"Landon, just help me find him!" Ray was running down the roads of Windia in his desperate search for Jason. The dragon could only repeat his request over and over again as he ran. "Let me find Jason, let me find him and Landon, don't let this be what I think it is..." The dragon turned and rushed down another street, uncertain of what force was navigating him through Windia, but he didn't question it. Somehow the dragon knew that he was being led to where ever Jason was, and that was all he wanted to do right now. Find Jason. Another quick turn down another street, more running, and suddenly Ray found himself heading straight into the woods that started up just outside of Windia's borders. The dragon finally stopped to catch his breath before he once again hurried off into the woods, driven by the uncertain hopes of finding Jason.

After a minute or two into his mad dash through the woods, Ray was beginning to wonder if he was in fact anywhere near hunting out the windian His doubts were soon shattered and the dragon skidded quickly to a stop as his eyes went wide at the scene he had just stumbled upon. "LANDON!"

The stentch of burnt wood and the acrid smell of blood was lingering in a sour mixture that filled the air. Ray shot a nervous glance around the clearing, his legs trembling from the strain of running for so long. The area that the dragon had just stumbled into was one of utter destruction. It looked like someone had doused the entire place in gasoline and then dropped a match. The ground was scorched and cracked, ashen in color and covered in burn marks. The area in the woods had now been formed into a clearing, because any trees that had been in the immediate vicinity had been reduced to nothing but charred stumps, some still smoldering as a thick, yellow smoke seemed to cloud the area. One tree in particular had been left standing. One side of it was nothing but charcoal, and about five feet up the trunk of the tree there was a giant chunk that had been ripped from it. The ground around it was covered in a thick slick of blood and the still fresh stench of the liquid was overpowering in the air. Ray finally closed his eyes to the scene and put his hands up to cover his nose and mouth, hoping to block the thick smoke and the horrible burnt smell that seemed to flood the area. It was then that the dragon heard a noise somewhere farther into the woods that caught his attention, and once again Ray was running through the foliage as he made his way around the destroyed area. He didn't have to go more then a few yards until he once again skidded to a sudden halt, this time relief washing over him as he spotted the object of his search. "Jason!"

The windian didn't even look up. He was hunched down on the ground, crouched beside a small stream and was currently dunking his hands into the cold water, bringing up handfulls of the liquid and pouring them into his mouth, gargling for a few seconds before spitting the water back out and wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Ray, what the fuck are you doing here?" Still he didn't look back at the dragon as once again he submerged his hands into the cold water, this time holding them there and not bringing them back out. Ray took a few tentative steps towards the windian.

"Jason... what happened...?"

"Why don't you fucking tell me?!" He jumped up suddenly, whirling around to glare at the dragon with a look of pure hatred. "You fucking saw what's back there, I know you did! It's in your eyes and I can smell the smoke and blood on you!" Jason's lips pulled back into a vicious snarl and with a deep throated growl he turned and crouched back down beside the stream, splashing up water onto his face and mopping his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. Ray just stood silently and started at him for a minute.

"Jason..." The dragon's voice was calmer now as he once again attempted to speak to the windian. Jason simply made a hissing noise before responding.

"I don't want to fucking talk about it Ray, not right now."

"Alright then," the dragon shrugged. "You don't have to talk about it now. I can wait."

Jason muttered an inaudible reponse and began to rub his left had vigerously. "How the fuck did you find me out here anyway?"

"Well, I was at the park with Lucy and Yuki and Janet when Britney came running up and-"

"BRITNEY!" Jason jumped up again and whirled around to face Ray, his eyes wide in worry. "FUCK! Ray, is she alright?! SHIT! If anything happened to her..."

"She's fine, Jason." The dragon jumped a bit, startled at the windian's sudden outburst. "She was a little burnt but Yuki healed her. She's at home now..."

"Fuck..." Jason's eyes seemed to suddenly hold an empty and far off gaze as he shook his head. "Shit... I don't believe it... she was right there, wasn't she... fuck..." Jason began to ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head, muttering. "Shit... shit! Oh fucking... thank god she's okay, but fuck..."

"Jason." Ray sighed. "Jason, come on, we need to get home..."

"No." The windian shook his head and turned away from Ray again, staring down at the stream. "Shit, no. Ray, you can go, but I'm not heading back right now."

"Well, suite yourself." Ray shrugged and then leaned up against a nearby tree. Jason remained silent for a minute before turning to look at the dragon.

"What the fuck are you doing here? Shit, Ray! Get home to your sister!"

Ray shook his head. "Jason, I don't know... I've just got this feeling, that if I leave now, you're not going to show up at home later today, or tonight, or even tomorrow for that matter." Ray gave the windian a serious look. "So, I'm going to stand right here and wait for you, and make sure you come home."

"Ray..." Jason's lips pulled back in an annoyed snarl again as the windian went back to rubbing his hand. "Will you fucking forget about me and just get the fuck home?" The dragon shook his head once more and Jason threw his arms up in the air. "FUCK! Why the hell do you even want me to go back with you?! Ray, if you fucking even knew what just happened-"

"Well, maybe I don't know right now, but Jason eventually you're going to tell me whether you want to or not." The dragon pushed himself up off the tree and gave the windian a serious look. "Now look, all I know is something just happened, something big... and I could probably take a guess at what it was..." the dragon's eyes moved down to Jason's gloved left hand for a moment, "but right now all I'm really concerned about is making sure you get back home tonight. Listen... there's a little girl over at the house who just came running up to me a few minutes ago, bawling her eyes out." Ray rubbed the back of his neck as he studied Jason's expression for a moment. The dragon shook his head. "And from the sound of it, you're pretty worried about how she's doing, so I'm definantly going to make sure you get home tonight and talk to her, because I have a feeling you've got some explaining to do to her."

"Shit..." Jason shook his head and turned to stare down at the stream again. "Shit! Ray, I don't know... I just fucking don't know." The windian groaned and crouched down once more, staring into the stream. "Fuck... she was standing right there... fucking hell... shit..." The windian's words droned down to a quiet mutter as he continued to massage the back of his hand. Ray simply leaned up against the tree again and waited. Hours passed before Jason finally stood up once more and turned to the dragon, nodding just barely. When the two finally made it back to the Bendrel's, the sky was already tinged with the purple hue of dusk.

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