Chapter 4: Natures

XxX

(Snow lands, Abandoned Temple)

The wooden doors of the temple exploded outwards as the massive bulk of an adolescent dragon was thrown through them. Fragments of wood and stone scattered over the snow as Kai struggled to stop himself before he ploughed into a snow drift and got buried.

Ian rushed through the doorway, frantic to reach his brother as the Templar and Vanguard faced off against each other within the ruined temple. They were insane, the riders had both seen people fight before, they had been taught how to protect themselves at the academy but these two were in a different league.

“I'm okay." Kai growled, it felt more like he had been shoved out of the way rather than struck. In fact, he was sure that Skylar had been the one to get him out of the way. Was Drake really that dangerous, or were the Riders just that weak?

XxX

Skylar and Drake pushed away from each other, giving themselves a moments rest before they clashed again. The Templar tried to ignore the feeling of blood running down his side and focus on the problem at hand before Drake rushed in, showing Skylar the Vanguards formidable speed once again. Drake favoured thrusts and slashes with his shorter blade while Skylar struggled to keep his longer weapon in motion moving from attack to defence with fluid grace while Drake simply slipped out of the way of any attack coming his way.

 Skylar was being pushed back despite neither having landed a blow since they started this fight.

 Drake grinned, “Having trouble?"

 Skylar gripped his sword tightly refusing to give in to the taunt. Time for a change in tactics, after all he had his armour and Drake didn't.

 When the Acrisus came back at him again Skylar grabbed the blade with his armoured hand before throwing the Vanguard through the temple's doorway, even if it moved the fight closer to the Riders, he could use his lightning magic much more freely through the snow then the stone floor of the temple.

XxX

Ian pulled his bow from his back when Drake came flying through the door but stopped short of drawing an arrow as Skylar followed, colliding with the Vanguards defence, and pushing them both further out into the snow. The power flowing from them both was incredible, Ian didn't think he could even come close to mustering up a quarter of what they were giving off.

Ian cursed and clutched his bow tight. It cut deeper than he wanted to admit that he would only get in the way if he tried to help. Since when were they so helpless?

Did being the top of their class and the youngest Riders in history mean nothing?

Had all their effort and hard work been for naught?

XxX

Skylar and Drake locked blades again and struggled against one another determined to overpower their respective opponents. Even with the wound in his side Skylar was matching the Acrisus strength for strength.

“Do you know the difference between you and me?" Drake snarled.

“I'm not a traitor who turned their tail on everything they swore to protect."

Anger flashed across Drakes muzzle. “I am protecting the future of my people!"

“By betraying the country where they live?"

“What would you understand you're just a dog of the military."

Indignant rage swelled up inside of the Templar and Skylar pushed back against Drake with new found strength. “I am not a dog!"

Drake struggled to stand his ground, panic taking over before Skylar brought his forehead crashing down onto the Acrisus' snout. Tears blurred Drake's vision as he reeled from the blow and had to jump to the side to avoid Skylar's mad dash.

“You want to know how else we're different?" Drake flipped his knife and rushed the Riders. “I don't bring kids to a fight."

Skylar set off a mere moment after Drake but after that first step Skylar knew that he wasn't going to reach either Ian or Kai before Drake did. 

Desperate to protect his teammates Skylar reached out, the spark of magic that Ian had on him called out to Skylar like a beacon and the Templar grasped it. The stench of Ozone filled the air before Skylar warped in front of a startled Ian in a burst of lightning.

Right into the path of Drake's knife.

 Getting stabbed hurt, it hurt a lot, but Skylar had been bludgeoned, stabbed, and mauled enough times to know how to turn pain into simple rage. Rage that he could use. Drake hesitated, and it cost him, lightning magic poured from Skylar washing over the startled Acrisus as he tried to pull away from the Templar.

Drake only made it a few steps, each arc of lightning struck like an actual bolt, burning straight through his cuirass, and singing great swaths of his scales.

“Checkmate." Skylar growled, the lightning magic around him condensing before lashing out with a single concentrated bolt that pierced through Drakes chest.

For a moment drake stood perfectly still, an uncomprehending look of shock on his muzzle before the Acrisus crumpled into the snow, dead.

 Skylar took a second to ensure that Drake wouldn't get back up before the tightness in his own chest became too much. He staggered away from the body, clutching his abdomen, and gasped as he tried to slow the bleeding. He'd been stabbed twice by the Vanguard and part of him was furious that he had been forced to such extremes to bring him down.

 Ian was still in a state of shock from Skylar putting himself between the rider and what would have certainly been his death, but a rush of panic overwhelmed him at the sight of so much blood dripping down into the snow. He couldn't let his Templar die on their very first mission, this was supposed to be their adventure not a desperate fight for survival.

 The brothers snapped out of their shock at the same time when Skylar fell into a patch of snow. Ian grabbed the First Aid pack from Kai's saddle, quickly pulling out bandages.

 “Right just… just stay still." There was a lot of blood. Ian swallowed back his reaction and started to clean the wound desperate to remember his lessons on first aid.

 “You know what you're doing?" Skylar asked.

 “Not really." Kai admitted, equal parts worried and fascinated.

 “I can do this though." Ian said as a condensed flame ignited in the palm of his hand. With the size of the wound a bandage wouldn't be enough and Ian didn't know how to stitch up an open wound like that. Instead of burning the skin, Ian's flame rolled over Skylar's flesh and blood without so much as a sizzle.

 “That won't work." Skylar coughed.

 “Is every Human fire proof?" Kai growled, not even he was completely impervious yet, not until the last layer of his scales grew in.

 Ian tried to ignore the questions burning in the back of his mind and quickly wrapped Skylar's midsection as best he could, he hoped that it would be enough to see him through the worst of the bleeding.

 “We should get you inside- “

 “No." Skylar said, with a visible effort the Templar hauled himself to his feet and was steadfast as he ignored the pain that screamed at him to stop moving before his body did something embarrassing like faint. The Templar staggered towards Kai. “We're heading back to the Endurance."

 “You can't fly like that." Kai protested, Skylar barely looked strong enough to stay standing let alone fly, even for passengers flying was a train. 

 “He's right, it will kill you."

 “I'll be fine." Skylar took a non-descript grey cube the size of his palm from his pack and moved to press it to Drakes body. Within moments Drake's corpse began to break apart into bright streams of magic, Acia, all of which gathered within the core of Skylar's cube.

 “Was that… Did you just turn him into Acia?" Kai asked now slightly afraid of the cube in the Templar's hand.

 “It's called a tesseract core, stores almost anything." 

 “Including people?"

 “Including people. Now let's get moving."

“Skylar- “

 “it's Lieutenant and don't forget who's in charge here." Kai snapped his muzzle shut and tried to ignore the lump that had developed in his chest from how Skylar looked at him

 “Well, Lieutenant if you go up there, you'll die."

 “I'll survive, now we're going." The three of them stood in a tense silence no one wanted to be the first to back down. 

“The wind has died down." Kai muttered, he looked to his brother, they would get nowhere arguing like they were. “We could fly low for a while."

 “Fine." Ian relented, the rider set about gathering up the first aid supplies and Kai crouched down low enough so Skylar could get on.

 “You know that cube is kind of neat." The dragon said, helping Skylar as best he could while the Templar struggled to clamber onto Kai's back without aggravated his wound. The bandages had slowed the bleeding but already they showed signs of red. Ian climbed on with much more grace and carefully looped his arms around the Templar ready for the flight.

 “Alright let's go!" Kai pushed from the ground and launched into the air with a firm beat of his wings. “I'll show you why we still hold the record for the Fall's Skylar."

 “Falls?" Skylar asked, he needed something to distract him from the pain to distract him from how Ian was the only reason he was still on the dragon's back

 “Yeah, it's a training flight back home, all the Riders used to compete on it, a lot of dragons as well.  As little as you seem to think of the two of us, we are the best flyers to ever complete the route," Ian chuckled.  “If you stay alive, we might show you one day.  I do owe you one."

 “Sounds… like a… p-." Skylar panted before the Templar passed out.

 “Well, that's not a good sign." Kai growled, picking up his pace; he was going to be sore after this.

 “He'll make it.  Templar isn't going to die to a stab wound," Ian muttered, as he made sure Skylar was still held tightly as Kai pushed harder against the wind.  

 “Most people would." The dragon muttered.

XxX

(Two Days Later)

(Endurance, Hanger Deck)

Kai's arrival back into the hanger got more than enough attention to have the lounging riders and Axanar techs come rushing over to them, the dragon briefly recognised Ray and James before he hit the deck and crumpled the moment his feet touched the plating. Kai landed hard but didn't have the energy left to notice as he passed out in a spread-out heap on the hanger floor, he had spent everything to finish the flight home.

 “We need a medic here!" Ray shouted as he helped take a still unconscious Skylar from an equally unconscious Ian.

 “Ian! Are you alright?" James asked, the rider gently slid the young man from Kai's back and laid him out next to his brother, so he could check him for injuries. A medic was already by Skylar's side applying fresh bandages and sending a runner to the Infirmary.

 “How's the rider?" The medic asked.

 “He looks good just drained."

 “No joke there." Tarth growled sniffing at Kai to make sure the whelp was all right. “Spirits if Kai is like this."

 “Yeah, he's probably feeling the backlash from Kai's exhaustion." James agreed.

 “That can happen?" A tech asked.

 “When the partner that you share such a close bond with is feeling nothing but fatigue and pain it can affect the other just as strongly as if the pain is your own." James tried to explain. “The bond doesn't just let us past emotions and thoughts across to one another, things like this happen as well."

 “I think Ian must have transferred a lot of his magic over to the whelp as well, to be in that bad of a state." Tarth rumbled. “They must have barely made in back, how long you think they were flying?"

 “Long enough." James watched as stretchers were brought in for Ian and Skylar before directing the remaining riders to get Kai back to his cave and under their more seasoned care.

XxX

(Endurance: Ian & Kai's Cave)

Ian groaned as he slowly slipped back into the land of the living. He did not feel rested even though some part of him knew that he had been asleep for some time.

 Everything ached his arms, his back, his wings and especially his tail… Wait his tail?

 With some effort Ian was able to pull himself out of his bond with Kai enough so that he didn't physically feel his brothers aches and pains. Kai must have really been feeling it if it was able to bleed over their link that strongly.

Certain once again of what was him and what was Kai, Ian opened his eyes and looked up at the roof of a cave, which was strange as he was sure that they had made it to the Endurance, he could feel the carrier moving beneath him. Ian couldn't remember the last stretch of their flight, between their collected exhaustion and Kai's fatigue the rider had dumped the last of his magic to his brother and let experience alone keep him and Skylar steady.

 Skylar!

 “Woah easy Ian take it slow." A strong, steady hand on his shoulder pushed Ian back down into his bed as he tried to sit up too fast and made the world spin around him. “You're back on board the Endurance, you're in my cave."

 “James?"

 “Yes, it's me, here drink this it'll make you feel better." The cool lip of a bowl pressed against Ian's lips and the rider already knew that he wasn't going to like it. The Ignitus taught all their flyers and riders how to make a tonic that would alleviate the symptoms of overexerting themselves while flying. It was meant to lessen the symptoms of having to fly through storms or long distances as the Riders were sometimes forced to do when alternate transport just couldn't cut it.

 In the immortal words of his father the tonic tasted like grit and spit. It was everything a body needed to keep it going long past the breaking point, but it was offensive to three of his senses. Not only did it smell and taste awful, but the texture would send even the elder dragons running for the hills.

 Though no one ever argued about the effects.

 “Kai?" Ian asked after he had weathered the contents of the bowl.

 “He's okay. Sleeping that flight off but all right. He'll need a few of these when he wakes up long enough to drink something."

 “And Skylar?"

 “He's pulled through just fine, Healers patched him up good and he's already back in his room."

 “How long have we- “

 “Been passed out on your rear-ends?" James joked. “About eight hours now."

 “They let him out of the Infirmary already?" Ian had seen those stab wounds, no way anyone normal could have just got up and started walking around after that, no matter how good the healer.

 “Well he left, saying that the healers let him leave would be a bit of an exaggeration. They've been kicking up a fuss about it in fact, but if Captain Harris doesn't- “

 “Who?"

 “Captain Caleb Harris, he's the officer in Command of the Templar on board and he's Skylar's direct superior." James explained. “Unless he orders Skylar back to the Infirmary or the bastard ble- “

 “Don't call him that." Ian snapped, he had enough energy back to glare at James who was surprised by the ferocity in Ian's eyes.

 “Who? The Lieutenant?" James blinked when Ian only nodded. “When did you get so protective of our resident Rider hater?"

 “He saved my life James. Jumped in front of a blade that would have killed me." Ian admitted, when he said it aloud it somehow made it more real to the rider. He really could have died, Drake had been coming straight for him.  James watched the emotions flicker across Ian's face before laying a gentle hand down on the younger rider's shoulder.

 “What happened to you three?"

 “You don't know?"

 “No, Skylar must have given a report to the Captain, but we don't get one and no one is going to go and bother that bast- redhead." James quickly corrected himself in the face of Ian's scowl. “No one is bothering him for mission gossip."

 Ian told him everything, explained the mission, the Kitsune and Skylar's fight with Drake.

 “I just felt so useless, I had my bow, but I didn't have a chance of hitting Drake. We were useless, and they just moved so fast." Ian admitted. “What's the point of

“Hey enough of that. There's something you need to understand right now." James snapped. “You are not a Templar Ian, you are a Rider, a good rider, we don't jump into the fire like they do because that isn't the job, that not what we bring to the team. We make sure that everyone gets back safe, we're the ones who pull them out of the fire when they're done. That's our job and we do it better than anyone."

 “But- “

 “But nothing Ian." James cut him off. “We're taught how to fly, so we fly. The Templar, the Sentinels even the Vanguard are taught how to fight until it's more natural to them than breathing. We aren't like them, and that's good because they need us to pull them back, to get them home safe."

 Ian mulled over the older rider's words, did they really need the Riders? Sure, Skylar was wounded, and they got him back to the carrier before it was too late for him, but the second time that Skylar got stabbed was because he was defending Ian. 

 “So, you can stop comparing yourself to them Ian, because top of the class, does not equate to top of the world." James smirked.  

 “How do you know about that?"

 “Tarth's brother teaches at the Academy, he mentioned the two of you when we spoke to him a few days ago." James grinned and looked far too pleased with himself. “He may have also mentioned an interesting story about you from your school days."

 Ian groaned and rolled over away from the other Rider, aside from acing the Academy magic courses Ian was famous for only one thing while at the Academy.

 “So, I am genuinely curious where you picked up that bit of magic."

 Ian felt his cheeks burn.

 “Go away."

 James just laughed at his mortification.

XxX

(Endurance, Templar Quarters)

Ian marvelled at how the simplicity of the Templars section of the Endurance could still radiate such a powerful image. There was no finery on any of the walls nor any decorations in the corridors, but the entire section was built from solid Ventarris Oak and the rider felt it thrum under his feet. Ventarris Oak was beyond expensive, it was the best material in the world that could absorb magic and the Ventarris protected their Forest with an almost fanatical zeal. There were barriers and magic arrays all over and throughout the Oak, so many that it made the back of Ian's neck itch.

 There was no doubt in his mind that he had just walked into a Fortress, one built in the heart of Carrier.

 There was nothing like this in the Ignitus caves or areas like the Med bay or even the armoury. What were Templars so afraid of in their own nests?

 Finding Skylar's room was more difficult than he thought it would be, none of the doors were marked with names or ranks. Ian had to ask a passing Templar after wandering around in a full circle. Did they just have the layout committed to memory or something.

 “Enter."

 Skylar's room was sparsely decorated, no pictures or wall coverings, there weren't any racks of weapons lining the walls like Ian had expected. In fact, aside from a bed, desk and a modest wardrobe there wasn't any furniture at all. What dominated the space was a large sandpit, flanked by obsidian obelisks covered with glowing runes. There was a single door inside of the room itself that Ian assume led to a bathroom.

 Skylar himself was sat in the centre of the sand pit, his body enshrouded with an aura of magic. A loose white shirt and slack breeches had replaced his uniform.

 “If you're here to tell me that you don't want to work with me anymore than the paperwork for that is on the desk." Skylar said he hadn't opened his eyes when Ian walked in, but the rider felt as if his every move was being watched. There was a tension in Skylar's aura that set Ian on edge, it almost felt like he was facing a wounded animal and not a man. “Far left, bottom corner you'll find the form."

 “Really?" Ian hated how eager he sounded for just that, considering how Skylar had saved his life during their mission, but up until that point Ian hadn't been able to stand the Templar. His abrasive attitude, the barely restrained aggression in his every action and that hatred whenever he looked at Kai. The riders had been happy with the idea of never working with the Templar again, to have been the latest in his stream of failed teammates.

 Then he went and jumped in front of a blade for Ian, a blade that would have killed him. Ian didn't honestly know how he felt about what happened he had written Skylar off as an ignorant arse after their first day together and considered him borderline psychopathic after they found the Kitsunes, only for him to turn around and save Ian.

 He had to know why.

 “How are you feeling?"

 “I am focusing on a technique to speed the healing process."

 “That doesn't answer my question Skylar."

 “Lieutenant."

 “What?"

 “It's Lieutenant."

 “Right," So they were back to an arse after all. “Sorry for distracting you sir."

 If Skylar noticed how heavily laden that comment had been with sarcasm, he didn't say anything. He didn't do anything, he still hadn't opened his eyes. For a moment Ian stood there, awkwardly trying to figure out how to broach the topic with Skylar.

 “Was there something else you needed Specialist."

 “Why did you do it."

 “Drake was a traitor and he was too strong to simply- “

 “I'm not talking about Drake I'm talking about me." Ian interrupted, he wasn't going to let this go he needed an answer. “Why did you save me."

“Isn't it obvious?" Skylar asked back, now he was looking at Ian.

 “It's really not. Especially when you threatened to kill me and Kai when we found the Kitsune." Ian wasn't going to be getting past that very soon. “How do you go from that to taking a knife in your gut for me?"

 “You were willing to side with bandits! With people who are murderers, thieves and rapists."

 “You don't know that." Ian Snapped.

 “No, what I do know is that they led me away and then threatened you and your brother for a quick payday." Skylar growled. “They were stealing from us."

 “And that justifies killing them all!" Ian was shouting now, he couldn't believe they were arguing about murdering people.

 “Yes!"

 “How can you- “

 “Just because they were only going to steal from us doesn't not mean that they will have the same restraint the next time or the time after that, and what about all the people before us?" Skylar said cutting through Ian's shouts. “Those sorts of areas are full of bandits that kill people for the sport of it. They were a threat and – “

 “They weren't a threat."

 “Not to me, me! A templar but what about other people? They had you and your brother at the tip of blade? Are you telling me they weren't a threat to you?" Skylar pressed. “There were twenty-five Kitsune in that tribe, do you think they'll be as kind to someone who doesn't have a templar with them?"

 “I- “Ian wanted to say that they wouldn't do that, but he couldn't. He knew that they would have roughed him up and hurt Kai if they caused trouble, but would they have killed him? “Well… Well why did you bother saving me then?"

 “Because you're my teammate!" Ian blinked and took a hasty step back Skylar was suddenly up and in his space. “I protect my team!"

 “That's it?"

 “It's all I need." Skylar growled. “What reason would you prefer? What excuse should I give you? How about because you're younger than me, or you're a rider, or that I'm stronger than you? Maybe I like you, maybe I don't but you're useful to me."

 “I- “

 “You say that's all?" Skylar cut Ian off again. “I say it's everything."

 The two stared at each other, Skylar daring Ian to test his conviction while the rider was forced to rethink his option on the Templar.

 Eventually Ian found his voice.

 “Well… Thank you."

 “For what?" Skylar frowned.

 That made Ian blink, was Skylar being deliberately dense?

“For saving me."

 “You don't ha- “

 “I want to." Ian interrupted, smiling at Skylar. “So, thank you Lieutenant Ventaris for saving my life."

 Skylar clearly didn't know what to say but Ian was done anyway, he had a lot that he needed to think about.

 “Don't forget the forms." Skylar muttered as Ian turned to walk out. “On the desk far left."

 “I won't be needing them." Ian smirked, he reached the door just as he heard a small 'why' from the Templar. “Why what?"

 “Why do you want to stay part of my team?"

 “After you just gave that little speech about protecting your team you think I'm going to run away?" Ian laughed, throwing Skylar another smile over his shoulder. “besides I'm never going to grow if I don't take risks and I have a feeling that you take a lot."

 Ian left with a smile hoping that Kai wouldn't burst a blood vessel because of what he had basically just agreed to. Neither one of them had been very keen on taking another mission with the Templar, or the maniac as they were calling him.

 Ian turned the corner planning on heading back to Kai and walked face first into someone coming the other way, the Rider ended up on his butt rubbing his nose and blinking away tears from the impact.

 “Well hello there." Ian looked up and his mind went blank.

 Staring down at him with the most vibrant green eyes that Ian had ever seen and with a grin spread across his muzzle was a wolf. He was a few inches taller than six feet with light grey fur accented by blue markings across his muzzle, neck, paws and the tip of his tail which the wolf was wagging casually. He wore a Templar's uniform with a set of heavy wrappings around his foot paws which was unusual considering that Terrans didn't need to wear wraps or boots due to the pads on their paws. The Captain rank on his shoulder pauldron was what drew Ian's attention, however. This was Skylar boss.

 “Specialist Ian Ignitus, right?" The wolf said, before he offered a paw to help Ian up. “Here let me help with that." The wolf was instantly in Ian's personal space drying Ian's eyes for him. “Much better."

 “Yeah." Ian didn't know to blush at the personal contact or to push the wolf away from getting all touchy with him. “Nice to meet you sir."

 “Oh, you know me already?"

 “The rank gives you away sir."

 “Well that's no fun, in any case." The wolf gave a theatrical bow as he introduced himself. “I am Captain Caleb Harris, a pleasure to meet you."

 “Specialist Ian Ignitus." Ian said as he returned the bow. Caleb grinned and threw and arm around the Riders shoulders.

 “Now did you have a good visit with our friend?"

“I think it went well sir."

 “At ease Ian you don't have to sir me all the time, I'm glad your visit went well hopefully mine will as well." Caleb twisted around Ian gracefully before the Templar stopped and whirled around on the Rider. “Oh, before I forget to remind Skylar to tell you. Petty officer Damaren will be coming to see you tomorrow to help you fill out an after-action report from your mission. He'll even write out Kai's as well if your brother is feeling up to dictating tomorrow."

 “Thank you, sir." Ian hadn't even thought about having to write a mission report. He was also having a hard time connecting this wolf to the commanding officer of the Templar aboard the Endurance. Whatever Ian had been expecting this happy, infectious sort of cheer oozing from Caleb complete with a steadily wagging tail was certainly not it. He had been expecting an older version of Skylar.

 “Not a problem, I figure that the pair of you would like today to rest. Not everyone can be as stubborn as this one." Caleb jerked his thumb at Skylar door with a grin. “See you around Ian."

 The rider froze as the Captain winked at him and left with a swish of his tail.

 What just happened?

XxX

(Endurance, Skylar's Quarters)

 “Caleb." Skylar grunted in greeting, he had gone back to sitting in the centre of the sand pit to focus on his wound.

 “Skylar." Caleb let some of the happy persona fade into the background as he made his way over to Skylar. “You know the healers are giving me a headache about you."

 “So, business as usual."

 “Yeah screw the attitude Skylar, you're causing me a lot of headaches now." Caleb growled the wolf glanced over to the desk and grunted in surprised. “The pup didn't take the out you gave him then?"

 “No, he didn't." Skylar said, he wasn't sure what to think of his conversation with Ian, but he knew that the rider was here to stay now.  

 “You going to keep them then?"

 Even though he fully intended to give them a chance Skylar hesitated, he sensed the weight behind that question and turned to give his commanding officer his full attention.

 “Do I have a choice?"

 “Of course, you have a choice." Caleb smiled, and Skylar felt cold dread creep up his spine. “You can choose to actually start a team with these fine young Riders who meet your every criteria or you can go back to whatever Alastor had planned for you."

 Skylar sometimes forgot that behind Caleb's persona of the happy approachable wolf there was a Templar with over a century of experience with absolutely zero mercy when things started to aggravate him. The Lieutenant wisely chose to keep his opinions to himself.

“That's what I thought, you've had a six months and fifteen sets of candidates Skylar, there's nothing wrong with these boys so make it work." Caleb ordered flicking through a few files on Skylar's desk. “You need to get started on the backlog of assignments, it can be your trial by fire for the pair."

  “They aren't combat ready sir."

 “Then make them ready, you have the instructor courses so make use of them." Caleb said giving Skylar a long look.

 “I'll clear out some of the easier runs then take them away for a week, smooth out the edges." Skylar said already running through some of the exercises that he could do.

 “Sounds like the start of a plan to me." Caleb agreed but before the wolf turned to leave, he seemed to remember something. “Oh, they aren't going to be a problem, are they?"

 “Sir?"

 “The riders?"

 “It's a human and a dragon sir, I can handle them."

 “Don't dodge the question Skylar I know you know who they are."

 “It won't be a problem sir."

 “Good."

XxX

(Endurance, Ian & Kai's Cave)

 Kai was awake by the time Ian got back to their cave, but the dragon was not in favour of Ian's choice.

 “You did what?" Kai growled, fixing Ian with a look that spoke volumes about his opinion. “You almost died on the first mission we did with that maniac remember?"

 “Yeah, but you must admit, tracking in a snowstorm, making the flight back to the carrier, talking down a tense situation, fighting a Vanguard - it's more experience than I thought we'd get in years, condensed into a couple of days.  He doesn't make things uneventful," Ian pointed out.  “Think about it as a development opportunity."

 “Why do we want experience?" Kai asked. “What do you think we're going to be doing to need experience?"

 “It'll make us better Riders, won't it?  Think how many of the order just float around for decades without doing anything of note," Ian replied.  “Drake wasn't off the mark when he said we were Templar errand boys, you know.  Think about it.  What else to Riders do?"

 “Isn't that enough? You know what being noteworthy sounds like to me?" Kai said. “Painful. Skylar seems to be noteworthy, look at him."

“Come off it, we didn't sneak into the Rider academy for you to settle for this."  Ian shook his head.  “I get your point about why Skylar's noteworthy, but that's not what I mean.  It's a stepping stone to bigger things, I don't...look, the world is bigger than our mountain, alright?  I want to get out there, see things, change things.  I'm sure we'd be comfortable and painless just doing what every other Rider does, but wouldn't you look back and wish we'd done it differently?"

 “Ian you're nineteen, I'm thirteen, dad is… however old dad is, we have decades to…." Kai sighed. “To sit around on a mountain. I thought you wanted to see the world not change it?"

 “I mean, I doubt the rest of Terra is perfect," Ian pointed out.  “But we'll not even get to see the world unless we start stepping out of our comfort zones."

 Kai stayed silent for a long time until the dragon growled quietly and bumped Ian with his muzzle. “Fine, I suppose I can keep proving how awesome I am if we stick with him. Tarth was practically in awe of how I flew us back so fast."

 “As he should be.  I'd bet you're the fastest flyer in the Riders," Ian grinned, patting the top of said muzzle.  “The Templars ought to be impressed by people other than themselves for a change, anyway."

 “Well then you need to step up your game." Kai teased, before the dragon yawned. “Hmm, I'm going back to sleep, I've been force fed a few gallons of spit and grit, but I still feel like I haven't slept in weeks. Please don't do anything insane while I'm out again."

 “Yeah, rest up.  Think you've earned it," Ian grinned, flicking Kai's nose for the teasing and trying to work out where he could go to kill some time.

XxX

(Snow lands)

“Come on let's get moving!" Konaga shouted over the snowstorm. “I want to be far away from here before those riders have a chance to get back to their carrier!"

 Konaga looked over his tribe of Kitsune and swished his four tails to get some feeling back in them. He spotted Kanan hauling a heavy pack out from their camp and nodded to his son. When that Templar had grabbed him Konaga had frozen, the aura coming from the redheaded monster had nothing to do with why he couldn't move. Konaga had been terrified that he was going to have to watch his son die in front of him.

 Konaga shook himself and got back to work, it was over now, and the tribe wouldn't get anywhere if he wasted all his time daydreaming. He had no doubt that the Templar would give away their location when he returned to his base. So, despite the risk of traveling in heavy snow the tribe had to move and use all the time that they had to cover as much ground as they could.

 It was almost a week into their relocation when it happened. In the early morning hours, their camp was packed up and they were getting really to move out when it came. Ice sprung up from out of the snow and engulfed every kitsune up to their muzzles. Konaga felt the cold seep straight through his fur and into his bones. He twisted as much as he could be trying to catch sight of Kanan, to make sure that he was alright, but a voice drifted over the wind, drawing all attention towards it.

“So rare to find Kitsune these days." Konaga growled as a woman stepped into his field of view. She was human with long brown hair that was flapping about in the wind and she stared at Konaga with a piercing set of grey eyes that bored into him.

 Templar. How had one found them so fast? They hadn't stopped moving since the other one had the information he wanted and left with the riders. The woman walked right up to Konaga and he felt the ice get even colder around him as she gripped his jaw in her Iron grip.

 “Now, you and I are going to have a little chat."