-“Jounishi! Now who’s the baka?” Ayami said as she ran up to him.

            She bent down in front of him and began to laugh.

-“You were so brave.” She said sarcastically.

-“Oh don’t you start!”

            Jounishi slowly got up again but noticed that Ayami didn’t even budge. She was just glaring at the black dragon that stood in front of her. Her worried eyes soon began to tear up.

-“Are you…..okay?” Jounishi asked.

-“…….why are we here……..” she answered as she wiped up her tears.

-“ I wish I knew…but don’t worry…we’ll get back.”

-“…..k…..”

            Jounishi bent down to comfort her when he realized that the dragon was still standing in front of them, waiting for a challenge. The dragon seemed to have lost it’s patience because he started to charge up for another blast. Ayami and Jounishi had no idea of what to do. They have never gone up against a dragon before and Jounishi’s last try proved that they didn’t stand a chance against it. The dragon was finally ready to attack, he took a deep breath and fired another huge blast towards them. They both struggled to get up and run, but they were so frightened that they were tripping over each other. The two of them then put out their hands as if to block the blast. Suddenly, the fire blast was blocked by what seemed to some sort of force field. After awhile the two of them opened their eyes and looked up in confusion, wondering why they hadn’t been burnt to a crisp like Jounishi before.

-“Huh?” Why aren’t we dead?” asked Ayami.

            It was then that they noticed the green barrier around them.

-“Did we do that?” asked Jounishi.

-“I think so.”

-“Sweet! That kicks ass! We can use magic…I think”

            Jounishi was now desperate to find out whether or not it was them who created the barrier. This is when he attempted to use magic.

-“Um….power blast? Uh…explosion?...barrier?” Jounishi exclaimed as he tried to use attacks, but each time he was unsuccessful. 

-“It’s not working…just give up already and lets get out of here before we’re completely destroyed.”

-“No wait! I’m almost positive we made that barrier and I’m not giving up….damn, can’t I just blast the stupid dragon with water or something?”

            At that moment, Jounishi got a sharp pain through his head. He knelt down in pain as Ayami ran up to him. She was really worried and the dragon was coming even closer.

-“Jounishi what’s happening?” she said.

-“Ah!”

            A smirk then appeared on his face. He got up and walked towards the black dragon. Ayami just stared in shock. She didn’t know what was going on, but Jounishi sure did.

-“Ha.Ha. You think you’re so tough don’t you. Well guess what….It’s time to die!!! Jounishi yelled as he charged towards the dragon.

-“Wait! Are you crazy? What are you doing?”

            Jounishi then leaped into the air above the dragon’s head, he appeared to be floating for a short while. When he started to descend, he shouted: “Soul Destroyer!” A huge dark blue blast was released from his hands and headed straight for the dragon. It was a direct hit, the dragon was going to be destroyed, once and for all. Although, Ayami was right next to the dragon. As the blast hit the dragon a huge explosion was created, destroying the black dragon, but sending Ayami flying. She was thrown across the forest and then bashed into a tree. Jounishi, who had finally made it to the ground, was searching all over for her. He prayed that she was still alive but when he finally spotted her, she was unconscious. Ayami’s face was covered in blood. There was blood pouring out the side of her mouth and she had an enormous cut across her forehead. Jounishi stood in shock. His eyes widened at the horror. He couldn’t believe that he had hurt his best friend. His palms grew sweaty and he could hardly breathe. When it began to rain, he finally found himself again and walked towards her.

-“Go…go….gomme na sai Ayami-kun!” Jounishi said to himself. “I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.”

            He bent down and picked up her fragile little body. She was ice cold by now because of the rain. He held her close and covered half of her with his cape. It was then that he realized that there was a cliff just nearby. He walked towards it only to find a little village below.

-“Finally! People! I can find a hospital for her!” he said with a relieved voice.

            He ran down the cliff as fast as he could until he reached the first house of the village.

-“Don’t worry Ayami! You’ll be resting safely in a hospital soon.”

            He ran through the empty streets; everyone was inside their houses for protection from the rain. He had no idea of which direction he should go but at this point, he didn’t care. He just needed to find a hospital and fast. He turned a corner and crashed into something.

-“Ouch!” he yelled as he looked in front of him. It was the cat girl from the forest! She had short reddish-orange hair that clipped in the back, there were two long strands of hair on the side of her face which tied at the bottom with little bells. She had little cat ears and a tail. She was wearing a Japanese style shirt that was so long it almost appeared to be a small dress. She wore black shorts, which were almost unnoticeable because of the length of her shirt. She wore to little paws on her feet and hands and on one wrist, she had a bracelet with a bell on it. She also wore a little bow around her neck which had two bells on it.

-“Meow….that hurt! Oh it’s you again! Why do you keep crashing into me like that? Meow?”

-“Oh! I’m really sorry…I didn’t mean to, I was just in a hurry to help my friend. She was injured in the battle we had against a dragon in the forest and I can’t find a hospital anywhere.”

-“What!?! Dragon!!! Meow! Did you beat him???”

-“Ya, did you know that dragon?”

-“Yes, that’s who I was running from before! Thank you so much for beating him! Our village is safe now!” she said as she rubbed her head against Jounishi and purred.

-“Oh! You’re welcome. Oh by the way, what’s your name? I didn’t get the chance to ask you last time.

-“Mink!”

-“Mink huh? Well, it’s nice to meet you but um……can you please show me to a hospital and quick?” he begged.

-“Oh…meow….well, I’m afraid we don’t have hospitals in this village, but you can come to my temple. An powerful wizard lives there with me and he is a very good healer!”

-“Oh! Okay sure, thanks!”

            The three of them were now on their way to the temple. Jounishi followed Mink. The temple was down a hill near a river. There were cherry blossoms everywhere and the place seemed to be very peaceful. Mink walked right in and called out : “Baiko-sempai! Baiko-sempai, I’m home! I have friends with me!” A tall man with blue hair and blue eyes then entered the main room.

-“ Welcome back Mink-chan!” replied the tall man. “Who are these friends you speak of?”

-“They’re just outside Baiko-sempai!”

-“Well come on in before you get sick. Let me introduce myself. My name is Baiko, and you are?”

-“My name is Jounishi, and this is Ayami, she was injured in a previous battle we had. Mink told me you would heal her for me.”

-“Of course I will. Bring her here.”

            Jounishi approached Baiko and laid the injured Ayami on the floor.

-“Hum…she’s hurt pretty badly, but don’t worry…nothing a little healing spell can’t heal.” Baiko took out a long staff with a sphere on the end. He placed one hand on Ayami’s forehead and held the staff over her body. He began to chant a mysterious spell and she began to glow a heavenly white. Her wounds suddenly closed up and healed themselves.

-“That should do it. Just let her rest and in the morning she should be fine. You two may spend the night here.” Baiko concluded.

-“Arigato Baiko-san.”

            Jounishi carried Ayami into a room with two beds on the floor.

-“You two can sleep in here. Goodnight.” Baiko then left the room and let the two of them rest.

            Jounishi carefully placed Ayami under her covers. He had a feeling everything would be alright. For some reason, he felt very comfortable around Baiko and trusted him. He somehow knew that he wouldn’t let Ayami or him down. He got under his covers and stared at the roof. He couldn’t stop thinking about all that has happened. The dragon, the magic and the neko-girl. It all seemed to be too awkward but he knew he wasn’t dreaming. It felt too real to be a dream. When he fired the blast towards the dragon, it felt so….so…..familiar. But then he started to wonder; there were two beds in the room when they entered. But how did Baiko know that he would need to have two beds? It was almost as if Baiko was…expecting them…

-Who is this Baiko character? And what does he know about our heroes?

                                                                                                  To Be Continued…