FicWad

Character Profiles:

DarkFire the Drakehog (My Character)

Nicknames: DarkFire, DF, Dark

Gender: Female

Species: Half Dragon, half Hedgehog

Age: 12

Appearance: DarkFire wears a dark blue shirt with jeans, with a belt and two daggers, with red hilts. Her body is dark bluish-purple, and she has dragon's wings, claws and a dragon's tail. She wears orange spiked shoes. Two of her quills resemble dragon horns, and are others are long. Two of her other quills come from the side of her head, and curve inwards. Two others come from higher up, and also curve inwards, as though something is supposed to fit there. DarkFire has orange pupils. Her body has scales. She sometimes carries a black jewelled staff with strange markings. (Necromancer’s staff)

Abilities: DarkFire can fly faster than Sonic, and can run almost as fast as him. She has complete control over shadows and fire, and can breathe fire. She is skilled at wielding her daggers and is good at martial arts. DarkFire has another form, called “Full Dragon DarkFire”. She can also turn any weapon she is wielding into flame. She is has the powers of a necromancer, but her necromancer powers are extremely weak. She can make her staff appear or disappear at anytime she wants.

Full Dragon DarkFire: DarkFire has another form, called Full Dragon DarkFire. This occurs when she is angry, or in extremely rare cases, when she is feeling desperate. In this form, DarkFire’s quills and wrists emit a ring of fire. Her body is very hot, and she can make herself glow red. Her necromancer’s staff, if she is holding it, is on fire, and if she brings anyone back to life, the person is on fire, and it does no harm. When she returns to normal, though, she feels very tired, and needs a lot of rest to gain strength. Her full abilities in this form are unknown, as she has only been in this form a few times.

Strengths: She cannot take any damage from anything hot, including very hot water. Her scaly body greatly decreases damage from physical damage. She is skilled at defending herself with her abilities.

Weaknesses: Water weakens her abilities greatly, and makes her feel very tired. If DarkFire uses her necromancer abilities, she is immediately weakened, and needs time to recover from the condition. (Happens because her powers are undeveloped)

Personality: She is normally friendly and understanding. She likes making people laugh, and has a good sense of humour. She sometimes acts like an adult. When she is very angry, a personality which she calls the "Inner Dragon" comes out. This personality is mostly the opposite of her normal personality. This happens very rarely.

Other Facts: DarkFire is very uninterested in love and romance. She becomes aggressive when anyone asks her out for a date or anything of that sort. DarkFire, in severe cases of romance, can possibly have her “Inner Dragon” personality come out for a long time. She can turn into a super form with the Chaos Emeralds.

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Kate the Leopard (My Character)

Nicknames: Kate

Gender: Female

Species: Leopard

Age: 14

Appearance: Kate’s fur is orange with black spots. She wears a black tank top with a picture of skull and crossbones. She also wears red pants with black shoes. Kate also has a large, bushy tail and sharp teeth. Her fur is thick.

Abilities: Kate is very athletic and is skilled at wielding any weapon. She can shapeshift into any shape, and she has enhanced senses. But when Kate shapeshifts, she does not have the abilities of whatever she is morphing into. She is very strong, so she is skilled at hand-to-hand combat. Being a leopard, she can run as fast as Sonic. Kate occasionally bites her enemies.

Strengths: Water does barely any harm to Kate. She can swim. And if there are any objects nearby, she can use them to attack and defend. If anyone does a slow attack, Kate can shapeshift to avoid the attack.

Weaknesses: Kate is weak against fire attacks and heat. She is weak when there are no weapons to wield. When she is burnt, the burn takes a long time to heal.

Personality: Kate is normally unfriendly and ruthless, and is rude. But she will do anything for a good friend, like DarkFire. She likes taunting her enemies to make them let their guard down. She also takes a long time to trust someone.

Other Facts: Kate gets confused and offended easily. When she is bored, all she wants to do is sleep. She usually notices important things before others do. She sometimes becomes slightly irritated during romance scenes, as DarkFire is usually around when she is somewhere, and she complains. Kate also respects people who stand up for their rights, or for what is right (Gee, this sounds strange…)

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LightClaw the Betrayer (My Character)

Nicknames: LightClaw, Betrayer of Light, DarkClaw (rarely used)

Gender: Female

Species: Unknown (May be an Echidna, and is referred to as an Echidna)

Age: 15

Appearance: LightClaw normally has light pink fur with black gloves. Her hands will turn into claws at will. LightClaw wears a plain black shirt with black pants. She also wears dark red high-heel shoes, and has blue eyes. She has a human form. In her human form, she wears a pink shirt with a mini skirt. In both forms, she also wears a blue necklace. She has a belt, and it holds a gun, and some bullets.

Abilities: LightClaw can produce light and use a series of light-based attacks, including a light blast. She can control light. LightClaw can change her fur colour whenever she wants to. She has a human form. LightClaw is also skilled at being unnoticed, and is a good thief. She is skilled at using her gun, and steals bullets.

Strengths: LightClaw is unaffected by light. She is good at disguising herself as someone else, and is a very skilled thief.

Weaknesses: LightClaw is weak against darkness, despite being evil. She is very gullible and will fall for almost every trick.

Personality: LightClaw’s personality changes all the time. She tries to confuse enemies. But she is also easily confused, by both plans by others and her own plans. LightClaw is a backstabber, and will do anything to achieve her goals, and she does not care how many people she finishes off, as long as she achieves her goals.

Other Facts: LightClaw might be an echidna, but she has hands which can turn into dragon’s claws whenever she desires. She will go hyperactive if she drinks red cordial or any fizzy drink. She recruits many men to do her bidding a lot of the time, and uses technology a lot of the time (helicopters, lasers, etc.)

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Jane the Crow (My Character)

Nicknames: Jane, The Depressed Crow (Used to offend her)

Gender: Female

Species: Crow

Age: 16

Appearance: Jane has black feathers, and large, feathery wings. Some of Jane’s feathers are dark purple. She wears a dark purple shirt with black pants. Her shoes are black. She wears a red bracelet with large red beads with a small magical knife on a chain, disguised as a USB drive with a swivel cap. She is a little shorter than DarkFire. Her pupils are blue, but Jane can make then change colours.

Abilities: Jane can fly as fast as Sonic, and her knife has a small orange gem, and it enables her to call a bolt of lightning from the sky without opening the USB drive. She can do it, even if there are no clouds. Jane can confuse enemies and sometimes make them forget things with her powers. She also can put strange thoughts into other’s minds (victim can “fight” with the strange thoughts). Jane is very good at flying, and sometimes strikes her enemies with her wings.

Strengths: Jane is a very intelligent crow, and can see things from other’s point of view. She reads a lot, and knows a lot. She can swim. Jane’s feathers provide warmth for her in cold weather.

Weaknesses: Jane is mentally weak. She always seems depressed, and is willing to sacrifice herself for someone else. In the heat, with black feathers, she struggles, as black absorbs heat very well.

Personality: Jane is normally seems depressed and lonely, and is very doubtful, sometimes. But she will do anything for a friend. Jane would rather be a follower than a leader. She is very modest. She can be very destructive when angered, and never trusts strangers, and takes a long time for someone to earn her trust. Jane is also a pessimist.

Other Facts: Jane tries to act as normal as possible. She is also an emo, and hides her cuts on her wrist with her bracelet. As a result, she never takes off her bracelet, and no-one knows she is an emo. She can turn into a super form with the Chaos Emeralds, but she doesn’t know she could.

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Prologue:

"Who is this?"

"A young drakehog, most likely."

"We have to look after her. What should we call her?"

"We'll decide later. She'll make a good addition to our clan."

Two people took the young drakehog to a nearby forest. But little did they know what she would do to them in the future.


Chapter 1: The Fire

"Run! Over there! Don't let it escape!"

DarkFire ran over to the bear. She took out her weapon - a long, jewelled staff. She struck the creature in the limbs.

"Not there! How many times have I told you to strike the heart?"

"I'm a dragon tamer, not a hunter!!" replied DarkFire.

An orange leopard was teaching a drakehog to hunt. She was annoyed. "This doesn't seem normal for a clan. Clans don't hunt for food, don't they? Why do I have to do this? I hate all the members of this" she spat.

DarkFire raised her staff. It glowed for a second. DarkFire collapsed. And a dingo ran out from the bushes. And it ran away.

The leopard looked at DarkFire in shock. "I swear... that dingo... it was dead before! Could it be........." She picked up DarkFire, and brought her back to their leader.

"...and Kate saw a dingo which was dead come back to life!"

DarkFire groaned. She woke up, and saw a shadowy figure the same height as her. And it was in front of what seemed like an echidna girl wearing a pink shirt. She was wearing a mini skirt and she had claws.

"Where's the leopard?" asked the girl.

"Don't worry about her. She did nothing for her student. And she's got a name, you know. Her name's Kate" said the shadowy figure.

"Student?"

"In this group, when a member reaches the age of fourteen, she or he selects another member and becomes their teacher until they are both fourteen years of age or older."

"What do they teach?"

"They teach traditions and hunting skills. Tomorrow, we'll see them in action. We'll go to sleep now."

The two then took sleeping bags and placed them in a pit in the ground. They then crawled into them, and went to sleep. Something caught DarkFire's eye in the chilly night. She saw a building engulfed in red - it was on fire. The flames crackled and embers rose and lit the scene up like a bunch of fireflies. Screams were heard. And people were running away, afraid the fire would catch onto their property. A screeching sound was heard as several cars drove off into the night. And the flames rose high up into the sky, like a beast ready to swallow up the house. The flames lit up the street.

Excited, DarkFire stood up, and looked at the building. She raced towards the crumbling building. And she walked straight into the flaming doorway. DarkFire looked around the place. She never knew how it was like to be in a burning building. She smiled as the flames wrapped around her. It filled her with warmth and strength. She never felt anything like it before. It was heaven, compared to living with the clan. But a scream pierced the eerie silence which followed.

"Help!" shouted the voice. "Save me! I'm in the burning building!"

DarkFire then suddenly jerked her head up. And the voice was oddly familiar.

"Over here! Help me!"

DarkFire suddenly came to her senses. She realised she was in a burning building, to save someone. She scoured the house, looking for any possible sign of a living person. DarkFire then came across the bathroom. And she saw an orange figure, cowering in the corner. Its fur was covered in soot from the fire.

"DarkFire?" said the figure.

"Kate? Why are you here?" said DarkFire.

"Help me!" Kate screamed. A wall of fire then separated the two. Kate was trapped.

DarkFire sprung into action. She extinguished the wall of fire, and took Kate's hand. DarkFire then took out a can of hairspray. She threw it at the now-fragile wall, and it broke. The can exploded like a bomb. It blasted the wall. DarkFire knew she could now fly out with Kate. The house trembled. The ceiling was caving in. It fell down, and the plaster rained down on DarkFire and Kate. The house trembled further. The house was collapsing. In an instant, DarkFire flew out of the house, back to the forest nearby, taking Kate with her.

Kate spoke up. "You... saved my life!"

DarkFire landed n the ground, in the forest.

"You're safe now."

"I...I don't know how to thank you!" stammered Kate. "I hate the clan. They act more like an ancient tribe..." she muttered, to herself.

DarkFire heard Kate. "You hate them, too? I wanted someone to kill them for a long time."

"Really?" asked DarkFire.

"Why not?"

"How about we work together?"

"Work for what?"

"To bring this so-called 'clan' down."

"It's a deal, then"


Chapter 2: A Plan for Freedom

DarkFire smiled. She finally knew there was someone to help now. But first, they needed to go to sleep.

"I think we need to go and have some sleep. It's almost midnight" said DarkFire.

"Yeah" replied Kate.

"I'll meet you here tomorrow at sunrise." said DarkFire.

"Okay" replied Kate. She walked off to a hotel, and took out a stolen hotel room key.

DarkFire headed off to the heart of the forest. She then pushed her way through a circle of trees it to find her home. The place had a fountain in the middle. The grass was flat, and green, like the turf in a garden. The circle of trees surrounded the fountain, blocking out noise. There was a wealth of stolen items there, too. A black 5-seater leather couch stood in front of the fountain. And in front of the couch were a coffee table, and a footrest. On the trees there were stolen Christmas lights, which were hooked up to an isolated houses energy supply. Clear lights shone on the place.

But DarkFire knew she had to go to bed. She jumped on the leather couch, and went to sleep.

Six hours later, DarkFire woke up. She jumped off the couch, and flew out of the place. She saw a faint light - the sun was rising. Excited, DarkFire dashed to the exact spot which Kate told her to meet. Kate walked towards DarkFire.

"Hi, DarkFire"

"Have you got a plan yet, Kate?"

"Not quite. But I have a few plans. You can choose out of the following." replied Kate.

"What are the possible plans?"

"Firstly, we could simply go in now when they are asleep, and kill them all. We could otherwise collect explosives and detonate them."

"And the third plan?"

"We try to frame them, and get fake pictures of them committing crimes."

"Hmmmm... tough decision... Maybe I'll go with collecting explosives."

"Okay, then."

"Where do we collect them?" asked DarkFire.

"I'll go and collect dynamite and other explosives. You can collect hairspray and aerosol cans and stuff. I'll go and stock up on weapons, and we'll start now."

DarkFire then was ready to sneak in a supermarket just a few minute's walk from their current location. Kate looked around the forest. She picked up a stick.

"This will do. Meet me here at sundown. The so called clan believed this ground is cursed. They won't ever suspect us."

DarkFire rushed off to the nearby town. Kate dashed in the opposite direction.

A short distance away, two people woke up. The shadowy figure and the echidna stood up.

The shadowy figure spoke. "May I introduce myself? I am the Dark One. Who are you?"

"I'm... DarkClaw."

"We will continue the tour. We'll see the student-and-teacher pairs in action."

The two proceeded further into the forest into a place where there no tree stood. They were near the edge of the forest. The grass was flat. And there stood a place which seemed like a small ancient town. There was a ranch, a lake, and an archery range. There was a small hut nearby. And people were streaming out, in pairs. They immediately moved off to a different place to do some training. And the Dark One followed a pair to the ranch.

"Now, you may watch this pair practice riding a horse."

A green hedgehog mounted a healthy, brown horse. The horse then tried to throw off its rider by galloping in circles. The hedgehog managed to hold on for five seconds, before he flew towards the lake, screaming.

DarkFire was in a supermarket. She was looking for cans of hairspray, and anything in aerosol cans. She walked down the beauty aisle, and saw what she was looking for - aerosol cans. There were cans of spray-on deodorant, Happy Smile Brand carpet cleaner, spray paint, John's hairspray, fly spray, insect repellent and mineral turps.

DarkFire looked at the jumble of items on the shelves. "Do they even hire anyone to keep the place clean?"

She then hid the items with shadows. "Lucky I could control shadows" muttered DarkFire.

DarkFire had to distract the shoppers. She created a large fire outside the supermarket. People screamed at the sudden appearance of a fire. DarkFire then made flames appear and disappear at random. The workers ducked behind the counters, and the shoppers ducked in with them. The checkouts were crowded with cowering shoppers. They were afraid they were likely to be murdered. As the last of the shoppers were bunched up with the workers, DarkFire then looked for anyone peeking. All the people could see was each other.

DarkFire then broke the shelf. Millions of bottles, cans and tins fell from above. Glass jars smashed, spilling their contents everywhere. Bottles burst apart, sending their gooey contents everywhere. The noise was huge. People hiding from the scene let out an ear-piercing scream. And DarkFire looked at the checkout. The scene was silent once more. DarkFire then took ten shopping trolleys, and tied them together. She then loaded the trolleys with the explosive aerosol cans. She then tried to pull them, but they were too heavy. She then burnt the rope, and kicked each of the trolleys down a hill. They rolled towards the forest, and finally hit some trees. She then rolled the trolleys down a bumpy path, and she reached Kate's meeting place. DarkFire then looked at the sky. It was the late afternoon. She then saw Kate. She was pushing three airport luggage trolleys.

"Why are you here so early?" asked Kate.

"I'm done collecting the aerosol cans and junk" replied DarkFire. "What do we do next?"

"I was about to ask that." said Kate.

DarkFire then had a plan. "We can bury the explosives far underground and the cans further up. Then, we take a stick of dynamite and set off - well we basically start a chain reaction thingy and get everything to go up in flame

Kate winced. "Flames? I'll have to stand clear, then! I'll pretend to collect firewood."

"Okay, then. When is the Set Time for Sleep and Set Time for Waking up?"

"Um... this clan which acts like a tribe... well, they sleep at half past nine. They wake at half past nine. They get plenty of sleep, if you ask me. And we should bury the stuff one hour to midnight, when the so-called clan are tired, and fast asleep."

"Agreed."


Chapter 3: Destruction and Dilemmas

DarkFire smiled. She was finally getting some freedom. But the so-called Dark One was too busy guiding what seemed to be an echidna through his so-called clan. The Dark One moved along the training grounds for clan members in training, and went to the lake.

The echidna looked curiously at the Dark One. "Why do we need to train the people? Can't we gather the best to do the work for you?"

The Dark One's faceless head turned to meet the echidna's gaze. "We train the best, and we train them for a long time to prepare for our next major attack. We have few members, and failing means death for us. We will be captured if that happens."

The echidna looked at the people in the crystal-clear lake. Many people were learning to swim, and were having breath-holding contests. The echidna then smiled. If she could get into this group, and gain everybody's trust, she could overthrow the leader, and the group would be hers to command. She then took her hand, and used to conceal her wicked smile. She then turned, and faced the Dark One. "I'm in. Bring me to the new member ceremony. I want to help."

"Okay, then. But you will have to wait for a month for the half-yearly ceremony. But you are welcome to back out at any time."

The Dark One walked away. The echidna felt a sense of satisfaction. She had finally found a way to wipe all heroes of the face of the earth. She grinned, and looked upwards. She then let out an evil laugh. She would never forget this day - the day she started her ultimate plan.

DarkFire and Kate were sitting in the forest, with their load of explosives. They were waiting for eleven o'clock. But it was early in the afternoon, and they had several hours to wait. They had to mind their supplies, and they were bored. Kate then had an idea.

"We could move the stuff to your sanctuary" said Kate. "And we could use your power supply to... um... play Nintendo Wii or something. Oh, wait... we don't have a Wii..."

DarkFire interrupted. "We could always steal one from the department store."

"Okay" replied Kate. "But we should move the trolleys first. I'll move them as you keep here and guard the place."

Kate then put her hand on one of the trolleys, and ran off to DarkFire's sanctuary. She was back in a few minutes. She then took one at a time, and brought them back to the sanctuary one by one, until there were no more left.

"I'm going to steal the Nintendo Wii and some games now. Go to your home, and guard the explosives."

"Okay."

DarkFire then flew to the place. Kate went to the supermarket, to steal a Nintendo Wii.

DarkFire then looked at the mass of explosives. She saw her contribution of items. The shopping trolleys were brimming with different products. She then looked at the airport carts. They contained many explosives. One was loaded with sticks of dynamite. Another was loaded with small pouches of black gunpowder. DarkFire slit open a pouch with her claws, and threw it in the air. She then breathed fire at it, and the pouch created a large explosion which lit up the already-bright sky. She then looked at the masses of black powder. She wondered what they could do. She looked at the last one. It contained what appeared to be a heap of bombs which detonated when a timer finished counting down. DarkFire was bored. She took a plain wooden chair from a large pile of stolen, unused furniture. She then took a can of spray paint, and started painting the chair red.

Kate then came back, to see DarkFire vandalising a chair with spray paint.

"What are you doing with the chair?" asked Kate, holding a Nintendo Wii and a stack of games.

"Painting the chair" replied DarkFire.

"Okay, then. I also got tow PSPs. I don't have many games for them" said Kate, throwing a backpack to DarkFire.

DarkFire caught the backpack, and put the bag on the couch. Kate set up the Nintendo Wii, and the two started playing. A few hours later, the sun set, and the two were hungry. DarkFire then dug underground, to find a buried functioning fridge. She took out a pack of frozen chips, and opened it. She then took one chip, and baked it in her claws. She then ate it. She then watched Kate play Sonic and the Secret Rings, while eating freshly cooked chips.

Another few hours passed, and the two were ready to start their plan. They gathered their explosives, and bound the trolleys together with steel rope. DarkFire and Kate then pulled the trolleys together, and soon reached the place they wanted to blow up. DarkFire then removed some of the shadows around the place, and the place had more light.

"Looks like you have to start digging up some holes. Make them about... a yard apart." said Kate.

"A yard?" said DarkFire, puzzled. "You mean a metre?"

"A yard is about 90 centimetres long, and a metre is 100 centimetres long, so make them a metre apart, then." replied Kate.

DarkFire then lit her claws on fire. Kate stepped back. DarkFire then plunged her claws into the dirt, and started digging. Within seconds, DarkFire dug a deep pit, enough to fit any of the explosives. Kate then placed a stick of dynamite into the pit, and buried it. DarkFire continued digging holes, and Kate placed items into each. Kate was very careful with how she placed the items. She placed all of the major explosives just close enough to each other create a chain reaction when she of DarkFire blew them up. She placed the aerosol cans, correction fluid, and other flammable items from the shops in the other areas. DarkFire was tired after an hour of digging holes. Kate was tired from putting items in the holes, and burying them.

"How about we have a break?" said Kate.

"Sure" replied DarkFire.

Kate then stopped after dropping fifteen bottles of correction fluid into a hole. The two then sat down, and rested. After half an hour of resting, the two resumed work in the dark night. The sun slowly rose, until it was twilight. The two looked concerned. But they were finished with the job. Except for the fact they had to remove the trolleys, or they would be caught. Kate tried to move a trolley, but it was stuck in place. She tried moving the other ones. But they were also stuck. Kate then saw why. When DarkFire was digging with her flaming claws, the fire must have melted the wheel, and they must have hardened again.

"DarkFire, can you melt the trolleys? The so-called clan would think its acid rain, as they never have brains that function properly" said Kate.

"Okay, then. Stand back." replied DarkFire.

Kate then ran backwards, afraid she would be burnt. DarkFire then breathed fire at the trolleys. The trolleys then melted, creating a pool of shining silver liquid. She stopped, and the metal hardened. Kate then signalled DarkFire to follow her into the sanctuary.


Chapter 4: On the Run

DarkFire and Kate were at the sanctuary. They were waiting for the moment to strike. They were waiting for half past nine - the time the clan woke up.

At an orphanage, far away, a figure in a black cloak was trying to forget her dark past. It was a small orphanage. It was not painted - the orphanage was plain brown. She was sitting on the front steps. Her family was killed when she was young, and she was trying to forget by making others suffer. She started putting a strange thought into an old lady's mind.

"You have to go to buy a pizza from the shop and give it to the cloaked figure sitting in front of the orphanage. You HAVE to!!!"

The old lady then walked across a busy street without looking, as though hypnotised. Cars screeched as the old hag walked past, without a care about the consequences. The smell of burning rubber was heavy in the air as more cars screeched to a complete stop. But the lady noticed nothing. She had to get the pizza. No matter what happened.

DarkFire and Kate were ready to detonate the explosives. But Kate had to get away.

"Kate, you'd better get away quickly. Maybe to the orphanage far away in Queensland?" said DarkFire.

"Okay, then. I'd better get going! We're in Sydney, aren't we? That's a long way away." said Kate.

DarkFire looked doubtful. She looked down. "Okay."

"What's the matter?" asked Kate.

"You'd better go, now. Goodbye, Kate." said DarkFire. A tear rolled from her eye, and fell onto the ground.

Kate looked away. "If that is so... goodbye. Goodbye, DarkFire. I'd better get going. You'll have to set off the explosives soon."

"Okay, then. Go. We'll meet... in the future." said DarkFire in a small voice.

Kate then slowly walked away. DarkFire turned around slowly.

"Just one thing, Kate, before you leave... You were my only friend."

Kate didn't turn around. "I know." She said simply. She then walked off, realising DarkFire had to do her job. She then started running.

DarkFire then dashed to the home of the so-called clan. She then saw a large house there - where she normally tamed dragons, and trained them for battle. She never felt like doing a good job - she was never rewarded. She then took out a whistle. It didn't look like much - it was something which fitted in the palm of a child's hand. It looked a little like a whistle used by a referee in a soccer match. It had been a long time since she used it. She then put her lips to it, and blew the whistle. She blew into it. It created a high-pitched sound. Birds from the nearby trees flew upwards. DarkFire heard the fluttering of wings. The scene was silent once more. And a small flock of five fire dragons flew from the house. They then landed beside her, waiting for a command.

DarkFire smiled. She then shouted a command at the dragons. "See the patch of dirt there?" she said. "Burn the patch of dirt, and let the explosives there destroy the place!"

The dragons then slowly nodded. They then flew up into the air, and breathed fire at the patch. DarkFire then flew up, too, and sat on the biggest one there. She then contributed by burning the place. There was a large patch of red fire, and a fiery one meter grid on the ground. The patch the dragons were burning exploded with a huge bang. DarkFire felt the warmth of the flames. It felt good. She liked this warmth, but she had to continue her job, and finish it. She then blasted the place with more fire, before kicking off the dragon's back, and flying off into the distance. She looked at the place once more. She saw a miserable place, with cheaply constructed stables, huts, beds, everything. She then saw the explosions taking place below. She then left, without thinking why.

Meanwhile, an old lady was walking across a road, to a pizza shop. She had finished crossing the road. The traffic was soon back to normal. She then purchased a pizza in a box, and walked straight across the road back. And the same series of events occurred. Cars stopped. Clouds of dust formed in the air. The smell of rubber was heavy in the air. Drivers were swearing. And the old lady didn't care. And the lady thought about what she was doing.

"Why am I walking with a pizza across a busy road, planning to hand it to an orphaned child?" she thought.

"Do it!!!" urged the voice in her head. The lady then - amazingly, sprinted to the orphan, and handed it the pizza. The old lady then snapped out of it. She stopped.

"Why on earth was I looking for a pizza shop to get a pizza for this orphan?" said the lady, in confusion. She then walked off, muttering curses to herself.

The orphan laughed. A pizza - for free. She then opened the box, and started eating. Life was good. When you could partially control others.

DarkFire then heard police cars, and fire trucks. She had to get away - quickly. She then flew away, in an instant, to a nearby city, to a place where she could start a new life. She then realised one thing. People would be on the lookout for her there. She didn't want to be a criminal on the run. DarkFire then noticed something. She saw a police officer behind her. But she noticed it too late. The police officer then handcuffed DarkFire. But DarkFire melted the handcuffs, and was soon running for her life. The police officer then called for assistance.

"We have an animal on the loose here!" he said. "We have to catch the wild animal before it melts the whole city!"

"An animal melting a city down? What makes you think that?" said a person on the other side.

"Well the animal melted my handcuffs I put on it!!!" said the police officer.

"What is your current location?" asked the other officer.

"Somewhere in Aubrey Street."

"I'll be there soon."

The officer then turned around. The animal was gone. As if it had been swallowed up by a city building. He then ran around the place, hoping to find the wild animal.

DarkFire was still running. She had to find a safe place. But she didn't know where. She then turned at a quiet street, and saw a sewer. Desperate, she jumped in, and hoped for the best.

Chapter 5: Adoption

DarkFire was in the sewers. She then ran off in a random direction, looking out for any obstacles. She then saw a mob of police officers. She then stopped. She looked in the other direction. There were officers, there, too. A police officer then hit her in the head with a crowbar. And she was knocked out.

In an orphanage, a family was looking for a new member of family. They were looking for "A unique person as lovable as a pet" as they said. In an upstairs room, DarkFire woke up, and saw a male doctor. Her vision was blurred. She could only see a brown, wooden ceiling, and the doctor, dressed in white. She then looked confused.

"What's the matter?" said the doctor.

"I have a question. What is going on and why am I here?" asked DarkFire.

"You are in an orphanage, and a family is planning to adopt you. You were considered to not be dangerous, as a DNA test shows that you... well... you won't believe what results it shows."

A group of people then came into the room. They then looked at DarkFire in astonishment.

"What is that thing?" asked a teenage boy. "It looks kinda like one of those monsters in that videogame we played!"

A young girl, perhaps eight years old, then spoke up. "I don't want to talk about it! It's scary!"

"You don't need to worry. Mummy's here." said a thin, tall woman, who DarkFire recognised as their mother.

"He looks cool." said the teenager.

"It's actually a female drakehog" said the doctor.

The boy then went red in the face.

"Drakehog? What's a drakehog?" said the girl.

"Well, a drakehog seems to be half dragon, half hedgehog." said the doctor. "And we are currently doing lab tests on the blood of her to see what she really is." The doctor then held up several bags of reddish-black blood. It was undoubtedly DarkFire's.

"Well, the blood samples explain why I'm feeling so tired" murmured DarkFire.

"What? You can speak?" asked the doctor, in astonishment.

"Whoa! A talking monster! That would be so cool! I think we should adopt her!" exclaimed the teenager. He then reached out to DarkFire, nearly touching her wings. "Are you real?"

DarkFire then yawned. "Um... yes, I am real."

The boy then cautiously touched DarkFire's wing. "Wow! You are real!"

"You can adopt her now." said the doctor. "We have taken enough blood samples from her, and we'll take a long time to test all of these.

"We'll take her, then." said the mother. She then faced the boy. "Jacob, you'd better be a good boy now."

"Okay, mum." replied the boy.

The three then walked outside. DarkFire followed. She then saw a piece of metal, painted red - a car. The family then went inside the car. It was a very small place, unlike the forest DarkFire used to roam freely in. there were five seats, made of black leather. The whole interior of the car was black, except for the lights. The lady sat in the front seat, and drove off.

DarkFire felt drowsy. She had so many blood samples taken from her in just one day. She then was unable to sit straight up. Her body ached all over. Exhausted, she then collapsed on the seat, and instantly fell asleep.

"Drakehog! Wake up! "Were here!" shouted a male voice.

"What?" groaned DarkFire.

"We're here!" said the voice.

"Where?"

"Our house! Welcome!"

DarkFire still wasn't able to see properly. Her vision was still blurred. She saw what seemed to be a mansion. The entrance had two white marble pillars, topped with spheres. The scene didn't look of much in the late night. The woman opened the door, and led the group in.

"Oh my god!" she said. "It's two o'clock! Can you show the drakehog... whatever it is, to the spare bedroom upstairs?"

"I'll do it!" shouted the teenage boy.

DarkFire then looked at the boy. She hated romance... But she didn't mind a friend. "Okay, then... Show me where the room is, then" she said shyly.

"Okay." said the boy.

The lady and the girl had left for their bedrooms by now. DarkFire stared at the white walls, still with blurred vision. The boy then tapped DarkFire on the shoulder.

"I'm Jacob, by the way." He said.

"I'm DarkFire the drakehog."

"DarkFire... nice name!"

"Um... thanks..."

"I'll show you the bedroom now"

"Okay"

Jacob then walked up a circular flight of stairs, to a long corridor. He then escorted her onto a large bedroom, and left her there. DarkFire then crawled under the blankets on the bed, and went to sleep immediately.

The next morning, she woke up, and yawned. She stretched, and looked around. She discovered her vision was better now. But it wasn't perfect. But she was still able to see her surroundings, unlike last night, when she couldn't see where she was. She examined her surroundings. She looked at the walls and ceilings. They were spotless, painted with white paint. The room was bare, except for the single bed she was in, and the white carpet. It looked unnatural. All of it was man-made. Synthetic. Boring. She then looked out a large window, to the right of her. It stretched to the whole of the right wall, and it was covered with cream-coloured vertical blinds. She opened them, and to her horror, she saw no forest.

Instead, she saw a normal human city. She saw many people walking on a street. Kate once spoke about peak hour in human cities, when people went to work. It must be peak hour. She then explored her room further. She saw her room was in a square shape, about twenty wingspans long. The room was twice her height. She then saw a piece of plastic on the wall. It must be an analogue clock. Luckily, she was taught how to adapt to the human world. She then read the time. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. DarkFire then dashed downstairs.

She then saw the boy who she met. She saw a raw steak on a circular, white table. The table was quite small - no longer than two wingspans in diameter. There were five chairs around it - also white. About five wingspans from the table was a kitchen, with stainless steel appliances. But she looked away, and looked at the boy. He was smiling, and gesturing towards the raw steak on the plate, which was on the table.

"Go on, eat the steak!" said Jacob.

DarkFire looked at the raw steak awkwardly. "You don't expect me to eat a raw steak, don't you?"

"Well, you're a monster..." said Jacob in a small voice, embarrassed. "But I'll cook it if you want me to..."

"I'll roast the steak myself" said DarkFire.

"How?" asked Jacob.

DarkFire then sat down at the table, and pinched the steak with her claws, and held it up in the air. She examined the steak. She took a pepper grinder, and put pepper on the steak. She then set the steak on fire. She waited for ten seconds, before making the fire disappear. The steak looked slightly black where DarkFire pinched it.

"I guess I overdid it..." said DarkFire.

Jacob looked at DarkFire in amazement. "How did you do that?"

DarkFire then had a chance to study the boy. He looked like an average teenage boy. He wore a green shirt with jeans, and had blonde hair.

DarkFire then responded to the question "Well, I learnt this of an old friend of mine who died a long time ago..." lied DarkFire.

"That's sad..." said Jacob.

DarkFire then looked away, irritated. "Life's going to be so much harder here..."


Chapter 6: A Day at High School (Description of School = Kingsgrove-Caringbah)

DarkFire was tired. She quickly ate the steak, which was apparently slightly hard to bite through. She then walked back upstairs, and went to sleep. She had to regain her full sight.

Early in the morning, DarkFire woke up. She looked at the clock. It was six o'clock. She then looked out the window. It was peak hour - again. She then walked downstairs, and saw the Jacob at the kitchen, with another raw steak on a plate. He then gave it to DarkFire to roast.

"Do it again!" shouted Jacob.

DarkFire then took the steak, and this time, she took a saucepan from the stove, and poured oil in it. She then created fire under the saucepan, and fried the steak. She then took it, and ate it.

Jacob then looked at DarkFire. "We have to go to High School at Kingsgrove-Caringbah High. We have to hurry to the bus stop. You won't need any books today, as this is your first day here at High School."

"What is a school?" asked DarkFire. "Oh, I remember now."

"And we have to hurry to the bus stop unless you want to be late for school!" shouted Jacob.

DarkFire finished her fried steak, and was ready to go to the bus stop. Jacob led the way in the chilly morning. The peak traffic was very busy, and congested. The two eventually caught a bus, and were arriving at a train station.

"We also have to catch the train after this. You can catch the train, and I'll go and do something else." said Jacob.

DarkFire then went off the bus, and ran to the station. She then saw a ticket machine. And it said a return ticket from here to Caringbah or Kingsgrove was very expensive... DarkFire then saw an express train to Kingsgrove. She then ran across the train tracks when on-one was looking, and ran after the train. She was following it to Kingsgrove.

Shortly, she arrived at Kingsgrove station. She then stopped, and saw a school in the distance. She walked in, like a normal student. But she saw Kate the Leopard. And Kate saw her, at the school gates. DarkFire ran up to her.

"Why are you here?" asked DarkFire.

"I'm here because I come here for a better education than the education I get at where we used to live." replied Kate. "I know it's a long way from there, but it's worth it. The people here are very friendly."

DarkFire was confused. "Where are we?"

"Well, we are at Queensland, possibly at the Gold Coast." said Kate.

"I've never been here" said DarkFire.

"I know."

Just then, a red hedgehog with a black shirt and black pants and an echidna with lavender fur, a green shirt and orange pants passed by. The hedgehog's shirt had a picture of a white dagger; with red blood dripping off the dagger in the picture.

"Hi." said the hedgehog.

DarkFire turned around, and looked at the female hedgehog. "Um... Hi..."

"I'm Molly the hedgehog. Who are you?" she said.

"I'm DarkFire the drakehog." replied DarkFire.

"Do you want to meet my other friends?" asked Molly.

"Sure!"

Molly then walked through the school gates, to a human girl who was sitting down. The echidna followed.

"Hollie, Elizabeth, I want you to meet DarkFire the drakehog." said Molly.

DarkFire realised she was standing behind, at the large, welcoming school gates. She looked at the large number of students - perhaps four hundred where she could see. She dashed to where Molly was standing, with the echidna, and the girl. They looked slightly suspicious. They were sitting down on concrete. The female echidna was giggling while drinking a red bottle of soft drink, and the human girl was laughing, too. Molly then took out another bottle, and drank that, too. DarkFire looked at the school grounds. She saw a sign which said: Kingsgrove-Caringbah High School - Main Campus. She looked further. She saw a large building there, as far as she could see. She looked to the right, and saw that the building continued, at a right angle. She then looked down slightly, and saw she was standing outside the canteen. She then faced Molly again.

"Um... what are you doing?"

The girl answered for them. "They are having a competition to see who can remain hyperactive for the longest with red soft drink. Are you new here? By the way, I'm Elizabeth. The hedgehog is Molly, and the echidna is Hollie."

DarkFire smiled. "Thanks! Can I join you for now when I'm trying to become used to this place?"

"Sure!" replied Elizabeth.

DarkFire sat down on the concrete, and looked at Molly and Hollie. They were giggling almost non-stop. Elizabeth was also laughing. DarkFire smiled, and forced a laugh. Molly and Hollie were walking up to people at random, and hugging them. Elizabeth smiled at DarkFire. She would make a good addition to their group. A bell rung. And all the students on the school grounds walked off onto the main building. Molly, Hollie and Elizabeth picked up their bags, all giggling. They walked to the right, away from the building. They continued forward, to another building, which was unmistakably the school hall. There were a few steps leading up to the hall. And the door was closed. DarkFire saw they were already at the hall. She flew over the heads of a few grade 12 students, to the hall. She then landed on the concrete, and walked beside Elizabeth, Hollie and Molly. "What is going on?" muttered DarkFire.

A teacher walked out of the school hall. She had long black hair, and was tall. She was wearing a white shirt, and black pants. She appeared to be a PE teacher. "All students are to go into the school hall and sit down."

About 25 of the students walked into the door to the hall. They all sat down on several chairs aligned in rows, with an aisle down the middle. DarkFire, Kate, Elizabeth, Hollie and Molly sat down in a row in the large school hall.

The hall was a very big place. It was very wide - probably enough to accommodate the whole school. The ceiling was very high, with many lights and fans, which were all off. The stage was raised a wingspan from the ground, and had a small flight of stairs leading up to it. The whole floor seemed to be made of expensive wood, and was a deep reddish-brown colour. The PE teacher then walked onto the stage, with a black microphone.

"Welcome to Kingsgrove-Caringbah High School. As all of you know, this is a selective high school. And we are here to welcome a new student to class 7R. Clair the drakehog is here to join the school. Clair, come up on stage."

DarkFire walked slowly up onto the stage. She looked at the students - probably her classmates, looking up at this strange drakehog.

"Please make her feel welcome at this school. From what I have been told, I have been told to tell you that Clair here has never been to an actual school before, but she is smart, if this makes any sense. Clair, please take a seat."

DarkFire then took a seat. She was puzzled. Why was she called Clair? Why did she have a special 'welcoming ceremony' by the school?

"Now, you have to be given homework diaries, as we were several short on the first day, and you missed out. They have come in today, and you will be given them. Go to the canteen area and wait for me when I get the homework diaries."

The whole class moved out of the hall, and moved back into the canteen area. Hollie, Elizabeth and Molly moved into a corner, close to the Hall. DarkFire saw them, and followed her new friends. The group saw her, and looked confused.

Molly walked up to DarkFire. "Why were you called Clair?"

"I don't know. Maybe the ones who enrolled me enrolled me under this name for some reason..."


Chapter 7: Farewell and Departure?

All the students of DarkFire's class were outside the school canteen. A blast was heard. Everyone but DarkFire screamed, and panicked, except DarkFire.

"What is happening?" asked DarkFire. She was ignored by everyone, who was screaming. Even all those in class screamed, and were jumping out of the windows.

"Hello? Why is everyone panicking? What is happening?" asked DarkFire.

DarkFire flew above the building. She looked at them. She saw many turrets mounted on them. They appeared to be large anti-air turrets, from her knowledge of weapons of mass destruction in her old 'clan'. In the distance, she saw a fleet of warships, with many missiles, from her knowledge of weapons of mass destruction, again. And a heavily armed helicopter was overhead. It was bombing the turrets, but didn't last long. It exploded in a short blast of flame, and broken bits of helicopter showered the school canteen. DarkFire knew she was the only one who could defend the school, as she was educated to fight, and the others in the school didn't look to fit for fighting. She created a wall of fire in front of the incoming ships. She then called down to her classmates. "Who is here planning to invade this school?" the then whispered to herself. "Could they be after me?"

Then, many voices called from below.

"Well, that is a strange echidna that seems to be trying to take the school over!" shouted a male voice.

"That's why we mounted the turrets on the rooftop of all of the buildings. The tyrant there uses aircraft to invade. Be careful up there." shouted Hollie's voice.

"It looks like all the others in this school, other than us, Clair, are not ready to fight" said a female voice. "I'll help you." said the voice. It was approaching.

"Kate?" asked DarkFire, confused.

A vulture emerged from the side of the building. It was black all over, and wore what Molly normally wore. She was black all over, with red eyes, with a black shirt with a picture of a white dagger, with red blood dripping off it. She also wears black jeans with a necklace with a golden cross on it. A small portion of her feathers were red. She had a studded belt, and dark red spiked shoes.

DarkFire appeared confused. "Who are you?"

The vulture didn't reply. She looked intensely at the planes approaching the wall of fire. All the pilots were immediately paralysed. They all ran into the wall of fire. They went straight though. But DarkFire was just able to see the pilots were severely burnt. DarkFire created several small shadows, and covered the pilots' faces with them. They all piloted their planes straight in the line of fire of the anti-air turrets. They were all shot, and exploded in a red blast of fire. But DarkFire was in front of the turrets, and was shot several times in one second. "Ugh... why me..." said DarkFire, with a faint voice.

She fell to the ground, face first, severely injured. She was bleeding severely from her back and wings, and was unconscious. Blackish-red blood was streaming from her back. It was soaking her shirt; her jeans; and the concrete ground. Several of her classmates gasped, seeing a new classmate dying in front of their eyes. They rushed to her side, but there was not much they could do to prevent then death of a classmate. They stared, and were discussing whether she would survive the accident. Hollie saw this, and shouted at the group.

"Don't just stand there! Someone should get the people from the office, and we should call the ambulance!" shouted Hollie.

Elizabeth stood beside her. "C'mon! We have to help! I agree with Hollie!" she declared. She then took out her mobile phone, and phoned the ambulance.

But no-one but the vulture realised the enemy warships were all destroyed. An ambulance with a blaring siren sped along, and took DarkFire away, driving amongst the busy city traffic, speeding past red traffic lights in the chaos; the chaos of trying to save a life in grave danger...

Hollie then burst into tears, knowing a new member of the class; her friend; someone who saved the school from the ships and them from death, was about to die. Elizabeth hugged her, and tried to calm her, also crying slightly.

DarkFire was unconscious in the small ambulance bed, but was still alive. Emergency equipment cloaked the walls of the vehicle, and registered little sign of life, but somewhere, in DarkFire's mind, something was going on...

DarkFire was in a dark forest. She was only able to see a large swirling mass of black in front of her; perhaps about two wingspans in diameter. She looked at herself. She felt her back. Strange. There were no holes in her. No blood, no scars, no sign of any injury. The then looked around. She saw nothing but trees stretching as far as the eye could see. There was no way out. The only way out might be the swirling mass of black. She breathed in deeply, held her breath, and plunged into the dark portal. She then suddenly fainted, and saw no more.

DarkFire stood up, and looked around her, in a strange new world. She could not see a thing. There was nothing but black, with smoke swirling in clouds. She seemed to be standing on nothing herself. Then, out of the shadowy depths of what seemed to be like hell itself, a dark shadowy figure at least five times taller than her emerged from the blackness.

DarkFire was unable to figure what it was. It was strangely familiar, so was this darkness. Has she been here before? Cautiously, she walked forward into the nothingness, and saw the figure was actually a dragon. This place was growing even more familiar. She pictured herself, young, being watched by the beast, surrounded by tendrils of darkness, emerging from the same darkness, into the same forest she was in a few minutes ago. She then suddenly snapped out of it, and was concentrating on the darkness once more.

The black dragon, with eyes as red as blood, scales and skin pulled across its bones so the bones could be seen, sharply turned its ugly head to face DarkFire. She gasped, shocked, and afraid of the beast. "Don't hurt me! I just arrived here from... a black portal." Her voice echoed throughout the land.

"Why would I harm you..." growled the dragon. "Harming you would only bring grief to all our followers..."

DarkFire approached the dragon. "I have... followers?"

The dragon did not reply. "All I will tell you is you are capable of achieving a lot. You are capable of world domination. Join me, and I will tell you a secret about your past, where you came from, who you are... if you help me"

"Well, what is this!" shouted DarkFire, voice echoing in the nothingness. "I am dead! I have just been shot at least a million times with at least a hundred anti-air turrets, and you think I can take over the world! I have known nothing but neglect in the past, and it's just because I now go to a school I am the slightest bit happy! Let me guess. I am in hell, with a black dragon trying to convince me I can take over the world, when I am just a dead drakehog!"

The dragon drew his head back a little. "No, Dragon. You are not dead. Well, you won't be, anyway. I will bring you back, if you do a little favour for me. Take over the world for me."

"Me? A dragon? I am a dragon tamer!" shouted DarkFire.

"You will be a dragon, and control other dragons for world domination." growled the dragon

DarkFire's heart leapt. She had a chance to be recognised. "Okay, then. Bring me back!" she shouted.

The other dragon smiled. Then, DarkFire seemed to be transported in a swirling mass of light from below her, in the darkness of the place, into a lying position in a bed...

DarkFire opened her eyes. She was lying in a white hospital bed. The ceiling above her was white, as were the walls in the whole, plain room. She looked to her left side, and saw a device which showed her current condition. She studied it carefully. She saw she was in a completely normal condition, compared to anyone who was all well. But only seconds ago, she was unconscious; dead.


Chapter 8: Body on the Sidewalk

DarkFire was feeling normal. She jumped out from the bed she was in, and removed all the equipment she was in. She looked around the room. It was plain, and underfurnished. There were no windows or anything of the sort I n the room. All there was the bed she was in, and the equipment which calculated her heart rate, and other information beside the bed. The room was rather large, about seven metres by six on the floor. All the walls were plain white, and a door was opposite to the bed, which was in a corner beside the equipment. DarkFire needed to find a way out of this place. She looked at the door, and examined it for any locks.

There were none. She then set fire to it, and dashed out of the room. DarkFire spotted a long corridor, filled with seats and waiting patients sitting in black seats against the white walls of the white corridor. A receptionist in a white cloak stepped into DarkFire's view. He then faced the direction DarkFire was in. DarkFire jumped up, and flew to the tall ceiling of the building. She needed to create a distraction. DarkFire thought for a while, and then grinned. She set fire to the whole building.

People, both old and young screamed their lungs out. They were running around the place; the smoke; the twisted corridors of the hospital. She intensified the blaze. People were struggling to reach a fire extinguisher. But they all failed and burnt to death, in vain, because of the intensifying fire. DarkFire flew out of the crumbling building, leaving nothing but destruction in her wake. She looked back, gave the building one last blast of fire, and swooped away, into a glorious sunset.

Kate the leopard was at an airport. She was waiting for a flight. She saw DarkFire flying by the entrance to the airport. "DarkFire! What are you doing so close to the entrance to the airport? Are you insane?" shouted Kate.

DarkFire flew inside. She saw a large place, with several cafes and places to purchase food. There was a large amount of carpet covering the whole place, and the place was deserted. There was not a soul in sight. There was a long bar, which separated two places: A place which led to the arrivals section of the airport, and the area Kate was in. Carpet spread across the whole place, seeming to never end. DarkFire landed on the ground, next to Kate. She was holding a one-way flight ticket. "Kate, why are you holding a one-way flight ticket? What is happening?"

Kate looked away. "I'm just departing on a flight to another country. I have to go. I need to do... something, and I will have to leave you... maybe forever." replied Kate, in a small voice. "I am just annoyed because of the one who is trying to take over the school. She is simply too annoying. I have had enough of her so-called company. She even almost killed you. I have had enough."

DarkFire replied, "Who is that echidna who nearly got me killed in the accident?"

"We don't know." Replied Kate, "But we do know she makes herself look innocent, and not many people believe she is the one behind all of these attacks at the school. Only a few of us students know, as most of the others, too stupid, I have to say, to believe this. They did not have the education we had about destruction and wars and the like."

DarkFire nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you might want to go before you almost get killed, too. But it will be really lonely..." continued DarkFire.

"... But I have requested another small group of students to join you as friends. They all have a dark past each, and might be able to help. By the way, I know one of them who had their parents killed when they were only five years old." said Kate. "I hope they will help you..."

Kate then looked at DarkFire, and outside the glass door into the airport, seeing the sun set. It was twilight outside. "Well, I'd better get going or else I'll miss my flight. Farewell, DarkFire!"

DarkFire looked back. "Um... bye, then. Farewell!"

By then, Kate was out of sight. But DarkFire had a job to do for the one she was brought back to life by. She flew out of a window, and back to the family who had adopted her. DarkFire flew up high, and saw the mansion they lived in was by a harbour, and was isolated from other buildings. The mansion stood out from the rest of the bushland and the nearby road like an angel amongst several devils. It was three storeys high, and very large.

DarkFire saw the mansion they lived in, and saw several windows, with white curtains, all open. They shone like beacons in the twilight. DarkFire flew up to a window, in the second storey of the house. She witnessed a woman dressed in a white dress, with sequins and blonde hair. She was tall and lean, undoubtedly rich. She was wearing a gold necklace, and was holding up a glass of wine. There was a shadow next to her. It was her husband, but DarkFire couldn't see him. A small girl was standing near there, with a pink shirt and skirt. Her hair was black, and was in plaits. She could not be any older than 10 years old.

DarkFire, though, did not see Jacob there. She flew up, and saw her bedroom. Jacob was in it. Curious, she spied inside it. Jacob was apparently wearing the exact same clothing she was: a dark blue shirt with jeans. He was sitting on her bed. And he was apparently sobbing. And what DarkFire heard next was strange.

Jacob was very sad. "DarkFire, the controller of fire, DarkFire, the one who saved the school, DarkFire, my best and only friend..." he threw his head on a pillow, depressed. "DarkFire, I'll miss you!!!" he then cried out loud, and muttered something, still sobbing. "Why does the damn family have to be so cruel to an innocent person? DarkFire is my only friend, and things will never be the same since she had died. Why me? WHY!?!?!?" He started slamming his head into the wall. "Why... does... it... have... to... be... ME!?!!!?"

DarkFire flew back down to the level below. She saw the family celebrating. She then flew straight into the room, shattering the glass window, sending splinters of glass into the room. Everyone fainted. Jacob ran down the twisted stairs to see what was happening. The ground was soon wet with tears. He then saw DarkFire, lying on the ground. His vision was blurred from his tears. But he threw himself on the tiles on the ground, hugging DarkFire. "DarkFire! You're back! I missed you! I missed you for three whole weeks! And I thought you had died in the burning hospital! I can't believe you are here!!!"

DarkFire flinched. She was feeling drained for strength from Jacob's tears. "Hey, take it easy!!!"

But Jacob was overcome with joy at seeing DarkFire again. He kissed her on the cheek. DarkFire threw Jacob off her, and drew out her daggers, ready to restrain him. "Well, have I ever said I hated romance?" she spat. She then collapsed, as Jacob's tears had her tired. Everything was black in her sight.

DarkFire wound up at the entrance to the school, lying down on the side walk. It was very early in the morning, as the sun was just rising. The place was dead quiet, and DarkFire could even hear leaves on trees fall on the ground. She saw the usual school gates. But the world was all fuzzy. All she saw was a blur of colour. But she still had her abilities. She then realised this was a good chance to fulfil her promise to the mysterious dragon. She set the while school ablaze. DarkFire lay down, playing dead.

The whole school was engulfed in flames. It would be destroyed soon. The smell of burning material hung heavily in the air. The roof of the building was starting to collapse. Tiles fell from the roof, onto the concrete ground, and shattered into fragments. The surrounding air was warm, and DarkFire could feel it on her scales. She felt success coming to her. But she suddenly felt an icy cold on her back. It ran all over her body. It was iced water, and it was weakening her ability. The fire on the building went out immediately, and DarkFire realised she has failed her task. She was so close to doing part of her task, only to fall now. She buried her face in the concrete, and simply stayed there, miserable. DarkFire was feeling weak, as though she hadn't slept for ten weeks.

A figure behind her then gasped. "What did I do? I wanted the school burnt down!" It was obviously female.

With difficulty, DarkFire rolled around, to see what seemed like a female echidna. She had light pink fur in black pants, and a plain black shirt. She had high-heeled shoes, which were a dark shade of red. Her eyes were blue, and she had a necklace which was a light shade of blue. Her gloves were jet black, and she had a belt, with several guns. She appeared to be tall, and thin. She held her hand out to DarkFire, smiling slightly. "Um... hi. I'm LightClaw. Sorry about drenching you. I have a towel here", she said, holding up a large blue towel the same height as her in her other hand, "-So you can dry yourself off."

DarkFire snatched the towel off LightClaw, and dried herself. "Why did you stop me burning down the school?" she spat.

LightClaw smiled. "Someone here trying to take over the school like me, eh?..."


Chapter 9: Plans for the School

DarkFire dried herself off completely, and slowly stood up, face to face with LightClaw. She tossed the towel back, and LightClaw caught it. LightClaw smiled slightly. "Well, do you want to help me take over the school here? I'm going to make use of the school's land and try together a group of people to help me take over the world. Actually, I am serving someone. Are you trying to destroy the school of your free will, or are you serving someone else, too?" enquired LightClaw.

DarkFire looked back. "Well, actually, yes. Should we plot a time to take over the school? I have an idea. We should do it together." said DarkFire. "That way, we have a high chance of success."

LightClaw smiled. "Well, it's settled, then. We will have to go away to my base to plan this. Follow me into the school." LightClaw started walking into the school, towards the right of the main building.

DarkFire realised she had to co-operate with the echidna, and followed her. She was miserable, and looked at her feet, unwilling to look at the school which had almost killed, her, even if it was by accident. She looked at her shoes and LightClaw's; too see where she was going. DarkFire felt herself suddenly fall down a set of stairs; down a dark corridor, into a cold, round room about twenty-five wingspans in diameter. Behind her were the stone steps she had fallen from. The room was perfectly circular, and had a small fire in the exact middle of the room. It was about one wingspan in diameter, and was crackling. The ceiling of the room was about three metres tall. Embers rose from the fire up into the air, above, crackling. The wood being burnt was all turned to ashes, and the fire was slowly going out. LightClaw walked in, with several twigs and bark from a tree. She threw them onto the fire, and it rose high up into the air, and settled down slightly down, creating a larger, hotter flame. The air was warmer.

DarkFire wandered around the fire. For some strange reason, this felt like home; a place where she could live without intruders. She sat down, only a few centimetres from the warm, welcoming fire. She was cold from the iced water that was dumped on her only moments ago, but was now warmed by the fire in the middle of the room. LightClaw sat beside her, but further from the fire, looking slightly hopeless. DarkFire looked back at her, concerned. "What's the matter, LightClaw?"

LightClaw slowly turned her head to DarkFire. "Well, I have to be able to take over the school, and this is my final week to do so." She said, worried. "An before you ask me why, I won't tell you." She added, with a grumpy voice. "And I really need your help. You can control fire, right?"

DarkFire nodded. "Well..." started DarkFire, uncertainly, "I can prove it right now. Move over to the side of the room."

"Well, okay, then..." said LightClaw, standing straight up, and running to the wall of the room. "Go on, the students will be coming to the school any second now"

DarkFire stood up slowly. She held a claw out, facing the fire in the middle of the room. She then quickly turned it around, facing the ceiling, and brought it straight up. The fire in the room shot straight up to the ceiling, spreading to the rest of the circular ceiling. The room was immediately much hotter. The fire then settled down, back to where it was a few seconds ago. LightClaw walked slowly back to DarkFire, in shock. "Wow, I could really use your help here tomorrow, at this time" she said, with her voice wavering. She cleared her throat, and continued. "You will come to the school and meet up with me at this time. I will be meeting up with you and a military force. There's nothing better than a few tanks to destroy some defenceless school."

DarkFire nodded. "Well, I need to destroy the school too, so why not?" she said, eagerly. "So all I do is set fire to the whole place, right? That will be very easy. Just don't get anyone to dump water on me."

LightClaw nodded. "How did you know so well about what I was just about to say?" she said, confused. "You can read minds, right?"

DarkFire shook her head vigorously. "Well, what do I look like? I don't look like someone who is psychic, right?"

Sounds were coming from above. DarkFire and LightClaw heard the sound of several feet slamming onto the pavement above. The students of the school arrived.

LightClaw appeared concerned. "You'd better go back to the school. Your so-called friends who you would be killing would be expecting you."

DarkFire shook her head. "Well, they all think I am dead. Some people can be very stupid. Those without any experience in his kind of thing, like them, do not have a clue. I have rather thick scales, and I was shot several times in the back." she said, simply. "So the bullets didn't go very far, so I wasn't quite dead and the hospital I was in was burnt down. That gives a further impression I am dead. And if I go back to the school, everyone will think I am evil, and I was brought back to life by someone. We want catch them off-guard."

LightClaw smiled. "Wow, you're so smart! We will stay here, and wait for the time to attack. But I have to go during a lesson time to prepare my military forces. I'll come back with some food. Wait here."

DarkFire was so tired all she was now capable of seeing was a red blur in the middle of the room and nothing but plain stone in all other directions. She decided to have some rest, and with that decision, collapsed on the ground, only a few centimetres from the crackling fire.

"DarkFire! Wake up! I'm back! DarkFire!"

DarkFire groaned, rolled over onto the fire. The fire immediately went out, leaving DarkFire in darkness. She opened her eyes; too see a dark figure - LightClaw. DarkFire stood up, and walked to the side of the room. LightClaw knew what DarkFire was going to do, and scampered to the side of the room. DarkFire created a fire, identical to the one she just put out. The room was warm once more, and filled with light. "Well, I feel tired. I'd better sleep before the big day at the school tomorrow. We have a lot to do. The school is very big."

LightClaw nodded, Yeah, I brought an alarm clock here to wake us up on the day. We'd better both go to sleep for the day."

With those words, the two lay in the room, and slept.


DarkFire saw a blurry, flickering red light, with several embers rising from it. She heard a loud, continuous beeping sound, right in her ears. She knew she must be awake, seeing that there was a fire, and she was lying in a room. She hit the alarm clock, and it stopped immediately. She slowly looked to her right, where she saw her new friend, still sleeping soundly in front of the now-extinguished fire. Embers were still resting in it, waiting to be lit again, creating a fire once more. LightClaw was lying on her side, snoring faintly. DarkFire looked at the clock, and saw it was almost time for the student of the school to arrive on the train. DarkFire shook LightClaw on the shoulder, desperate to repay the one who brought her back to life.

"LightClaw, wake up!" shouted DarkFire, with concern. "We have to wake up to take over the school! Wake up!"

LightClaw groaned. "What time is it? I hope it isn't a false alarm." She said, sounding agitated. "Or did the alarm clock go off about an hour ago?"

DarkFire looked the white digital alarm clock with a bright blue display. It was in a rectangular shape, with a simple display showing the time: 6:25am. "LightClaw, it is twenty-five past six in the morning! We have to wake up to destroy the school! LightClaw! Get up!" said DarkFire, annoyed.

LightClaw moaned, groaned, and stood up. "Well, we'd better get going. I have to go outside for a bit to call in the tanks and bombers." LightClaw said, half yawning.

DarkFire leaned against the wall of the room. "Bombers? I thought you were only ordering tanks?"

LightClaw shook her head slowly. "Well, my... advisor... well, someone," said LightClaw, uncertainly, "told me I'd better bring in more forces, so I did so."

DarkFire nodded. "Well, I'll wait here. I might start setting small fires off in random places in the school building." She said, confidently. She then took a rather crumpled, small copy of the school map from her pocket, displaying all the buildings, plus where there were fire sprinklers and extinguishers. She had to take care to avoid them, of the plan would not work. Within the creation of that thought, LightClaw dashed up the stone stairway, and was calling her military forces in. DarkFire started to carefully observe the school map, and see where the fires should be lit.

DarkFire set a tip of one of her claws on fire. She looked strangely at the map, and then pressed the tip of one of her claws onto the paper, burning a hole, leaving a round, black mark in a section of the map. She looked at the map for a few more seconds, and burnt yet another few holes in.

BANG!!! The room DarkFire was in shook violently for a second. DarkFire was thrown to the side, heavily against a wall, leaving the map of the school, with several holes in it, lying on the ground right beside the fire.

"Hey! I told you to not bomb right there! Watch it! I might fire you soon! A friend of mine is there, you dodo!" shouted a rather angry voice. It was the voice of LightClaw.


Chapter 10: Change of Heart

DarkFire struggled to stand up. Both of DarkFire's wings were all crumpled. They were aching badly. They were both out of their natural position; dislocated. DarkFire knew she could not fly for a very long time. DarkFire walked slowly, struggling, limping, over to the fire, to the map she found. She reached for the map, but it was consumed by the fire, in the middle of the room. DarkFire started to regret she started the fire again after waking up. Realising she had no other choice; she immediately set fire to the entire school. The fire licked its way around the buildings, engulfing all the classrooms, devastating everything in its path. There was no sign of stopping it. The sprinkler system was off. Everything was going smoothly, but LightClaw's part of the plan was only beginning. She was going to ride one of her tanks straight into the crumbling, crunching building, and run over anything in sight.

DarkFire had finished her part of the plan. Now' it was LightClaw's turn. DarkFire limped out of the stone room, and out into the open, right in front of the burning, main building. The heat from the fire hit her like a sudden tempest. But the heat felt good, as she was part-dragon. The warmth washed over her like a wave, except for the fact she wasn't standing on a beach.

LightClaw was approaching the main building. She drove the tank right into it. But a sudden shower came from a window of the building, drenching DarkFire, making her feel weak, tired, and hopeless. She had, again, lost her chance to burn down the school. The water spread, in a puddle, around DarkFire, like an aurora of misery. LightClaw had accidentally turned on the sprinkler system while running into the building.

But DarkFire was not the only one being drenched with sorrow; LightClaw was next to one of her tanks, throwing her hands up in despair. She had lost the battle against the school. But she wasn't the one feeling the worst at the moment. In the corner of her eye, she saw many people wearing the school uniform of the school - students. They were all gasping. Some closed their eyes, and opened them again, only to see the same scene. They knew it was not a dream.

As the large crowd of students swelled, an increasing number of gasps and screams were heard, from just outside the school gates, where it was safer. They saw the school, black and sooty. The reek of burnt ash hung heavily in the ait, bringing with the feeling of coming too late to save the school from the fire that must have come only a few minutes ago. They watched the main building crumble, the roof collapse into it, leaving black smoke, heavy in the air. The building was still hot from the fire, and the warmth could even be felt from the school gates, some fifty wingspans away.

Several staff members poured out of the collapsing main building, mainly from the office, on the second floor. All of a sudden, the unstable building collapsed from under them, starting where there were staff members.

DarkFire tried to move aside, but was too weak from the water, covering her up in what seemed to her to be a miasma of failure. LightClaw dragged DarkFire away from the sprinkler systems of the main building. She tried to help her by drying her off with a white towel. DarkFire was soon dry enough to light a fire, and dry herself off. But her reaction was not very friendly. DarkFire, her hopes of knowing the past she never knew, had been shattered. She ran away, as fast as she could, to her home, thinking carefully about what she done.

"Who am I? Why am I still here? I might as well be better off being dead... I am walking home, but is that even my real home? Do I even have somewhere I belong?"

DarkFire slowed down slightly. She was ashamed, looking straight at the stone walkway she was walking along, not even knowing where she was headed for. She continued thinking, deep in thought.

"What is this feeling? I just want to run away, but where to? No one cares. It looks like I am just forgotten by everyone. My best friend says farewell, and I say farewell to my chance to know about my past. What have I got to live for? I am just pushed around by others. And the reward I get, well, is nothing but misery. I don't get anything for doing everything. I don't even get the satisfaction of it. What's the point...?"

"I only want to be happy, but I get nothing. Why do people have to let each other down so much? I'd prefer to be by myself instead of have anyone else force me to do things"

"I can't let this continue. I've had enough. I have to do something..."

DarkFire, unwittingly, walked into the house she lived in about a few weeks ago. The shadows of the Smith family were upon her. DarkFire simply sat down, too unhappy to do anything at the moment. She was only aware of the plain white carpet, on the ground below. But she heard a female voice, along with Jacob's...

"Hey, she is not insignificant, she may be different, but that doesn't make her insignificant!" shouted Jacob.

"Well, the fact she is different makes her unfit to live here! You do know how much damage her claws can do, and we still don't know how much damage she can do if she loses control over herself!"

"Damage.... Losing control..." The three words made their way through DarkFire's head. She knew that people let each other down. She was keen to listen to more.

Jacob was determined not to give up. "Well, as if she would burn the house down! You have mistreated her in every way, and you attempted to make her forget by dropping a piano on her head!"

"Stop making things up, Jacob! She is a monster! We have sacrificed our happiness for her to live here!"

"You might want to stop making up things! I have sacrificed more than you! Do you think that losing my only friend would make me happy?"

DarkFire thought for a few seconds. "Well, look at that. There are more people letting each other down. When will this end? This has happened ever since I have come here... I have been mistreated, and I will end this!"

DarkFire, despite having aching wings, stood up, and flew in circles above Jacob and the woman, dressed in a white dress. "Well, you do realise I am right here, right?"

Several thoughts came to DarkFire's mind, like a whirlwind. She froze for a moment "Lose control. Take these idiots down. They deserve to die. They do nothing but mistreat you. Everyone lets you down. Especially these people." The thoughts were none other than her own. Her body suddenly turned red. She was emitting a hot aurora. Her wrists and neck emitted a blazing ring of fire around them. Her claws started glowing.

Jacob looked at DarkFire. "What are you doing?"

The woman gasped. "Oh no!"

DarkFire ignored the comments. "Well," she started, bitterly, "You have no idea what's it like to be me." She landed on the ground silently. She observed the plain white walls, with a set of stairs, in front of her. Perfect for burning down. She places her claws on the carpet, near the two. She walked around them in a circle, not far from them. As her claws made contact with the carpet, it created sparks. It was lit with a blazing fire. Jacob and the woman were surrounded. "Well, living like me is just like you being in that fire. There is no escape for me, unless I do self-harm. I am always being pushed around, commanded. I have more to say. But you won't even give a damn if I kill you. You don't care about me, right? Well, I'll show you what it is like being me!"

The two showed a sudden expression of fear. Their faces were red - red with the heat. They had nowhere to go to. They could not flee, as there was the rising, crackling, blazing wall of fire in front of their eyes.

"Well, do you see how it's like? It's like being a non-swimmer alone in the middle of an increasingly deeper pool. Everything is gaining on you. You have nothing to do. You can't get help. You can't decide to sink or try to swim." continued DarkFire, angrily. "It's like my decision to kill myself or run - just like deciding to stay, do nothing of die, or to try and escape. The later I left my decision, the worse things became. So I have decided to run away, and kill you before you could stop me."

She was side-on with the spiral stairs. She looked over at the two. She held a sharp claw, facing the fire. She swept her claw towards the stairwell. The fire followed, rushing across the carpet, and up the stairs, heating the place up, creating black soot on the white walls of the house. "Looks like those upstairs have a fire to deal with, too. Do you understand now?"

Jacob, still scared, nodded.

"Well, everyone let me down. If I don't kill you, I know you will let me down in the end. When all I need is to be one step closer, someone else drags me all the way to the beginning. After killing you, I will help others. I don't want to see others like me suffer. All that I bleed out for nothing."

The fire from above was burning through the ceiling of the second floor; blackening it, choking the atmosphere. The fire on the carpet was spreading, closing in, spreading out, squeezing Jacob and the woman.

DarkFire lost her patience. "It's time to end this!" She created a loud, shrill and strange whistle. Immediately, two dragons dived into the house, from the ceiling. They flew straight down, shattering the roof of the house, and crumbling the burnt ceiling. The house started rumbling. They were large, about the height of the ceiling. They had large, spiked wings and tails. They were both blood-red in colour and had vicious fangs, with blood dripping from them. "Looks like you've just been hunting. I have a meal here for you."

Almost everyone in the house was doomed. The rumbling ceiling started collapsing from the holes where the dragons flew in, outwards. DarkFire was satisfied. "Okay, dragons finish them!" she roared.

DarkFire started to fly out of the hole in the ceiling. As she flew, she heard the mighty roar of the dragons, more fire, and the sound of the building collapsing onto itself. But she saw one thing - Jacob, jumping up, with the hope of being rescued. She saw a large red mark on his wrist - he had turned emo when she was gone.

DarkFire flew above the house, and looked down on it. There were now several screams coming from it. The whole house was ablaze. The dragons were occasionally sending jets of fire outside the windows, licking its way to the outside walls of the house. DarkFire, with great hatred, gathered a huge fireball in her hands. She hurled it straight at the holes in the ceiling. It went straight through. DarkFire suddenly made the fireball suddenly expand quickly; creating what appeared to be an explosion. The fireball was a beast swallowing up the house. As the fire slowly died away, the black, smoking, sooty remains of the house. It was flattened. The reek of smoke hung in the air.

DarkFire, satisfied with what she done, flew away, to start from scratch - for her change of heart.