H.E.R.O. and H.I.V.E.

Spoiler

*OOC: Just thought maybe getting this thing back on its feet.*

Nemesis Crystalheart~~~~~~~HERO

He took Jerica by surprise, which he doesn't do often. His blood was still boiling for not getting the answers that Renn had promised him, but Nemesis wasn't going to give up yet. He demanded answers about his roots and that didn't mean the odvious answer which pegged him not human. He had Jerica's back against his stomach and chest, so he leaned forward and began breathing on her neck. He whispered in her ear, "You tell your pal the unicorn that I still wants my answers. He told me he has answers for me and I want them now. I don't want to spend the rest of my life searching for answers. When he's back on his feet, he better give me the answers he was supposed to when I showed up. And one of those answers better not be the one that says I'm not human. I've known that for years." He let her go, then went to a different clearing where a pond was present. Slowly shifting into a dragon, he closed his eyes and thought back to the dream that haunted him throughout the years.
At first, there was darkness with only the sound of laughter and two steady hearts beating everywhere. This part often brought a hidden smile to Nemesis' face, since it calmed him down whenever he was upset or furious. Then the laughter was turned into a woman screaming and two men yelling. One man was yelling that the baby was an abomination towards mankind and must be slain, but the other man yelled that an innocent life can't be taken when it just began. The screaming woman passed the baby to the other man and ordered him to run away and keep the baby safe. He ran with the baby, but failed to quiet it down because of the pouring of rain on the infant's face. Suddenly he stopped somewhere and put the infant down. He whispered to the sleeping infant, "Hush, my son. I know that someday you will find me and your mother, but I just don't know when. When you are old enough, I will come to take you home. Until then, I only ask of you to wait until I come back for you." A light kiss was pressed against the infant's forehead after this and it never heard its father's voice again.
Nemesis opened his eyes, already full dragon. He looked around to be sure he was alone. When no one was in sight, Nemesis shed tears of sorrow all alone.

You realize her name's not Jessica, right?

Danny Dapperly

I collapsed to one knee thoroughly exhausted I watched as my team mates fought the very island for their lives, Jerica would have to pay for that later. I walked over to where I felt Nemesis near by. He was crying so I placed one hand on the shoulder of his dragon form and spoke into his mind. I apologize for having failed everyone as a leader after we retrieved Circe I should have called everyone in to a retreat. Everyone else that is I understand your desire for answers I should have helped.

He didn't respond so I continued out loud, "Regardless it's over now and I have a lot of work to do." I removed a flute from a pouch inside of my jacket, "My father is the only reason I'm here you know." I started playing and paused to think about the song, "I never really wanted to come I wanted to stay home and learn more of my mother's people." I continued playing but stopped again, "I was actually brought in as a fail safe for after every HERO and Hive confrontation." I kept playing letting the song get more complicated, "He will probably be furious when he hears I waited so long to play the song, and even angrier when he finds out I was part of the confrontation in the gym." I finished playing and felt my wounds heal and the earthquakes stop as well as the waves cease. The world began to melt around Nemesis and I.

I sent one last message to him as I disappeared. Goodnight my friend. See you at martial combat training.

Spoiler

I thought I would end things in the forest finally and get the next day started.

Nemesis Crystalheart

As Danny left, Nemesis stopped his crying fit and watched in shock. He couldn't understand it. What could Danny know about Nemesis besides having telekinesis and the ability to become a dragon? Why show sympathy to a dragon who hardly knows who or what he was? Both very good questions, but Nemesis didn't have the answer to either one. However, this wasn't the first time someone gave him sympathy. It brought him back to when he was two years old.
He was bullied by the older kids for not being adopted, but one girl stood up and told the others to leave the little one alone. The girl's name was Sarah, an orphan of thirteen years of age. She gave Nemesis comfort, read him stories to help him sleep, became his one true friend. All she ever did was show him kindness to which he responded in the same way. She was more than a friend to Nemesis. She was like a big sister to him, since she treated him like he was her little brother. He never called her Sarah, but Big Sister. He cried when he was put into foster care, but cried the worst when he heard that she was adopted into a good family. Even now, after years of being fostered then adopted, Nemesis still missed Sarah. The only friend and closest he had to a sibling in the orphanage, out there somewhere, perhaps missing him as well.
Nemesis returned to his human form and went back to the school. He decided that once he graduated and finally solved the mystery of his past, he would go and look for Sarah to show her how much he's grown since they last met in the orphanage.

*I'll try and get this thing going again. Forgive the ridiculously long post.*

Prize Gryphon/Renn Ariyal:

Several Hours Later

After Renn was taken to the infirmary Prize got to work. He grabbed Nemesis' arm in the hallway as the other boy stalked towards the cafeteria. Still ticked about Renn's injury he squeezed the other boy's arm in bruising grip. "You want your answers so badly. Well you're about to get them." He grated the words, and there was something of the lion's roar in his voice.

Prize marched Nemesis down the hall and shoved him through the infirmary door. He left the it open so that Nemesis' friends would know he wasn't being attacked. Distantly he noticed Danny and several other HERO students poke their heads into the room.

"I brought him. Although you're willing to help him I have no idea." He said to Renn. The redhaired boy was perched on a countertop. His broken arm was in a spint, and he was pressing it to his forehead. A soft rose light emanated from the place where Renn's horn should be. As the healing light knit the bones together a sense of tranquilty spread through the room. The hostility draining out of those close to it.

Renn flashed Prize a crooked smile as he flexed his arm, testing to see if it had healed right. "He has a right to know Prize. No matter how irritating we both find it."

The griffin shot Nemesis a sour look before crossing his arms and staring out the window. "I can't stand dragons, they always think the universe revolves around them." He muttered.

"Forgive Prize. The two of us have spent most of our childhoods at odds with the Dragon Tribe. You'll have to a little patient for your answers. It's not an easy story to tell." Renn smiled bitterly. "It's not an easy story to hear either."

One of the HERO students who were shamelessly eavesdropping snapped. "Get on with it!"

Renn rolled his eyes. "Like I told you earlier. You're not human. Neither am I, neither is Prize. We are Wyr, the two-natured. A race of shapeshifters who make their home in a dimension that lies alongside this one. Once, a long time ago, Wyr travelled freely between the two worlds. It didn't end well.

Cocking his head Nemesis' asked him. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "Think about all the old stories you've heard in human legend. Those stories are based on the Wyr. In all those tales the knight rides out from his castle, slays the dragon, rescues the damsel. And they live happily. Ever. After." The last words were a snarl.

At that point Prize turned around and faced the room once more. "The Wyr call those days, the Dark Times. It was genocide on a global scale. In our hundreds, in our thousands, we died. We were pushed to the brink of extinction. Entire Tribes were wiped out. There are some things that can never be forgiven. This was one of them."

Renn inclined his head in agreement. "The Wyr began to fear and hate humans. The race as a whole decided to withdraw from this world and isolate themselves in their own dimension. Their loathing of humans spread to the Betweens, those part human part Wyr children capable of shifting. The pure-blooded think of part bloods as abominations. They hunt us, and when they us. They put us down much like you would a rabid dog."

*There, NOW can Renn get some sympathy. Also I am taking votes for shifting the story to the Wyr world. Hint: The gate is in a volcano.*

Nemesis Crystalheart~~~~~~~~~~HERO

Nemesis found himself going down memory lane once again as he let it all sink in. He remembered that one night when Sarah showed him something which she asked him not to tell anyone about. After he nodded, he was astonished to watch her transform from a person to a bat. After changing back to a human, she brought him back into his room before the manager even knew he was up after lights out. Now he knew what kind of creature he was, after years of searching. However, it didn't answer the question of whether his father or mother was a Wyr of the Dragon Tribe. When he suddenly remembered the dream that haunted him for all these years, he found the answer. The Wyr dragon was his father. He took a cleansing breath and asked, "What about the ones who mated with a human to create part-bloods like ourselves? What happens if they were discovered?" When Renn didn't answer, Nemesis didn't hesitate to explain. "As you might know, I was raised in an orphanage and jumped from one foster home to the next until I was ten. Every night when I used to sleep, I often heard voices in my sleep. One voice saying that I shouldn't be alive because I was some kind of abomination, the other voice saying that I was just an innocent life that just began. I've been abandoned since infancy."
One of the other Hero students said, "That's awful, dude."
Nemesis ignored the student and kept his gaze on Renn. "If it's worth your time, I might as well say that I'm sorry I flared at you. My temper seems to get the best of me either way anyhow."

Renn Ariyal:

Renn and Prize shared a telling glance. "He's been Caging his Beast." The griffin murmured in realization. Renn shook his head in wonder. "At least he's not past the point of no return."

"Point of no return?" Nemesis asked worriedly.

Renn gave him a sidelong glance. "You've never shifted much have you? It's obvious from Wyr form, it's immature. That refusal to change, we call it Caging the Beast. If you do it long enough there are side-effects. Our Beasts do not like to be chained, if you do it long enough it will drive you mad."

Nemesis turned pale at his words and then Prize jumped. "As for your parents. We honestly don't know. Different Tribes have different methods. In some they aren't punished at all, while in others they're put to death alongside their child. We don't how the Dragon's will react, they've never had a Between before."

Renn smiled happily. "They've always been so proud of that. Nice to know it's all a pile of crap."

*Here's how I'm thinking the plot can go. Abyss, Renn's father found a unicorn and seduced her. He knew there would be a high chance of his child changing shape. Because of how highly valued unicorns are the other Wyr will come after Renn in force, triggering an all out war. And we get to stop it.*

Nemesis Crystalheart~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HERO

At this, Nemesis was tempted to shift again, but didn't risk it. He was frightened that his Beast was caged, but he was also curious. Neither one of them knew the answer to his abandonment as a baby, but it did make him guess. "What if one parent- the one who is Wyr- knew the child was in danger and had to leave it in the care of other humans? Chances are that's what my father did when I was a baby. As for not changing more often, I haven't done that since I was young. The reason why I was jumped from one foster home to the next was because my foster siblings- who were mostly boys- kept calling me a freak and read fairy tales about a knight slaying a dragon out loud, causing me to shift involuntarily. I was so upset and ashamed of being what I am, I almost thought I would never get adopted. I've caused so much trouble, the majority of my foster familes have been sent to insanitariums because they saw me turn into a hatchling in front of them." He sighed and sat on a chair, feeling upset more for Renn than himself.

Danny Dapperly - HERO

I stood in the door way shocked by the story, and I had thought my blood line was strange. I stepped forward with a cough to get Renn, Nemesis, and prizes attention. "So what does that mean for the rest of us non-Wyr there's an air of danger about this that I don't like." I sighed, "I should know wars between different races over life can turn very bad very fast."

Nemesis looked at me comprehension dawning, "You're not fully human either are you? That's why you understood my want for answers."

"Nothing gets past you does it buddy." I chuckled slightly.

"so that's how I woke up in the infirmary, I didn't even realize I had moved. and how the islands damage had been repaired, as well as most everyone's injuries" Renn looked at me puzzled. "But if you're not human what are you no Wyr could do something quite like that."

I looked at the ground, "Well it's hard to explain I guess my mother is were I should start. She was of an ancient tribe that could use music to manipulate the world as they saw fit. It was complicated but I learned it faster than most because of my father." I sighed I really did love my father but he was always a source of confusion for me as to why he did things. "He was of a different race I guess an alien technically called well Learners. That's how I could use others powers my father's people could use other's powers and learn things at a lightning fast pace.
He sent me hear to learn to be a hero he thought my abilities should be put to good use.

Nemesis looked at me dumbfounded. Renn appeared equally confused, then he burst out, "why didn't you heal me."

Everyone looked at him shocked. I started to laugh and between laughs explained myself, "I did but you try repairing what Jerrica did to the island returning everyone to their beds and completely healing everyone. You'll find your arm is all that I left injured, I ran out of energy to heal it plain and simple." I sighed remembering how exhausted I was. "But, that is neither here nor there. I want to know what the risk is for us non-Wyr HERO or HIVE you know we're going to help."

Renn Ariyal/Prize Gryphon:

Renn's mouth curved in a reluctant smile. "The simple fact is I don't know. Wyr are considered children until their first Change. I didn't shapeshift until about a month ago." He shrugged. "Part bloods are tolerated so long as they can't shift. But you're still on the outside looking in."

His hand slid up to clasp the pendant around his neck. "But you don't need to worry. All your worries are about to dissapear."

Eyes widening in shock Prize stared at Renn. "Don't you dare Renn. If you go back they'll slaughter you."

"They killed my sister Prize." He bit out. "Mari was seven years old, a baby. They killed her because I wasn't there. Every single one of them is going to pay, I'll make sure of it."

Prize slapped a hand to his forehead. "I should not have told you about Mari. Me and my big mouth.

Nemesis Crystalheart~~~~~HERO

When Prize mentioned "going back," Nemesis closed his eyes and could almost hear the voice that comforted him before leaving him as a baby. His father's voice promised, "When you're old enough, I will come to take you home. Until then, I only ask of you to wait until I come back for you." Nemesis knew there was truth in that voice. He opened his eyes and said calmly, "If you are going back, then take me with you. All my life, I've been searching for my parents in hopes of finding more answers on my roots. If I go with you, then I could find my father and have them hold me after all these years." He made up his mind right then and there. If his father was in the world where all Wyr come from, then Nemesis might have a chance to understand the concept of a true family.