Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon Fire: Project Chimera ❯ Chiryu and the Path of Life! ( Chapter 6 )

Dragon Fire and all related stories and characters are copyright 1998-2002 to Josh Miller (that's me!) Please do not steal anything related to Dragon Fire. That includes plot lines, characters, spell names, and incantations. All song lyrics are also copyright to me so DO NOT steal them. Thank you and enjoy the story.

Chiryu and the Path of Life!

"Chiryu, Chiryu..." Hiryu called out, nothing answered. "CHIRYU! WHERE ARE YOU?" Hiryu screamed. Again, silence. He ran around the house, turning over chairs and thrashing drawers. After going over the entire house a few times he felt panic start to set in. "C-chiryu, please, come here," he whispered. He dropped to the ground and rolled up into a ball before sobbing.

"Hiryu?" Mishi asked, "What's wrong?" "C-chiryu's gone," Hiryu said through sobs. "Chiryu?" Mishi asked. "Chiryu," Hiryu said. He stood up and faced Mishi. She had gone out with Renita to do some shopping. "Chiryu is my best friend," Hiryu said, "I found him about two months ago in the forest. He was only an egg then, I raisd him. And now we're best friends." "Is Chiryu ACTUALLY a "what"?" Mishi asked. Hiryu nodded his head. "He's a dragon," he said. "NANDE! DRAGON?" Mishi screamed. "Dragon," Hiryu said. "H-how big is he?" Mishi asked. "About my size," Hiryu said. "NANDE! THAT SMALL?" Mishi cried. "He's from the Chibi Ryu species, they only grow to about three and a half feet in height when they're full grown. The color of their eyes reflects their personalities and the color of the sparkles that drop from their wings will reveal what element bore them," Hiryu said, "But he hasn't used his wings yet, so..."

"HIRYU, where are you?" Renita called. She walked around the house, not seeing him or Mishi anywhere. "Hiryu, Mishi, come out now," Renita ordered firmly. "Over here Mrs. Janken," Mishi called. Renita followed her voice and found them in Hiryu's room, looking through a scrapbook. "What's wrong?" Renita asked. She walked over to the two and knelt down, inspecting the scrapbook. "Is something wrong with Chiryu? Where is he?" Renita asked. "Gone," Hiryu choked out. "WHAT?!" Renita cried. "Chiryu ran away," Mishi explained. Renita looked at Hiryu before dashing out of the room.

Renita grabbed a picture of Chiryu and a stack of papers. "Oh mighty earth with which parchment lies. Bring your soul with these and create my desire! CREATE!" she cried. She threw the picture and papers into the air and a flash filled the room. When the light disappeared several posters floated down into her hands. She turned and ran out of the house and into the town, furiously putting the posters up.

"Renita, what's wrong?" Yoi asked. Renita had run to the dojo to hand some of the posters to Yoi to put up. "Chiryu is missing," Renita said. "Hasn't he run away before?" Yoi asked. "No, he's a dragon and has a strong bond with Hiryu," Renita hissed out. Her breath was becoming short. "Dragon? But, dragons never run away, even if they're mistreated..." Yoi said.

"Don't worry Hiryu, it's going to be ok," Mishi said. She patted Hiryu's arm and stood up. Hiryu had been staring out of the window for hours. He was wearing a red sleevless shirt and black shorts. Mishi looked at him and a memory suddenly flooded to her head.

"Look Mommy! The egg's hatching!" Hiryu cried. Renita rushed out into the room and looked at the egg. "Hiryu, dragons form a bond with the first person or thing they see, I'll go out of the room for awhile," Renita said. Hiryu slightly nodded his head but his attention was on the cracking egg. It was red and gold. He stared anxiously as a small, pink arm extruded from the egg. He squealed with delight as a small pink creature popped out of the egg. A small patch on it's stomach was gold as were the claws on it's arms and legs. It's wings were folded up on its back and it wouldn't open them. The two looked at each other and a Dragon Bond was formed. Hiryu picked the dragon up and hugged it.

"Hiryu," Mishi said. She felt dizzy and turned to the coutch. But Hiryu wasn't there. Mishi gasped and saw his headband heading towards the front door. She ran out to him and saw he was about to go outside. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Finding Chiryu," Hiryu said. "You can't!" Mishi cried, "It's too cold out! You'll freeze!" "I have to find him," Hiryu said determindly. Mishi grabbed him and tried to pull him away from the door but he turned around and put his hand out. "Sorry Mishi, but I have to do this, SLEEP!" he said. Mishi immediatly fell asleep and slumped to the ground.

Mishi opened here eyes and groaned. "Hiryu," she gasped. Renita was still gone. Mishi stood up, she was dizzy, but knew that she had to find Hiryu. She hurried out of the door into the rain.

"HIRYU!" Mishi yelled. She continued running, nearly slipping and falling several times. She ran past a dark alley and thought she saw a flash of red. She screeched to a halt and turned to the alley. She gasped at what she saw. Hiryu was sprawled out on the ground, his skin was very pale, looking almost blue. She ran down the alley quickly and dropped down next to Hiryu. They were both soaking wet. Hiryu's lips were blue, but his face was still set with determination. 'I don't have enough strength to create a P. Gate, or to carry Hiryu home for that matter, but...' Mishi thought desperatly for a way to save Hiryu. She lowered her face to Hiryu's and brought her lips to his, warming his face and body. She could only hope that someone would find them soon. She stayed there for as long as she could remember, but eventually passed out.

* * *

A bright light filled the room, no, it wasn't a room, it was space...A bright light filled the space and Hiryu was temporartily blinded. "Am I dead?" he asked. "No," a voice said. Hiryu jumped and looked around, he hadn't expected an answer. "You have two choices, Hiryu," the voice said again. "What are they?" Hiryu asked, still looking for the owner of the voice. "Stay alive, or die," the voice said. "LIVE!" Hiryu yelled instantly. "The path back will be difficult," the voice said. "I don't care," Hiryu said. "Fine, come through this door, and begin on your way back..." the voice said. A door appeared and Hiryu stepped towards it. He opened it, not hesitating once.

* * *

'Someone, is next to me, right next to me,' Mishi thought. She sniffed the air and knew who it was. Her eyes shot open and she looked at Hiryu. The two were laying on the couch in the Janken's family room, a bright fire dancing before them in the fireplace. Mishi sat up and looked at Hiryu, his expression was set in determination. She tried to talk, but found her voice was not there. 'I must have lost my voice in the cold...' she thought. She tried standing up but found she didn't possess the strength. 'Argh, how do I get Mrs. Janken here?' she wondered. Then it hit her, she pulled a small whistle out of her pocket and blew it. A high, shrill sound filled the air and Renita ran into the room at once.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Mishi pointed to herself. "Oh! Right!" Renita cried, "But why isn't Hiryu up? That whistle should have woken him..." Mishi held up a finger and turned to Hiryu. She held her hands a few inches above his chest. 'I hope this works,' she thought. She silenty chanted an incantation and waited to see what would happen. After a few seconds A picture of sort popped up. It showed Hiryu, on a long road, the Path of Life. "Oh my God," Renita said, "H-he's fighting for his life!"

* * *

"You're so small! How did you come here?" a tall man asked. He stood at at least 6 feet. "I was looking for my dragon, and I passed out," Hiryu said. "O...k, well anyway, on this path you will have four tests," the tall man said, "this is the first one. Your job, is to have a sparring match with me, not all out, a controlled one. Your task during this match is to knock me down." "ALRIGHT! LETS GO!" Hiryu yelled. He put his hands in front of him and he disappeared. The tall man looked around, trying to sense Hiryu's power, at the last possible second he spun around and caught Hiryu, holding him up by his collar. "Nice try, but that won't do it," the man said. Hiryu kicked out of the man's grip and grabbed onto his shirt, he tried flipping the man over but found him to be too tall.

Hiryu jumped down and stepped into a fighting stance, running various ways of flipping the man over in his head. He stepped forward and punched at the man, who blocked it and slapped Hiryu's head with the other hand. "Keep your guard up," he said. Hiryu kicked at the man's shin and made contact, but the man once again slapped his head. Hiryu kicked again and this time the man blocked with his leg and didn't slap Hiryu.

After going at it for awhile Hiryu found the man's pattern. Block, slap, block, slap, block with leg. 'Here we go,' Hiryu thought to himself. He'd figured out a surefire way to trip the man. He let himself get slapped twice, and then started a round house kick, but as the man raised his leg, Hiryu stopped the kick and grabbed onto the man's leg. He propelled himself up and to the side, still holding onto the leg. "GROW!" Hiryu yelled, his limbs suddenly growing twice as long. He directed himself to the ground, and swept his leg in an arc, kicking the man's other leg out from under him. The man fell to the ground.

* * *

"Good job Hiryu!" Renita cried. Mishi clapped her hands. They had just witnessed Hiryu's defeat of the tall man. "Only three to go, you can do it!" Renita said.

* * *

Hiryu walked into the next room. It was similar to the other one, white. There was a punching bag in the center of the room, it was large, bigger than Hiryu. "LITTLE MAN!" an enormous booming voice called out. Hiryu jumped and covered his ears. A plump man appeared in the room. "YOUR TASK HERE IS TO HIT ME!" the man said. He stepped up to the punching bag and stood on one side, he motioned for Hiryu to step to the other side. "OK," the man said, "YOU HAVE TO CONTINOUSLY ATTACK THIS BAG, AND FIND A WAY TO HIT ME!" "O...k," Hiryu said. He started punching the bag, not going too fast. He moved around the bag, heading towards the man. As Hiryu moved the man moved too, keeping an equal distance between the two.

Hiryu continued hitting the bag, it seemed to go on for hours. He was exhausted now, nearly ready to pass out. "If, I, stop, what happens to me?" he asked his opponent. "YOU DIE!," the man boomed, "COME ON! DON'T GIVE UP!" Hiryu once again moved and the man moved too. Something suddenly clicked in his mind. "Here goes," he muttered. He stepped to one side and the man stepped. As the man was stepping Hiryu flipped to the side and forward and hit the bag and the man in the ribs at the same time.

* * *

"That's two down! I wonder what the next one is?" Renita said. Mishi shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Hiryu.

* * *

"Mishi?" Hiryu asked. He was in a third room, again it was similar to the other two. He'd found Mishi standing there. She ran to him and hugged him. "Oh! I'm so glad that you're okay!" she cried. "Yeah, you two..." Hiryu said. 'Something's not right,' he thought. "Is something wrong?" Mishi asked. "YES! YOU'RE NOT MISHI!" Hiryu yelled. He pushed her away and put his hands in front of him. "Evil of times that spillith souls, I harbor you now, hook and chain! DEMON BEGONE!" he yelled. A white light flashed in front of him and "Mishi" disappeared. A beautiful woman appeared in front of him. Her hair and eyes were silver and an eternal saddness was imprinted on her face. "You have passed the third challenge, are you ready for the last one?" she asked. Her was soft, almost melodic.

* * *

"She's sad because she is the one who sends people to be judged or sends them back to Earth. Almost no one makes it back to the mortal world, this woman has become so saddned with the majority of deaths that she is forever saddened," Renita explained. She had read the emotion on Mishi's face and answered her question. "That's not fair to her!" Mishi mouthed.

* * *

"Young one, your final challenge is a riddle," the woman said. "Are you ok?" Hiryu asked, concerned by the woman's face. "Yes, you are kind, you'll make it back to the mortal world, I know it! It makes me happy when someone gets to live again," the woman said, "Now, the riddle. A man was found dead, he was hanging from the ceiling of a building, his feet were not touching the ground. How was hung? You can only ask yes or no questions." Hiryu sat down and thought about it for a minute. "Did someone else do it to him?" he asked. "No," the woman said. "Did he hang himself at night or day?" Hiryu asked. "Day," the woman said.

"Was it cloudy?

"No."

"The sun was out then?"

"Yes.."

"Was there a puddle of water underneath of him?"
"Yes..."

"Okay!" Hiryu yelled, "The man stood on a block of ice and put the noose around his neck. When the the sun melted the ice the man had hung himself." The woman smiled. It seemed as though her face became happier. "Yes!" she whispered, "Yes, you can go back now! You have a marvelous spirit! Mishi is lucky...Oh! You may ask me one question!" "Where is Chiryu?" Hiryu asked instantly. "Kris stole him, he thought that if he didn't then you wouldn't fight him..." the woman said. She put her hands out in front of her and Hiryu disappeared...

* * *

Hiryu opened his eyes. Mishi was sitting next to him and Renita across from the two. "Mishi!" Hiryu cried. He hugged her tight. Then he got up and ran to his mom, hugging her. "I KNOW WHERE CHIRYU IS!" he yelled. He was ready to walk out the door when he sneezed cough, and groaned. "What's wrong?" Renita asked. "I think I'm sick..." Hiryu said.