"Flit!" Kara shouted. "Flit, where are you?" She stepped through the undergrowth by Reena's house, searching for the gentle dragon. Branches above her head trembled, and when Kara's voice rang out into the silence, she quieted down from sudden fear. What if there are beasts out here? she thought.  I'd better be more careful. "Flit!" she called in a whispering voice. "Flit!" There was a sudden roar that tore through the air and made Kara jump. She followed the sound with as much caution as she could. When the roars continued and grew louder, she started to run, some sharp branches lashing out at her arms as she hurried through the wild foliage. He had to be in trouble. Kara stopped running when she caught a glimpse of the black dragon between some trees up ahead. A fairy girl that Kara didn't recognize brandished a red and black sword and held it out towards Flit's throat. It blazed with some internal fire, casting blistering heat off of it that Kara could partially feel from where she stood. The girl's hair was a deep red color, and she was able to easily dodge Flit's blasts of fire and his slashing claws. Her wings were clear, but were tinged with red at the ends. She leapt up, taking flight, and soared towards the dragon below her, pointing the sword downwards. Kara knew she had to intervene. She stepped between them just as the fairy neared to his scaly neck. "Wait, stop!" she cried, putting her arms out to shield her friend. "Don't hurt him!" The girl skidded to an almost complete stop in the air. She looked extremely confused, which would make sense with something like this. While she was distracted, though, Flit howled, and flames from him engulfed her entirely. "No!" Kara screamed. She ran over to see if she could help, but before she went any closer, something incredible happened. The fairy that should have been burnt to a crisp flew out of Flit's wall of fire as if nothing had been there at all. She was unharmed, her body free of any burns or scrapes. Flit looked dumbfounded, and he backed away, his wings raising up over his head and his tail lashing behind him. "What do you think you're doing?" The fairy girl said as she alighted upon the ground. She seemed very calm for someone who had nearly been burned alive. "This forest would be much better off without this creature." Kara blinked in shock. "Um, w-well, you see, he's uh...actually my friend."
The girl raised her slender eyebrows. "Your friend? Dragons are not anyone's friends."
Kara took a deep breath, calming herself down. "Well, this one is." She gave one of Flit's shoulders an affectionate pat. The dragon squeaked happily. The fairy looked more puzzles than before, but then shook her head, chuckling. "As strange as that is, it has happened before. You can keep him, as long as you can control him." The girl held out her hand so that Kara could shake it. There was a new sort of friendliness there in her grayish-blue eyes. "The name's Adene. Who might you be?"
"Oh, me? I'm Kara." Kara smiled as she shook the fairy's hand. Suddenly the world went completely dark, and she couldn't see anything. Kara panicked, reaching for a tree or something to regain her bearings, but her vision cleared before she could. Now she could see white painted walls and a crib with a little baby inside of it. Three people were admiring the child there, one of which was a toddler. "Oh, Caleb, isn't she perfect?" A woman gushed. "Yeah," the man beside her said in reply. He sounded out of breath. "I can't believe how beautiful she is."
"Me neither," the woman said jubilantly. "Now we have two beautiful daughters." Kara tried to interact with the scene, but found that she couldn't. Nothing got the young couple's attention, even when she pushed the side of the baby's crib to move it. Something felt familiar about the woman. Was this...her mom? It had to be. She had bright hazel eyes, just like hers, and long red hair pulled back into a bun. She smiled, and her smile looked practically identical to her own. Yes, this had to be her mom. Sadness made its way into Kara's heart. What had happened to her? There was nervousness in Kara's father's pale eyes. Kara supposed that that was normal, for a man that was recently made into a parent. However, this nervousness made him shaky. It couldn't have just been nerves about the new baby. "Have you thought of a name yet, Emily?" he asked. "Of course I have." Emily cradled her little one, lifting her up out of the crib and right into her open arms. She kissed her tiny forehead, her smile so big with joy. "Her name will be Kara."
With a shudder and swirling darkness, Kara herself was thrust back into the present, the vision fading away. Breathing hard, she looked back at Adene, wide eyed and worried. "It's, um...n-nice to meet you," she managed to say.
Adene looked at her with slight concern. "Oh. Are you okay? You kind of zoned out there." Kara picked some lint off of her clothes to avoid talking for a moment. "Yes, I'm fine," she replied, her voice trembling slightly. "How did you survive being burnt like that?"
"I'd rather not say." Adene snapped her fingers, and a flickering, very real flame burst up from the palm of her hand. "I'm associated with fire. That's all you really need to know." With those words, the fire in her hands dissipated, leaving nothing but smoke in its wake. "Thanks for that-" Kara murmured, trying to get away-"but I have to go. Do you live around here?"
"Yes, but that's none of your business. You stay out of trouble now. I'll see you around!" Adene unfurled her fiery wings and took to the sky. They carried her up and over the trees and away into the distance. Flit snorted beside her, as if he were unimpressed. Kara laughed at his response, and petted his vast head. "Come on, Flit," she said to him. "We'd better go back to Reena's house." Flit grunted in response. Unfolding his wings, he gestured with his tail for her to climb onto his back. Kara did just that, until her dragon roared in what sounded like agony. He suddenly moved sharply, causing Kara to fall off and hit the ground roughly. Flit screeched and flapped his wings wildly. His dark eyes were wide, and he scratched at the earth with his sharp claws.
The dog tags around his neck jangled together loudly as he moved. Kara tried to calm him down, raising her hands to grab Flit's tags. "Flit, stop!" she cried. "What's gotten into you?" Flit wailed, and the ground beneath him then burst into flames. Kara remembered when Peony had cast the reversal spell, and moved back as a ring of blue fire surrounded the dragon. Flit continued to screech, and the fire rose up around him, burning the nearby trees. The flames rose up higher and higher until Flit disappeared from view. Kara watched, frightened as the dragon's dark silhouette behind the fire shifted and shrank rapidly. His roars died away, and soon there was no sound except for the blazing of the fire wall. The wall dwindled away, and Kara could at last see Flit again. He was smaller than before, but he was still a dragon, and he laid there without any sort of movement. "Flit!" Kara shrieked. She ran to his side and looked at his still form. "Flit, please wake up," she murmured. "Please! You're really important to me. I know I shouldn't care about you because you're a dragon, but you've been so nice to me." Tears filled her eyes. "You're more than a pet. You're a friend, a best friend. A friend that showed me that this world wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was afraid to be here, and then you came along and showed me how wonderful this realm could really be. Flit, I don't think I could stay here without you." She was sobbing now. "Please..please come back." Flit stirred then, raising his dark scaled head. His eyes opened slightly, and they gleamed as he looked at her. He took a deep breath, and then breathed fire at Kara. She backed away in terror, coughing from the smoke. When she took a good look at them, however, her eyes widened. The fire Flit had breathed out had formed an orange heart symbol. It quickly went away, turning to black smoke that rose up into the late autumn sky. Flit's eyes slid closed, and he squeaked happily before falling still and silent once again. Kara sniffled, stroking the dragon's head slightly. Peony had never said that something like this could happen. What am I going to do now? She thought. What am I going to do...
Just then, Flit moved beneath Kara's hand, and she shrank back. Was he back again? No, his eyes were still closed. He's not moving by himself, she realized. Magic lifted him, holding him until he was a little ways up above the ground. Blue fire swirled around him again, turning purplish as well. Flit's dragon features began to change. His scales faded and fell off, turning to bare tanned skin. His spiky tail disappeared, and his legs and arms became a little thinner and lost their clawed ends as they were surrounded by fire. The ridges of spikes at the top of Flit's head flattened down to form short, black hair. His muzzled shrank down to nothing. The last thing to return to normal were Flit's big, leathery wings. They unfolded and lost their scales too, shrinking and turning smaller and translucent. With a hiss, the fire around him went out abruptly as if water had been poured out onto it. Flit was lowered down to the ground, and gently placed onto the leaf covered grass of the forest. He was standing up, but as Kara watched he held his arms out in front of him as if he were reaching for something, then collapsed with a muffled thump against the dirt. Smoke rose up from the dragon she had once known as if he had been burnt, though there were no visible wounds on his body. Kara ran over to him. Flit was no longer a dragon, but a fairy boy. He had dense black hair and a lean, thin body. He was thankfully wearing clothes, which were a dark hoodie and faded jeans. Kara felt like this boy was familiar, but she couldn't completely tell who this was. She examined his fairy wings. They were small, and as clear and bright as colored glass, moving a little from time to time. His dog tags were still around his neck. She grabbed them and looked at the letters that were scratched into them. SF. That must mean something, she thought. If S is the first letter of the first name, then F must be the starting letter for the last name. The only last name that Kara knew that began with F was Fern. Was this boy part of Reena's family?
Of course. Of course he was. How had she not seen it sooner? The memories about this boy returned to Kara, coming back as fast as rushing water.

She now recognized his side swept hair and his dark clothes. Shade. Flit had been Shade! Shade was alive! Kara nearly started crying again. She didn't know how to feel about this. She had missed him, certainly, but how would his family react to him coming back? Kara knelt over him. He looked much smaller when he was lying down like this, almost helpless. Okay, now she was glad he was unconscious. If he'd heard her say that, he would've probably been mad at her. However, he hadn't moved since he'd been set down. Not an inch, not a centimeter. Had the process hurt him? Kara moved closer, trying to check for a pulse. There was one, but it was faint. Please, no...he can't be in a coma... "Flit!" she said, hoping that he would awaken. When he didn't, she hesitated a little to say the name that came to mind. "...Shade?"

The boy trembled, and with a shudder, his eyes opened. Kara backed away to give him space, trying not to cry. He sat up using his hands, and then winced. "Ow, my head..." Kara's heart beat a little faster than usual. She didn't like this new feeling she had. Was it because he was hurt? Yeah, that had to be it. This was definitely Shade, though. The boy's eyes met with hers. They were green, a pale variation of it, with no other conflicting colors. His eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to figure something out. "Kara?" he murmured. Then, as his expression became happier, his voice grew in volume. "Kara!" The boy ran over to her, a smug little smile there that Kara had somehow missed. "You really can't stay here without me?"
"Stop it." She crossed her arms, glaring at him. "I should never have gotten you help."
Shade's smile turned friendlier. "Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Wait, what help do you mean? You didn't help me fight Jasper."
Jasper? Oh...the demise beast. That was ages ago. Kara found her voice somehow. "Why are you talking about that? That happened months ago, Shade. I killed that beast myself when you were gone. Then I...found you in the forest when I came here." Her voice became desperate. "You were with me for a long time. Why are you acting like this?"
Shade looked at her, almost scared at this reaction. "I was? Are you sure?"
Kara nodded. Dread was building up inside of her. Yes, she had gotten Shade back, but this was not the Shade that she remembered. "Yeah. You were a dragon, and you saved me from a griffin. You flew around with me on your back..." Her voice trailed off when Shade only looked at her with more confusion.
"You really don't remember any of that, do you?"
Shade put a hand up to his forehead. "I remember bits and pieces. The last thing I remember vividly is when that demise beast cast his spell on me." He winced again. "I must've hit my head or something because I've got the worst headache right now."
Kara felt like she was having another nightmare. This couldn't be real. She blinked back tears. "Do you feel okay otherwise?"
"Yeah." Shade looked around then, looking puzzled. "Kara...are we in Lymeria?"
Now it was Kara's turn to be confused. "Lymeria? Is that what this place is called? I thought it was just the fairy realms."
Shade looked rather amused. "No. That might be the common name for it, but that's not what it's really known as." He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, his tattered wings fluttering rapidly as he did so. "This is my home," he stated, his eyes opening. "How did I even get here?"
Kara shrugged. "Maybe when the demise beast cast his spell, it somehow brought you back here." Shade looked around some more, then gazed back at her. "I guess. You're probably right." He was wide eyed suddenly, and he patted the pockets on his hoodie. "My sword," he gasped. "Kara, where's my war sword?"
"In my bedroom," she explained, "in the human world. I thought it would be safe there." Shade was immediately enraged. "That's the least safe place for a sword like that! It's rare, even in this realm! Did you at least keep it hidden?"
Kara nodded sheepishly. "Kind of. It's...in a drawer there."
Shade crossed his arms, looking like he meant to strangle her but was trying his hardest not to. He sighed, relaxing more. "That'll have to do." He examined himself, looking at his arms and legs with a strange amount of wonder. "It's coming back to me a little," he told her. "You're right, I was a dragon. Wow, that's weird. You called me Flit...that's hardly a good name. You could've called me Killer, or Marauder, or something cool like that, but you had to call me Flit. That sounds like a butterfly's name."
Kara laughed. "In my defense, your squeaks certainly didn't help make you seem more scary."
Shade laughed too. "I know, I know. I think I just wanted you to see that I didn't want to hurt anyone. What else could I have done?"
It wasn't a question that really called for an answer, so he continued talking. "I'm a fairy again because of Peony...I'll thank her when I see her again." He clenched and unclenched his fingers, and ran them through his hair. He brought his hands back down, and just smiled. "Ah...it's good to be back."
Kara smiled too. She was happy he was here as well, but he didn't have to know that. "Your family's missed you, Shade. You should really go see them first." The boy gave her what seemed like a reassuring look. "I will. Don't worry about it." He turned to leave, but stopped briefly. "Did you miss me?"
Kara thought about this, then couldn't help but nod. "Yes," she said, hoping he couldn't see her face reddening. "I thought about you a lot."
Then something happened that Kara hadn't been expecting. Shade leaned forward and kissed her, pulling her close and holding her face in his hands like Kara had held his. Startled, Kara's eyes went wide, but soon closed. A tingling sensation was spreading up through her entire body as they kissed, and it might've been from shock, but Kara thought that she could almost see flashes of light out of the corner of her eye. Shade pulled away then, a genuinely happy look on his face now. "I thought about you too," he said.

Kara brought Shade back home, her jumbled thoughts making it difficult to think straight. He had kissed her, but why? His kiss had been as blissfully wonderful as Foster's, but this one had left her feeling dizzy and rather light headed. Did he drug me or something? she wondered worriedly. Kara abandoned this thought quickly, however, because she had a feeling that if she had been drugged, it would've felt much different than this. Well, she assumed as much. Kara herself had never been under the influence or anything like that, but she was pretty sure that Lily had been once. Lily. She hadn't thought about her fashion savvy best friend friend since her arrival here in Lymeria. Kara hoped she was okay by herself. Probably. I haven't been gone for that long. Her wayward partner suddenly skidded to a stop in the middle of the clearing they were in. Kara turned to him, interested. "Shade, why did you stop? We're not where we need to be yet." Shade didn't answer, but put one finger over his lips, signaling for her to be quiet. The forest had become still, and relatively colder. Kara shivered, and zipped up her jacket, shaking a little. There was the sound of soft singing, and her Guardian stepped in front of her protectively. Kara didn't particularly like this, since she'd much rather handle it herself, but when the creepy sounds came again, she didn't object to his help. "Who's there?" he shouted. The singing returned, a little bit louder this time around, accompanied by talking as well. "Well, if it isn't Shade, the little violent Guardian," a light voice said aloud. "With that undead sword of yours, you'd think that you would be smarter than to lose it."
Kara was afraid then. She didn't recognize this person, but whoever it was had a bone to pick with Shade. She backed away as Shade pulled out a glittering white knife. He narrowed his eyes, not moving from Kara's side. "Show yourself," he began, "and state your business while you're at it. I haven't got all day."
The leaves on the trees in front of the duo rustled as if blown by a foreign wind. Kara huddled further behind Shade, fright making her tremble more than the ice cold winds that made the branches rattle together. A pale blue, wisp of a being appeared before them. At first it had no plausible shape, but then it became a slender, human-like creature with tattered hair and a thin face. Chains wrapped around the length of her arms.
Shade gritted his teeth at her. "Arima."
"Oh, so you remember me then."
"Yeah, how could I forget? You terrorized Kyle's chosen Flightless, and he needed my help for it! I thought he banished you from this world."
"He did, but I found a loophole." The being's confident look vanished then, and she sighed, her long, light colored hair billowing out behind her as she moved. "Unfortunately, arriving back on the physical plane this way means my powers are weak. I've been bound to an order from two Gifted fairies. It's meant for you both."
Shade's grip didn't loosen on his knife, but he nodded. "Fine. Tell us what it is."
Arima crossed her arms, causing her chains to jangle together. "Alright. Peony's brother has returned to this world. Also, Sylvan was told by Mrs. Fern about your plight. All three of them will be sending you home soon since you are out of danger now."
Shade lost his fighting stance at this. He brought his knife back down. Kara knew that him acting this reserved meant something was wrong. He never showed his true emotions normally, though. Was that something Guardians were supposed to do? "Okay, you don't need to say anything else," he muttered. "I don't know where they are, or who they are entirely. Plus, how do I even know that you're telling the truth? You're not known for being honest."
Arima's eyes narrowed down to slits on her face. "This time I am being truthful. I don't really care whether you listen to their words or not. Ghosts have no quarrel with fairies. However, there is a high penalty for not protecting your Flightless. I suppose you know that already." Shade nodded, looking angry. "Fine, we'll go find them. Just...go bother someone else."
The spirit grinned, a skeletal jawline visible beneath her bluish skin. "I wouldn't worry about it. You'd be better off without your wings anyway."

Kara gaped at Shade. The enormity of that was enough to gawk at. "Shade...she can't mean that." Her Guardian turned to look at her, a sudden somberness there on his face. "She does, and there's not much I can do to protect you here. You'd be much safer at home. That's why we've got to get you back home before the Council tries to take away my position." He cleared his throat and spoke to the unsettling ghost. "Arima, who bound you to a message first?"
The ghost answered quickly. "Oren. Why?"
"He might be able to help. Let's go." The boy took Kara by the arm and started to walk off, bringing her with him. Kara could hear a warning from Arima as the two left the ghost behind. "A storm is coming, children, one of colossal power. I'd watch your backs from now on.."