem back together." You answered. "But I wanna help." She said. "I know, and you will. Just stay safe for now. Okay?" You placed your hand on her back.

"We'll be back before you know it." Raya said. "If you see any hungry faces, send'em my way." Boun said as he finished tieing the rope. "You got it, Captain." You waved to him before you turned your head to the town. You smiled as you walked through the town. "Hey, there's Dang Hia's house." You said. "All right, no detours till we score that Dragon Gem. Okay?" Raya asked. "Got it." You said. You then heard what sounded like a baby crying. You quickly went over to her and picked her up. "Hi, cutie. Are you lost? Where are your parents?" You asked. You heard Raya yell and looked back to see ongis had the gem pieces in their hands. "What? Ongis?! Drop'em!" The ongis quickly escaped. You then got kicked to the ground. You quickly stood back up. "Really? A con baby?!" You asked. You and Raya quickly followed them.

You both ran after Noi. You saw she and the ongis go on the bridge as you and Raya followed. You chased them until they jumped down on the boats. "Hey, watch out!" Raya grunted as she went on the riverside. The ongi that has Noi on his back hopped on the basket full of rambutan to Raya but she easily sliced them out of her way. She kept her gaze on them before she slid down to the boat to catch them when they came towards her. But then they grabbed each other's hand and foot and threw themselves over the two of you. Raya widened her eyes as Noi waved her hand with a smirk. "Bye!" You then began to pick up speed as you followed them, leaving Raya behind. "Huh? (Y/n), wait!" She called. Suddenly a diaper flew toward her. "Ah! Diaper!" She dodged it, and the ongi quickly put the new diaper on her before they went to the tiny hole on the wall. You saw that they were about to go through the fence and ran to it. You then closed it and they crashed into it. Raya then caught up with you.

You then looked down to see the baby and her dogs. "Give them back, please." You said. Noi sighed and gave you back the gem pieces. "So, it's none of our business, but using your baby charm to rip people off..." Raya kneeled as she booped her nose who grunted and flicked her hand away. "... is super sketchy." She said. You kneeled down to her. "Where are your parents?" You asked softly. Noi stuck her tongue out as a reply before walking away. One of her dogs then gestured that they were turned to stone. "Oh." You said sadly. You then got an idea. "Hey. How would you like to earn some honest loot?" You asked. The baby and her dogs turned around. "Eh?" She asked. "(Y/n), what are you doing?" Raya asked. You smirked. "Trust me on this one." You said. Noi and her dogs distracted the guards as you and Raya snuck past them into the building. "All right, Dang Hai, we'll take that Dragon Gem piece." Raya said as she took out her sword.

"Whoa! I'm not Dang Hai." The man said. You looked at him with confusion. "Who are you?" You asked. "I'm Chai, the flower guy." Chai replied as he gestured to the flower basket in his hand. "Where is Dang Hai?" Raya asked. "He's right over there." You both turned to see Dang Hai has turned into stone. "Oh no." You mumbled. "What? Who has his gem piece?" Raya asked. "The most vicious chief Talon has ever seen." "Who is it?" You asked. "Dang Hu." He said. You and Raya rode on Tuk Tuk as you were heading to the outskirt of the town. You saw the Talon guards about to close the gates and Dang Hu was holding the gem piece in her hand. Tuk Tuk leaped opening the door as you took the gem piece out of her hand without her knowing. "Raya! (Y/N)!" Sisu said. "Stop them!" You used your hands to blast the Druun away from Sisu. Sisu climbed on Tuk Tuk. "Sisu, we told you to stay on the boat!" Raya said. "Sorry!" She apologized. "This is the new piece, Sisu." You gave her the third piece. Then fog came out of her that covered Talon guards' sight.

"Fog?!" Raya asked. "Yeah. That was my brother Jagan's magic." Sisu said as you three went to Boun's boat. "Okay. Three down, two to go." Tuk Tuk landed on the boat as Raya got down. "All right, Captain Boun, next stop, Spine- Aah!" She yelped. Raya dodged the pot thrown by. Noi and the Ongis were eating Boun's congee. "Thanks for the new customers!" He said. "Yeah, we sort of promised to buy them all the congee they could eat." You said. "Well, we're stuck with them for a while. 'cause ongis have nine stomachs." He said. You sat beside Sisu. "I can't believe it. That old lady was really gonna hurt me." She said. You patted her back. "Well, I'm sorry, Sisu, but that's what the world is now. You can't trust anyone." Raya said. "Does that include babies?" Sisu said as she gestured to Noi. "Uh, well..." You said. "She's so cute. I mean, look at those cheeks." Noi pulled her cheeks as she pinched them. "Hi, I'm Sisu." She squealed as she climbed and hugged her face. "She loves my face." Sisu said. "Yeah, watch out she doesn't steal your teeth." Raya said. "Here." You got Noi off Sisu but she gripped on her hair, pulling it. You then pulled her away.

~Fang's land~

"Chief Virana, We're running out of room. We need to expand to the main land." General Atitaya said to the chief as she looked at the map. "And how do you propose we handle the Druun, General Atitaya? Without proper protection, it would be a death sentence for our people." Virana said. said. "I might have a solution for that, Mother." Virana turned to see her daughter Namaari. "My little morning mist... Oh, it's good to see you home." Virana gestured for her to come over. She then reported her journey. "I located Raya and (Y/n). They're out stealing gem pieces." She said. "What?" Her mother asked. "I'd like to take the royal army and intercept them in Spine." She said. "Well, if they're going into Spine," she pointed out at the map that the Spine's guards surrounded the land. "I doubt there'll be much left of them to intercept." She said. "They're more capable than you realize. Plus Raya has (Y/n)'s powers to help her. As long as she has those by her side she'll be unstoppable." Namaari said.

Virana placed her hand on her shoulder as she said. "Walk with me." She then led her out of the palace with General Atitaya behind. "Look around. We made all this by making smart decisions, not emotional ones. We are safe. Our canal protects us from those monsters. I don't think it's wise to risk yourself when you don't have to." "But you heard the general." Namaari protested. "We're running out of space. We need to expand. If we had all the gem pieces, we could do that safely. You're right. This isn't an emotional decision. It's the only decision we can make to secure Fang's future." She said. Virana smiled. "you're truly growing into the leader I raised you to be." She then turned to the general and the guard as she gave them the command. "General Atitaya, ready the royal army for my daughter's command." "Thank you, Mother. I won't let you down." Namaari said as she then went back inside to prepare for going to Spine.

~back on the boat~

You were looking at the map of Kumandra before a shrimp fell on it. You turned to see Noi and the ongis were eating the shrimps before Boun stopped them. "Hey! Stop eating!" Boun's hottest spicy got on the sweets, Tuk Tuk accidentally ate them as he groaned before he spat them on the river. "Sorry, buddy, we got this." You looked at the commotion. "Did you just throw a shrimp at me? That's not even edible! Don't look at me like that!" Bonu said. "Uh... Hey, guys? Do you wanna play hide-and-seek?" You said with a gentle voice, Noi and ongis clapped their hands as they wanted to. "All right. Ready?" You covered your eyes as they quickly went somewhere to hide. "One. Two." You peaked one eye to look at Boun who smiled at you and whispered. "Thanks." "Three. Four." You counted as you and Raya went to the front to sit beside Sisu.

"Being people is hard." said Sisu. "Yep." "You have small heads. No tails. You lie to get what you want, like the Talon chief back there." "Yeah, well, the world's broken. You can't trust anyone." She said. "Or maybe the word's broken because you don't trust anyone." Her words surprised her. "You sound just like my Ba." She said. "Well, he sounds like a smart man." Sisu said. "Yeah, he was. I really wanted to believe him. I really wanted to believe that we could be Kumandra again." She said. "And we can." Sisu said. "Our father and thousands of people turned into stone would argue otherwise." Raya said. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't try." "And we did. And you know what happened? We got kicked in the back by someone who gave my sister a gift. Look around. We're a world of orphans because people couldn't stop fighting over a gem. Wanna know why other dragons didn't come back? It's because people don't deserve them." Raya said. "But you can change that." Sisu said. "No, Sisu, I am done trying. Kumandra is a fairy tale. The only thing important to me now is bringing our Ba back and protecting my sister." Raya said.

"Um... I think we're in Spine." You turned your head to see the bamboo forest as you were told when you were young. Sisu suddenly grabbed the congee pot as she hopped on the stump to cross. "Sisu!" Raya said. ""Hey, my congee!" Bonu said. You and Raya followed Sisu. "Sisu! Come back! Please! What... What are you doing?!" Raya asked. "I'm going to show you that you're wrong!" Sisu said. "How? By getting squashed by a bunch of Spine rage-heads?" Raya asked. "No. By proving to you that if you wanna get someone's trust, you have to give a little trust first." Sisu grabbed the handle, you and Raya knew it was a trap. "Wait, Sisu, don't..." You three got trapped inside. "In hindsight, maybe I was a little hasty, but, uh, who's hungry? No? I'll leave you alone." Sisu said. Later the three of you were tied up by ropes in someone's house. "Interesting choice of digs." Sisu said. "You three must be dung of brain to think you could steal Spine's Dragon Gem." A man said. "Gem? Who said anything about gems? We have no interest in gems." Raya said. The man poured the gems from the bag out. "Okay, yeah, I can see how that makes me look like a liar." Raya said.

"Actually, I think it was the lying that made you look like a liar." You said. "Hang on." You then got the three of you out of the ropes. The man's face was priceless. "Ho- how?" He asked. "My sister's magical." Raya smirked. The man then smirked. "Oh, I see. So you must be (Y/n)." He said. "Well, young lass, it was a big mistake for you to set foot in my land." He said. You smirked. "Oh yeah? Why's that?" You asked. "Because, now Spine will have someone to protect and save their land." He said. "It's been so long since anyone has come to Spine." He said. "So long." He said. "He seems lonely." Sisu said. "No! I'm not lonely. I'm a Spine warrior! I was born and bred to do only one thing. To invoke fear and to crush the skulls of my enemies!" He said. "That's actually two things." You said. "Whatever. Now, come with me, lass. It'll be fun being a Spine warrior." He smirked.

Suddenly someone burst into the door and attacked him. The ongis quickly wrapped the rope around him, Tuk Tuk and Noi groaned as he looked at them. "A little one?" The man asked. Boun then jumped down in front of you. "You stay away from her!" He said. "You got here fast." You said. "Fang's here!" You turned to him with shock as you looked through the door. "What?" You and Raya saw Namaari with the guards behind her, she was shouting outside the gate. "People of Spine, we are hunting for Raya and (Y/n), fugitives from Heart! Send them out, or we're coming in!" You then noticed a bunch of people turned into stone. "You're the only one here?" You asked. "My people battled the Druun with much valor, but lost." You noticed the cradle with an elephant doll on it.

"Okay, don't worry, if I can distract them, then you guys can get out of here." Raya gave you the gem pieces. "You're gonna fight an entire army?" You asked. "No, (Y/n). I'm just gonna stall them. Look, I know how to push Namaari's buttons. And once you guys are clear, I'm out of there." You nodded. You then kneeled down to the man's height to talk with him. "What's your name?" You asked. "The moniker given to me is Tong." He said. "Okay, Tong, look, you don't know me, and I don't know you, but I'm sure that you know a back door or a way outta here, and it's really important that my sister and my friends stay safe, okay? So, I am sincerely asking you, will you help us? Please." Tong nodded as Sisu smiled.

The Fang's guards raised the crossbow with the flaming arrows up as they prepared to shoot. "Okay." Raya mumbled to as she put the hat on. "Note to self, don't die." She said. "Burn them out." Namaari said before she noticed the door opened, seeing Raya. "Hey there, Princess undercuts. Fancy meeting you here." She said as they both confronted each other. "Your sister and the Dragon Gem pieces are coming with me." Namaari said. "My sword here says they're not." Raya took out her sword. Namaari raised her hand, gesturing the guards to shoot. "Yeah, I knew you couldn't handle rolling solo. You're nothing without your band." Raya said. "Stand down." The guards lowered their crossbows. "This shouldn't take long." Raya and Namaari smirked as Namaari swung her spear while Raya took off her cape and hat. Raya took a glance to see Tuk Tuk was carrying Noi away.

They attacked with their weapons as Raya took a glance to see the ongis and Boun sneaking out. Raya then blocked Namaari's spear before she flicked the spear out of her hand with her sword. "Did you need that, dep la?" She sarcastically scolded before Namaari kicked her and took her sword from her. "Nah." She said before she threw Raya's sword away. "Looks like somebody's been taking classes." Raya said before she quickly stood up and threw punches as one of them hit her face. Namaari grunted as she used Thai-boxing to hit her, Raya kicked her in the stomach before she could kick her down but unfortunately, Namaari blocked her foot in time. She then threw her down on the ground. "Why are you stealing gem pieces?!" Raya groaned before she looked to see you, Tong and Sisu were sneaking out.

"Oh, I'm just trying to get a matching set." Raya sarcastically replied before she tried to punch her again but Namaari easily stopped her. "Where is (Y/n)?! Tell me!" Raya grunted. "Like I said before, I would never betray my own sister like that!" Raya shouted. Namaari grunted with her fist clenched as she then kicked Raya to the ground. "You didn't happen to bring Fang's gem, did you?" Raya tried to throw a punch but Namaari dodged and kicked her in the face. You stopped running  as you watched the two battle. You knew that you had to do something to stop them from hurting each other anymore then they already had. "No? Never mind. I'll just swing by and grab it later." Raya grunted as she turned to face her. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this." Namaari said as she held her collar, ready to punch her. But suddenly, a fog blown from behind, she let go as she was confused about what happened. Her eyes widened as she saw Sisu. Boun, Noi, the ongis, and Tong were shocked as they had witnessed you and Sisu with their eyes. You were in your dragon form as you and Sisu glared angrily at her and raised up at Namaari who was terrified of the two of you, you then roared at her before you saw the look in her eyes. "Yep, she's a dragon. And my sister can turn into one. Let's go. Come on!" Raya said as she pushed her friends to escape from Namaari. You and Sisu quickly went back to Raya. You looked at her one last time before you followed everyone else.