1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- don't own anything.

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Chapter 1

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Jake inhaled deeply tilting his head back and closing his eyes for maximum effect, the smell of the market filled his nostrils, the odd mix of spices, food and magical residue--it smelt like relaxation to Jake--finally a day off from dragon duties, to spend doing whatever came to mind.

Usually he would of spent any free time he had with his two best friends hanging out around the city, but today was different, a massive heat wave had hit the city melting ice-creams before they could even be licked and forcing the entire teenage population indoors to bask in front of air-conditioners or spend hours soaking in backyard pools.

But for Jake there was no way he was going to spend his day off crashed on the couch waving a magazine in his face for air, Fu had suggested taking Jake into one of the magical hidden markets to do a little exploring, the dog had been in need of a few scented candles anyway and it was the only way Jake would get permission to go.

So here he was strolling down the streets of one of the biggest markets in NYC, Fu at his side and a mass of variety stores surrounding them, all selling good of different kinds.

Jake stopped suddenly as a display of shiny good luck charms caught his eye. "whoa, hold up there kid," Fu warned quickly grasping Jakes sleeve and holding him back, " if it ain't sold by a leprechaun then it ain't lucky." the magical pooch explained, ignoring the scathing look he received from the Manticore standing behind the counter.

"But leprechauns don't sell their luck," Jake pointed out pivoting on his heel to face Fu.

"Precisely kid, lucks not supposed to be bought, it's supposed to be earned," Fu answered pulling Jake away from the display and back into the crowd of mingling creatures.

A few more yards up the street, and many dodged beings on Fu's part they reached a more secluded part of the market that sold more Wicca supplies, then magical trinkets. The stalls had a few customers browsing including what Jake guessed might be a Hag who shuffled past them on the right muttering a string of curses.

"stay here, I won't be long, the owners an old friend of mine, we go way back," Fu said smoothing out his fur and adjusting his collar before starting in the direction of a small doorway directly ahead of them, as he left Jake heard him mutter something like " I just hope she doesn't remember how exactly I met her,"

Jake sighed heavily puffing up the front of his black and green hair; if this owner was anything like most of Fu's old friends then Jake would be waiting a while.

He swung around on his heel squinting his eyes in the harsh sunlight to get a better look at the stores around him, a wave of warm summer air washed over the market rattling wind chimes and drawing Jakes attention to a store three down from the one Fu had entered, it had beads covering its doorway and a blackboard resting on an aisle out the front that read ' eye of newt reduced, buy one jar get one free' it was below that, what caught his attention in worn white chalk read 'free psychics vision for every customer.'

Jake slipped his hands insides his pockets and jingled the small amount of coins there, supposing he could just buy a stick of gum or something to pass the time, he headed to the store and swept past the door of beads to be met with an atmosphere of refreshing cold air.

'must be a charm or something.' he thought gazing around the room and moving to the counter his hands still in his pockets, it was a small room with shelves stacked high holding potions ingredients and books covered with years worth of dust, the small counter in front of him was made of pine and came up to just above his waist the surface was clean however and had a small display of sweets on one side with a small locked wooden box on the other.

Jake surveyed the small bunch of sweets for sale before reaching forward and plucking a packet of exploding candy from the holster.

Before he could even find out what it actually was there was a loud_ pop_! And a sudden voice made him jump. "That'll be $1.50."

Jakes head snapped up as he looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared behind the counter, her hawk like eyes were narrowed in suspicion, and that added with he sharp features and long hooked nose gave Jake the impression that he was looking at an oversized bird of prey.

"Err…I'll take it." he said quickly, and remembering a warning from his grandpa about staring he quickly lowered his eyes and tossed the packet of candy onto the counter.

The woman didn't say anything but instead waved her hand in front of the small wooden box, her blue finger nails the same color as the thick scarf around her neck.

On command the golden lock slid out of place and the box sprang open, Jake placed a few coins on the counter, for the woman to snatch up and toss in side her box before removing another bronze smaller coin and handed it to him.

Jake took his candy and was almost out the door when the woman's voice sounded behind him. "aren't you forgetting something?" she said.

When Jake turned back she had not changed from her position, she was merely staring at him, "did you not read the sign?' the woman said her mouth barley moving yet her voice clear.

Jake swallowed and looked down at his watch; it had been barley five minutes since Fu had left him in the street he still had at least fifteen minutes to kill, "well…" he trailed off thinking. "Okay." He finished turning back into the store waiting for her to tell him what to do.

The woman smiled revealing a mouth full of gold teeth and clapped her hands, magically making two chairs and a small table appear in the center of the room covered with a scarlet table cloth with gold trimmings that looked like it surface was rippling like water.

"Then take a seat." She said sweeping across the floor to take the seat furthest from the door, hesitating only a moment Jake walked forward and sat down across from her watching the table cloth that continued to shimmer.

"Place both your hands on the cloth, and focus on what you wish to see." The woman instructed watching him closely. "And close your eyes" she added sharply.

Feeling slightly foolish Jake did as he was told and took a breath, the woman nodded satisfied and waved her hand over the table cloth muttering something, the cloth glowed and she instructed Jake to open his eyes, as he did the glow faded.

"Now look," the gypsy instructed pointing to the table. "The cloth will not lie for it will show you the future according to current events, be aware that the things you will see could change at any moment, with every choice we make." She said.

Jake nodded and lowered his gaze to the rippling surface in front of him, it shifted and changed until he was staring at it so hard that he seemed to sink into its surface, as the room around him melted away and he emerged in the world below him.

Jake felt like he was floating gradually falling to the ground beneath him, his sneakers touched ground and his eyes opened looking out at the world the surrounded him, he gasped, it couldn't be!

All around him the magnificent streets of New York City stood, but they were not like he remembered…not at all.

Where before there had been walls, were now piles of rubble, where once there were parked cars now lay piles of flaming scrap metal, the sky was dark with smoke the pavement was cracked, all around he saw remnants of what he remembered his home to be, no people walked the streets no children played in the park that was now brown and grey instead of green.

Jake gasped as he looked at the world around him "no!" the roaring silence was broken by an inhuman shriek from the sky, Jakes head whipped up at the sound and he stared aghast at the dark streak that was plummeting towards him, his jaw went limp,

It was a dragon!

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End.

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a/n- I'm sorry for any grammatical errors or just general errors as I am Australian and a few things are different. Flames welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer- same as before.

a/n- thanks to **dx/dt **for reviwing, the dark dragon does have something to do with the plot.

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Chapter 2

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Jake froze rooted to the ground his mouth agape, as the dark shape plummeted towards him.

It was seconds from collision when something hard and heavy tackled Jake from the side and sent him flying, leaving the dragon to scrape it's talons on the sidewalk.

Jake rolled in the air and hit the ground jarring his shoulder, he heard a voice shout something behind him as he skidded to a stop, leaning up on his palms he looked to the sky as the unknown dragon swooped around for another pass.

"Keep moving!" the same voice from before ordered him, as his arm was taken in a vice like grip and he was hauled to his feet. "Run!" he saw only a sweep of black and gold hair before he was up and running.

Jake numbly allowed himself to be pulled along, still in a state of shock, his savior kept up the breakneck speed, dodging around piles of rubble and debris and ducking around obstacles. Jake heard the dragon shriek from above him again and forced his legs to pick up the pace.

Jake and his new companion didn't stop running even when he craned his neck to the sky and found it empty, "where are we going!?" Jake shouted as he was forcefully pulled in to a back alley.

No reply came and Jake was forced to watch as the woman who had saved him pushed aside a dumpster and lifted up one of the sewer openings hidden beneath it. "Oh I ain't goin' in there!" Jake exclaimed seconds before he was grabbed by the collar and pulled into its depths.

_Splash!_

Jake cringed as he sneakers sunk into the contaminated water below him, it was dark and murky, and the only light came from the entrance above them, and that too disappeared when the grate moved itself magically back into position.

Squinting into the dark Jake could make out a blurry shadow in front of him, which was standing in the center of a wide tunnel with curved sides, Jake shuffled his feet cringing again as more water flowed over his socks.

The figure in front of him did something with its hands before a few metal rasps were herd and a lighter flickered to life. The small flame illuminated the area sending flickering shadows over the woman's face, and revealing three claw like scars that cut across the edge of her jaw.

The flame wavered from all the moisture in the air and she moved it closer to her body to protect the only light in the musty tunnel, the moment he got a good look at her face something began to itch at the back of his mind, like a memory that he just couldn't reach.

The woman raised her lighter higher revealing the low ceiling above her head along with the gold colored lining to her black hair. "What were you doing out there!?" she snapped suddenly making Jake jump and the back of his mind to twitch again.

"Err…err I was-I was," Jake spluttered unsure how to explain what was going on. The woman raised an eyebrow at his blubbering and tilted her head to the left. "you were always that articulate." She said dryly.

Jake opened his mouth to reply when a horrible shriek sounded from outside making the very walls around them seem to quiver, and the water at their feet ripple. The unknown woman looked to the ceiling suspiciously before nodding decisively and grabbing Jake by the arm once again.

"Hey whoa!" he exclaimed in protest, as he was tugged deeper into the dark and dreary sewer, the dark water splashing around his heels.

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Jake winced as the fabric of his shorts ripped when it scrapped against the uneven rock as the two made their way through a series of seemingly unused tunnels. "How much further?" Jake panted straining his arms as he pushed himself up the next opening.

The woman in front of him glanced back the flame reflecting in her black eyes. "not far," she said. "But it has to be relatively hard to find."

"What does?" Jake asked as they came to a bend that led to another smaller opening.

"Our stronghold, its one of the only safe places for people to hide these days." She answered neutrally.

Jake couldn't help but get the feeling she was purposely being evasive. "Hide from who, and why?" he questioned desperate for some answers.

She didn't reply but stopped directly in front of him causing Jake to bump into her shoulder. She ignored him and faced the stone wall in front of her before reaching out a hand to brush its surface; she squinted in the dim light and held the flame closer to the wall.

Jake followed her gaze and searched for something out of the ordinary; he paused for a second…and couldn't find anything. "What?" he asked moving himself closer to the side.

"It's the entrance." she answered. "step back." Jake did as he was told and she raised her closed fist to the wall and knocked three times.

Nothing happened and Jake began to shift nervously when the sound of rock grating rock sounded in the tunnel and a sudden voice broke the tension. "Identify yourselves!" it barked.

Jake jumped, but the woman just straightened and said, "It's me Devlon, Kara was right; I found him standing in the middle of the street."

Jake looked at her surprised, "you know Kara!" he exclaimed hopeful.

She barley glanced at him before the seemingly solid wall in front of them slid back with a harsh grating sound to reveal a lit room behind it, leaning against the threshold was a small gnome with a miniature yet dangerous crossbow resting in his hands. "Were you followed?" he asked smugly as if he already knew the answer.

The woman glared at who was obviously Devlon. "Do you think if I was, I'd be here." she snapped. Devlon shrugged and turned away but not before Jake caught sight of his smirk.

"Come on Jake." she said ducking her head so she could slip into the room Jake followed suit, and the moment he crossed into the light the sound of fevered murmuring met his ears.

Jake waited a moment for his eyes to adjust before he took in his surroundings, he was in a large round room with a low hanging ceiling and no furnishings, the floor was dirt and the walls were rough rock just like the tunnels, what surprised him he most was the amount of people that were huddled in small groups around the room all staring at him with a mixture of expressions—fear, weariness and suspicion.

Slowly he started to realize why; their clothes were old and crinkled many covered in layers of dirt, they were more thin then usual and every single one—even the children—had the same hollow look in their eyes.

Women were huddled with their children in blankets with men sitting protectively in front of them, the scary thing was that they weren't just humans either, he could see a family of fairies to his left, with three nymphs looking utterly frightened on the other side of the room.

'No wonder why,' Jake thought. 'there's not exactly any room for a forest in here.'

"As you can see," the woman from before, who was standing behind him said, "you're not the only one who needs to go into hiding." Jake swung around, aghast, ready to demand an explanation when in the bright light of the cavern he finally got a good look at his rescuers face, the twitch in his mind clicked into place and Jake felt his jaw swing loose as he looked at the woman in front of him.

It didn't make any sense, for she was indeed a woman, taller then him, older then him, but the last time he had seen her she was a sweet, 2ft tall little girl, always with a smile on her face.

He just stared dumbstruck, it was Haley.

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End chap 2

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Flames welcome.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer- same as previous.

a/n- big thanks to **midnightzstorm**, **dx/dt** and **lavenderpaw** for reviewing, and rose involvement will become slightly more revealed in this chapter.

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Chapter 3

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"It's not polite to stare," Haley smirked, something Jake could rarely remember her doing before, "I thought I told you that enough."

Jake was speechless, he just stood there while the others in the room began to return to their previous activities, "how?" he gasped quietly.

"Good question," she said "Kara told us you'd come, but she didn't tell us how on earth it was possible."

Still staring blindly Jake mumbled a reply, "the gypsy, she said she'd show me my future, I didn't think she meant something like this." He explained

Haley nodded and Jake found it odd with out the bouncing pigtails to go with it. "That would explain why your so young and…" she trailed off turning away from him, "why your hear in the first place," she finished.

Jake frowned as she walked away from him and began down a dinky little hallway that seemed to be dug from the wall. "what do you mean?" he asked not really sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Haley glanced back at him but kept walking down the torch-lit hallway her broad shoulders hunched, "this is the future Jake; a lot of things have changed." She said softly.

Jake huffed frustrated. "well I can see that!" he snapped. "But if this is the future, then I don't wanna live to see it!" He exclaimed loudly his voice causing a light rain of dirt to fall from the ceiling.

Haley stopped and turned half her body to look at him better, "I wouldn't worry," she said "you don't." and kept walking.

Jake froze, staring at where she had stood, a heavy weight starting to sink onto his shoulders.

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Haley's boots crunched on the ground as she entered another room in their series of underground hide outs.--_Bang! Bang! Bang!_—the sound of metal beating metal and the smell of hot steel, filled the blacksmiths cavern.

An ogre sat on a three legged stool a massive hammer raised in his hand, his blue skin streaked with soot, he looked up as she entered his hammer pausing mid blow, and gave her a toothy grin, "good news dragon?" he called, flipping the orange glowing sword in front of him on too its flat side.

Haley gave him a small smile in return and shrugged. "The skies seem to be lessening of guards, only one attacked us." She answered.

The ogre known as Harvey watched her closely for a minute before saying. "Us?"

Haley avoided his eye. "Kara was right, I found Jake right where she said he'd be, he was just standing there like he was shocked at what he saw," the way she said it made her sound frustrated, and she was, but not with Jake in particular, more the situation.

Harvey lowered his hammer, and his small stool groaned as he stood up and adjusted his overalls, he looked thoughtful for a minute before, "he probably was shocked, he would never of expected the future to turn out like this, I remember 20 years ago I would of laughed at ya' if you had told me I'd end up living in the ground, while the world on the surface crumbled under the rule of….well you know who I'm talking about." He said the last part uncomfortably.

It had come to Haley's attention that it had become common feeling among the survivors a reluctance to talk about the very thing they were afraid of.

"Remember," Harvey continued "back then, he was still alive, and he was the all-great American dragon!" he growled gesturing with his hands. "He and that Huntsgirl of his were together, back then, there was no hint that something like this,"—he gestured to the room—"would happen,"

Haley sighed and picked up an incomplete unicorns' shoe, "I know but I keep thinking if we can warn him about _her_, then we can change all this." Her voice sounded stressed and Harvey sympathized.

"Even if he was still around, do you really think all of this would have changed?" he asked.

Haley thought about it for a moment and finally answered "I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe, I know I wouldn't have to do this on my own, and Jake always had a way of working things out, no matter how difficult," a small smile filtered on to her face stretching the scars on her jaw.

Harvey looked away from her, his eyes drifting to the doorway, "yeah," he said, "yeah he did."

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Jake heard what his sister said, and as his eyes met the bulky ogre, he felt un-ignorable guilt begin to swell in his stomach; he turned on his heel quickly wanting to get away and couldn't help but wonder who _she_ was.

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Jake stared longingly into the crackling flames of the small fire, it's warmth giving him comfort, he was sitting cross-legged on the floor of another cavern, this one larger and more open then the others, a merry fire was in front of him, with a massive pot magically suspended over it, the soup on the inside slowly starting the cook.

He wasn't the only one around the fire however, Haley sat on the other side of the flames watching him closely, the light giving her face that eerie look again, Harvey the ogre sat on his right holding out his hands periodically and turning them over to collect the warmth, he was purposely keeping his eyes from looking at anybody.

A few others sat with them that Jake didn't recognize a mixture of humans and magical creature alike.

Snapping Jake out of his thought an old man sitting to his left and wearing a worn look on his face stood up and looked directly at him, "why don't you just ask your questions boy?" he said making it look like it was a strain just to say the words, "it would do me a favor, I don't need your miserable thoughts adding to my own."

His last words drew the attention from himself to Jake who watched his face, silently contemplating, "where do I start?" he asked in a whisper.

"How bout at the beginning" Haley replied frowning at him from across the flames.

Jake swallowed, just watching her for a moment still unable to comprehend what he was seeing, shaking his head to clear it he straightened his shoulders and spoke, " how far in the future did I come?" he asked, deciding to start with a relative easy question.

"About twenty years, we guess." Haley answered simply.

Jake nodded the weight on his shoulders suddenly becoming heavier, how could all this happen in such a short time?

"How did everything get like this?" he asked with more voice then last time.

Haley took a deep breath, "now that is a long story." She said the others around the fire nodding in agreement their faces becoming dark with remembered pain.

Jake glanced at each of them in turn before facing his _sister_ again "cliff notes version?" he suggested.

Haley sucked on her lower lip and Jake felt the tiniest bit of relief that that was still a habit. "It kind of just happened," she said her voice sounding different then before "everything was in relative peace, no one had any idea that you and Huntsgirl were having some kind of secret relationship, to defy the Huntsmaster."

Before she continued Jake quickly clarified "by Huntsgirl you mean Rose?" he asked.

Quickly Haley's face became dark and her eyes narrowed, "no" she said firmly. "I mean _Huntsgirl_." She said emphasizing the name.

Figuring it was a sore subject Jake nodded for her to continue. "anyway," Haley sighed "over five years previous to that, we were informed that two dragons had gone missing, one from Thailand and the other from Sweeden, because the disappearances were so far apart no one really made the connection, and by the time we figured out it was all a plot from the Darkdragon, well…" she sighed heavily her face becoming a mask of remorse, "it was to late…to warn you."

At this a few beings from around the fire stood up abruptly without waiting for their meal to actually finish cooking, Jakes eyes however didn't move from Haley, "then what?" he croaked.

"Then," Haley swallowed, " with the help of the Huntsclan and of course Huntsgirl the Darkdragon had secured the last dragon that he needed to complete his plan, turns out he was following some kind of ancient legend that even grandpa didn't know about, he, Fu and I arrived just in time to see Huntsgirl hand you over to the Darkdragon, you looked so betrayed, before we could even move, the dragon had done his magic and since then the world has been like this," she gestured around. "The world slowly crumbled under his reign, the skies are patrolled by his dark guards, and known enemies of him have only one place to turn, so they hide out here trying to keep everything together."

The entire cavern had gone into silence at the conclusion of the story even the fire seemed to frown, its color dimming.

"What?" Jake struggled, "exactly happened to me and the other two dragons?"

Haley rolled her shoulders back, her face turning back into stone, "the Darkdragons' magic turned you into…eggs."

"Eggs?"

"Eggs. Three eggs, one red, one green and one gold." She said, "it's the popular belief that if we could get out hands on one of these eggs then we could take away the Darkdragons power, so for years now we've been trying to get out hands on them, trying to save what is left of this world.

Jake didn't reply, his mind slowly processing the information, he kept getting stuck on one thing—Rose—no Huntsgirl, she betrayed him? She wouldn't. She couldn't. Could she?

Looking around the room at the weary bodies, broken exteriors and solemn faces it became evidently clear to Jake…that she could indeed.

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End chap.

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	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer- same as before.

a/n- thanks to **dx/dt, tech-man**. And **midnightzstorm**- I will send you the next chapter if this one hasn't improved. Also I know Haleys dragon form has changed to pink, but I have only seen three episodes of the first season so I'll be sticking with the purple.

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Chapter 4

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Jakes eyes remained closed even as something sharp stuck into his subconscious disturbing his already restless sleep, mumbling incoherently he blinked his eyes several times and pushed himself up on his elbows.

After his largely depressing conversation around the fire, he had found some blankets, and chosen a nice piece on the ground far from the others to sleep, he had taken off his red jacket to use as a make-shift pillow and done his best to sleep, and now what felt like minutes later someone was gruffly shaking him back into awareness.

Groggily he looked at the person leaning over him and barley registered the concern on her face before he was tempted to roll over again and try to sleep. Instead he mumbled "what is it Haley?"

"I have to head out for a while with a few of the others, you'll be the strongest one left here, I need you to look after the people till I get back." She said quickly, her shoulders tense with urgency.

More awake now, Jake sat up and looked at her better, noticing the start of activity in the cavern. "Okay, but where are you going?" he asked.

Haley glanced across the room before answering, "Kara's finally snapped, she's headed to one of the jails named Hellgrind. It used to be the empire state building." She said.

Jake straightened and threw his blanket off, "why would she go there, and why now?" he questioned.

Haley seemed to debate with herself for a moment before deciding. "you see it's been three months since Sara was taken by one of Darkdragon's guards, all magical threats are kept at Hellgrind, Kara's broken down without her twin, I guess she couldn't take it any more she going to try and break her out."

"So?" Jake asked grabbing his jacket from the floor and putting his first arm in, " isn't that a good thing?'

Haley huffed annoyed "if it could be done Jake," she snapped, "it would have been done by now, no one ever gets out of Hellgrind, dragon guards are crawling all over the place. Our best hope is to reach her before she gets to Hellgrind."

"When was the last time you got a good look at it?" Jake asked fitting his other arm into its sleeve and straightening.

Haley twisted her face to look curious before answering, "We get few chances to get to the surface without being seen, so I'd say the last time was a few months ago."

Jake nodded satisfied, zipping up his jacket "security could of laxed since then and if I help, we might be able to get both of them out of there." He said his lips thinning in determination.

Haley looked at him surprised before a weak smile stretched across her mouth, "you definitely have one advantage over us Jake," she said, "your spirit is yet to be crushed." The way she said it made her sound almost amused and had Jake feeling uneasy.

"I can ask a few of the others to stay behind, but you'll have to promise to listen to me, things are a lot different here." She said.

Jake nodded "I suppose I can do that."

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Jake felt like one of the army soldiers in Spuds' video games as he slowly crept around the edge of a crumbled building, he and several others were slowly and cautiously making their way to the fortress that was now Hellgrind, looking up at the towering skyscraper Jake quickly realized why it was so dangerous, the once sleek windowed building was now completely boarded up, a large stone wall ran around the base, blocking the only entrance, squinting into the sky Jake could see several dark shapes hovering around the middle of the building, dragon guards no doubt.

Seeing a flashed signal from the corner of his eye, he halted and sunk into a crouch waiting for the next mark. The slightest crunch of gravel behind him was the only sound as Haley jumped down next to him. "We head around the back, and when the guards do their loop we have to knock them out of the sky." She whispered glancing around anxiously.

"Let's go then." He said standing up abruptly, before he was quickly pulled back down "quietly." Haley hissed.

Jake rolled his eyes with repressed anxiousness he wasn't used to fighting like this, he usually just charged in and thought up plans later, but remembering his promise he grimaced and followed Haley as she snuck quickly forward taking cover in the shadows.

It didn't take them very long, to get around the opposite side, and slide up to the stone blockade, while watching the sky closely, pressing his back hard against the wall Jake kept one eye on the air while also looking at Haley. "What do we do if we get caught?" he asked.

"Err…" Haley shifted, "don't get caught." She said off-handily.

Jake swallowed awkwardly and watched as the two dragons on the loop came around either corner, "on three," Haley whispered.

She pressed her palms to the wall and leant forward as the dragons came closer to the middle, "one…" Jake tensed his back watching closely, "two…" they were almost at the middle. "three!" Jake pushed back on his palms and shouted "dragon up!" he barley registered Haley's voice doing the same thing as he felt his body tingle with flames, in a matter of seconds, his body was completely changed and he had launched himself into the air with all his might, the two dragons screeched to a halt just about to cross each other, their long necks turning in just enough time to see the ambush but not enough to stop it, before they were both tackled with harsh snapping sounds.

Jake felt the his dragon go limp, and quickly sunk to the ground carrying it, dropping it harshly onto the dust he straightened, his tongue flicking in and out of his jaws, "we don't have long, get to the roof." Haley said.

Jake turned and was surprised to find what the older version of his sisters dragon form looked like, her dragon was still of course purple, with a gold underbelly, but it seemed to be sleeker and smaller then Jakes' form, built more for speed then for strength, the three scars on her face were also present in her reptilian form, the speed advantage became more apparent as the two dragons launched into the sky again and Haley became just a blur before she reached the roof and landed.

A burst of dragon breath later, and the two had successfully snuck into the building Haley motioned with a talon for him to stay low before hissing his instructions, "last time we tracked Sara she was three levels from the top, that's where we should start."

"But how do you know that Kara even made it there, she could of got caught way before that." Jake asked his dragon senses picking up the presence of many others in the building.

"It's the whole twin intuition thing, it would have made it easier, Sara could of warned her about anything bad coming her way, plus you were right, since last time security had decreased three-fold." Haley replied, tilting her dragon head to hear better down one of the corridors.

"Lets hurry then, I think I just heard our discovery."

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Surprisingly it took quite a while to reach the third level where Sara was being kept, it seemed the Huntsclan were now under the employment of the Darkdragon, Jake and Haley ran into a number of their henchmen on the way down, and Jake could have sworn that the third guy he knocked out was 89#.

Upon reaching the third floor they found a few already unconscious guards just starting to awaken before Haley put them back to sleep, Jake figured that it was the work of Kara, and the guards missing keys were also a repercussion to her rescue.

At the end of the corridor they found the heavily blocked cell, its door open just a crack so as not to alert guards, and also not to lock the occupants in, Jake pulled the door wide open with his talon and peered in where the two red headed sisters sat waiting, Sara beaming widely upon seeing him in the doorway, "Kara said we had to wait for you." She smiled getting to her feet her sister following.

"Well you don't have to wait any longer, we have to hurry no doubt we've been discovered by now." He said smiling back and gesturing with his claw for them to come.

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"Other way!" Jake hollered turning his tail around as a green blast of energy whizzed past his head, the other three followed him, being forced to head down to the ground rather then up to the roof, it seemed in a relatively short time every Huntsclan recruit in the local area had been called to the upper levels to forced them down, even with two powerful dragons on their side they had to flee, Jake watched hopelessly as corridors and levels disappeared behind them.

They reached the ground floor and froze, standing in front of them blocking the main entrance was a massive crowd of about thirty Huntsclan members, all holding glowing green weapons, all with menacing looks on their half-masked faces, one stood at the front, a woman with blonde hair standing tall, her eyes shooting venom, "I didn't think even you could be so stupid Haley," she smirked narrowing her eyes further at the purple and gold dragon, Haley growled her talons closing into a fist.

"and you've even bought a friend…" suddenly her voice died away as she focused on Jake, her muscles went weak ands her staff point faced down, her blue eyes widened and her whole face read shock, "Jake…" her voice came out as barley a whisper but now it was directed at him, it took Jake barley a second to realize who it belonged to.

The Huntswoman reached up with her hand and pulled off her mask and what Jake already knew became undeniable, "Rose,"

----

End chap

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	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer- same as before.

a/n- so sorry about the late update but I should update in two day to make up for it. Thanks to **tech-man** and **hpfreak**, really appreciate your comments. **Nyc2dragon**- sorry I've only ever heard of avatar, never seen it, but I'm sorry about the similarities. Thanks for letting me know.

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Chapter 5

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Haley looked between the two, their faces mirroring one another, her tongue flicked in and out of her jaws, practically tasting the tension in the air, she glanced around the room packed with Huntsclan members all staring at the reunion in front of them ' time to break it up'

"okay who wants to attack first!" she called loudly and cheerfully, the members clad in green turned to look at her blinking for a moment before one in the center raised his glowing staff and fired a ball of green energy, with a simple flex of her powerful legs Haley rose above the blast leaving it to crash into the Huntsmembers behind her.

The building rocked and the sound knocked Jake and Rose from their daze, Jake watched for only a split second as her faced changed from disbelief to hatred, his dark eyes widened as a ball of green hurtled towards him, he ducked sharply and felt it singe the tuffet of black and green hair on his head.

--

Haley used her fire breath to counteract another ball of energy and ducking low she swung her tail under two Huntsmembers kneecaps, knocking them to the ground. The hall around them erupted in chaos as the Huntsclan members at the front and back fired their weapons. The oracle twins always four steps ahead dodged the blasts easily, Sara pulling her sister in all the right directions leaving the energy blasts to whiz past and hit the Huntsmembers on opposite side of the room.

Jake threw all his weight forward and sent about five members flying with a wave of his wing, another blast careened towards his head and he ducked just in time to see Rose holding her staff at the ready glaring daggers at him, grinding his jaws in frustration, he sprung forward with a push of his back legs and flew straight at her, 'fight fire with fire.'

Rose aimed her staff, but Jake was faster, tackling her in a bear hug and knocking her weapon to face upwards at the same time. They sailed threw the air for a moment before crashing hard on the marble floor and sliding, Roses' weapon slipping away from them in a clang of metal. Clay and mortar crashed from the ceiling above them as Jake struggled to keep her in his grip, she was even resorting to biting him, they halted and Jake growled in frustration and pain as her boot hit his stomach. "wouldja' quit it!"

Rose looked up at him, her blue eyes showing nothing but hatred, "get off me dragon!" she hissed with pure venom.

Jake couldn't help but stare at her in disbelief, how could this be the same Rose?, how could this be _his_ Rose?

"what are you staring at?" she hissed, the one sided battle still raging around them, plaster and expensive painting flying everywhere, people lost in the chaos and the thick layer of white cloud and smoke that covered the hall.

"How?" Jake gasped, "Why?"

Rose sneered, "because some thing are more important then love Jake, I taught you that once before and I'll teach you that again!" she shouted the last and with a sharp painful kick to Jakes' midsection managed to break free rolling expertly back and snatching a discarded weapon from the ground.

Jake reeled, his fangs showing in pain, he steadied his feet and raised his arm in defense facing rose. "Like what?" he hissed, ice pooling in his belly, the terrible feeling of dread.

"life." She answered it was only one word but it was different from all the others filled with remorse not hate but any hopes that something more then what it seemed was going on here, were dashed when her still pretty face contorted in anger and she hurtled forward weapon raised in fury.

---

Haley side stepped with cocky ease as another young Huntsclan member dived at her, if she had been the same person now that she had been years ago she would have laughed out loud then proceeded to tap dance. Her dragon form was smaller then Jakes and not as lean as grandpa's but she was the fastest dragon ever to live, and she used that, rather then strength to win her battles.

She was one of only two people in the room who could actually see clearly at the moment, her dragon eyes easily cutting through the smoke and plaster dust hanging in the air, shooting a protective glance across the room she saw Jake locked in battle with Rose the staff the only thing in between them, Jake was far stronger but Rose had the better vantage point.

She snapped out a wing and caught two running huntsmen in a coathanger sending them to the ground unconscious, she looked to the front and saw the main entrance, now unblocked, this would be the best chance they would get.

"Jake!" she bellowed her dragon voice had changed too, from a high pitch squeak, to more of a roar like Sun Park.

Her brother glanced in her direction but didn't take his focus off his deadlock with Rose. "We have to go now, I'll grab the twins and we're gone, we won't get a better chance!"

Jake gritted his teeth in determination, this would be his only chance to get out--but it would also be his only chance to see the truth about what happened and if there was some way he could save rose…

Her tensed his arms the scales falling flat and pushed forward with all his might, Rose staggered and he had his chance.

--

Haley didn't see Jake take off and follow her she just assumed he was, and with three flaps of her speedy plum colored wings, her and the oracle twins shot out into the open air, across the guarded wall and out into the world above apocalyptic New York.

"Yippee!" Sara squealed throwing her arms out in joy.

Hayleys' face twisted into a look of dragon amusement, years in prison and she still acted like she had consumed a box of cheerios for breakfast.

"I'm free!" she squealed again, and on the other side of Hayleys' dragon body Kara cracked the weakest of smiles.-not like she hadn't seen that coming.

"To bad you'll have to go back and rescue Jake now!" Sara squeaked still overly cheerful,

Haley lost altitude for just a moment before pulling back on course and staring at the happy twin. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well look behind us silly." She giggled.

Haley did so and immediately realized Jake wasn't with them, forcing back a roar of frustration she dropped to the ground alarmingly fast making the twins stomachs roll.

She touched down and released them, Sara holding her stomach and smiling brightly "well can't say I didn't have any warning," she laughed.

Haley bore her teeth in anger as she looked back at Hellgrind. "the idiot, fool me twice." She hissed her tongue flicking out nervously.

She turned her reptilian head back to face the twins and asked, "do you think you can find your way back to the stronghold from here?"

"We won't have to; the gremlins have already sent the word Harvey will meet us in a few minutes." Kara said monotone as usual.

Haley gave a sharp nod before with one sweep of her powerful wings she launched herself into the sky and disappeared from view in mere moments.

The two twins stood on the ground watching the sky where she had been, Sara wondered out loud, "I wonder how the resistance will react when we tell them they'll need to find a new leader?"

Kara's eyes glowed gold for a second before, "devastation."

Slowly she turned on her heel and started walking away, Sara paused for a moment before following her twin, "oh well," she sighed acceptingly, "to bad we couldn't tell her about the whole Rose stabbing her through the chest thing." She said with a small sad smile.

----

End chap.

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	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer- same as before.

a/n- thanks to **tech-man**. This chapter is dedicated to you for always reviewing.

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Chapter 6

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A grunt of pain and a heavy thud was the only sound in the abolished entrance hall, Rose slid to a stop and pushed herself up on her palms so she could glare at the broad shape of Jake as he stood over her, "tell me Rose." He said quietly never taking his eyes off her, the hall around them was scattered with bodies, occasionally moaning in discomfort. Rose paid them no mind.

" I told you Jake, I needed to live, there were things I needed to do, and you were in the way, helping the Darkdragon, helped me." She spat licking the cut on her bottom lip.

"So you just gave me up? Just like that." Jake couldn't stop the thoughts from constricting his throat and making his voice sound croaky.

Rose gulped a deep breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly with tiredness, "we spent months searching for my family but he could give them to me in an instant, I couldn't give up my only chance to find out the truth," her demeanor seemed to change as she talked. "I tried Jake," she panted, "I really did, but I guess I just wasn't the good person you expected me to be." It seemed to hurt her just saying it.

"and thank god she wasn't," a sudden and icy cold voice interrupted them from behind Jake, Rose looked up and Jake twisted the top half of his body to get a better look. From the back entrance stood the Huntsman, his green cloak swishing about his heels as he walked, the red eyes behind the skull mask were narrowed dangerously at Jake. "Other wise I would have had to kill her to." He sneered stopping about a meter from Jake.

Gritting his fangs in anger Jake turned fully to face him his wings flexing in readiness. "You must be an old man under that cloak huntsy sure you wanna take me on." Jake sneered, making fists with his talons.

Huntsman tilted his head back slightly and laughed, not even the slightest bit cheerful, unnerving Jake. "Another gift from the dark dragon has kept my youth in tact, and I'm sure if I wanted to, I could kill you right now." He said almost sounding smug.

"Then why don't you?" Jake goaded, preparing himself.

The huntsman's teeth flashed white in a smirk "because I'd much rather she did it."

Jakes eyes widened in realization, all he saw was a flash of green light before he was sent hurtling across the room before crashing into a wall and falling to the ground chunks of plaster following him.

As he recovered from the shock and pain he heard the huntsmen's harsh laughter bouncing off the walls, taunting him.

"let me borrow that my dear," he asked holding out a hand to Rose and taking the staff from her, "I have been waiting for this moment, it should be even more grand then the old mans death." He cackled readjusting the weapon in his hands and bearing down on Jake.

Still to stunned to move Jake struggled to regain his feet glaring daggers at the Huntsman's form, he looked behind his hulking shoulder and found Rose watching the confrontation, from where he was he could see her grinding her teeth.

He turned back to face the Huntsman as he stood in front of Jake sneering down, his eyes glowing red. "Once I deal with that nuisance of a sister, that'll be everyone in the family."

Jake felt anger swell in the back of his mind, scrounging up breath he gasped, "I've been dealing with that nuisance for years, trust me it never goes away." He taunted trying to rile up his arch enemy.

Although Jake couldn't see it, the Huntsmasters face twisted into a scowl, "you parents did, rather quickly actually, the man put up more of a fight then I expected," he paused to let his words sink in, "not bad for a pathetic—little—mortal." He hissed, raising his staff

Jakes anger exploded into rage so quickly that he didn't see Rose pull another discarded staff from the ground a look of searing determination on her face; he dug his talons into the floor and pushed himself up, fire literally building in his throat.

Rose raised her arm, squinted her eyes everything in her heart screaming at her to do it, why her head raged that she would die for it.

"I'll make you choke on those words." Jake hissed sliding his back up the wall wincing as every muscle cried out in protest. Never had he hated something so much.

"You won't get the chance creature," the Huntsman roared raising his staff in the air and bringing in down directly at Jakes heart.

Too bad.

Rose threw her arm forward with all her might watching as the metal rod cut through the air headed straight for her master, and in a split second her face changed from anger to horror as he moved at the last second and her well aimed shot plunger directly into the dragon in front of him.

Jakes eyes widened as he caught her slumping form, "Haley," he gasped "no."

The purple dragon had seen it coming, and taken the blow on course for her brother, but meant for their enemy.

She truly was the fastest dragon ever to have lived.

------

End chapter.

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	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer- same as previous.

a/n thanks to **tech-man**,** lavenderpaw, **and **hpfreak**- she was aiming for huntsman.

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Final chapter- chapter 7

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As if he was watching one of those overly hyped action films, with Spud and Trixie everything seemed to go in slow-motion before quickly speeding up, he caught his sisters' limp form in his arms, a crackling fire engulfing her body before disappearing and leaving her human form, the three scars on her jaw standing out white as her face twisted in agony.

Jake barley registered Roses gasp of shock or the Huntsman's wide eyes of rage as he turned to look at his former apprentice, everything Jake had was focused on the woman—not little girl—in his arms completely still not a single breath passing her lips.

He transformed back to his human form and a single tear slipped down his cheek, dark eyes shining with horror, he stared down at her face matching eyes open and glassy. "No, no, no, no, no." he repeated over and over, his shoulders beginning to quake, he hugged her body closer and begged whoever was listening for it to all reverse.

The Huntsman looked down at the pair, not feeling a thing besides cruel glee, his mouth twisted into a predatory sneer, he shot a wary glance at Rose who was watching them to, her face blank with shock.

"Jake I…" her voice came out as barley a whisper but in the empty entry hall in echoed off the walls as if she had shouted it.

The broken boy looked up at her, tears shimmering on his pale cheeks, cradling his sister in his arms and rocking her gently. "I-I didn't" she couldn't manage anything else, just kept staring at him.

"It's all your fault!" he bellowed suddenly anger bursting through the chains of his depression. "You killed her!" he stated the obvious; "you murdered her!" he choked. "I trusted you and…"

"And I-- I" he stuttered turning to face his sisters lifeless form again. "I started it, I wanna change it!!" his voice increased with every syllable. "I wanna go back! I wanna take it all back" he bellowed face turning to the ceiling as if yelling at the powers that be. "take me back!" the walls seemed to quiver with his last words, and they began to shake, violently, they began to dissolve and the people around him seemed to as well, everything became a swirl of colors and with a desperate feeling of someone stretching his entire body like a rubber band Jake screamed, squeezed his eyes shut and let go…

-----

"aaahhhhh!" his shout continued as he fell back and stopped suddenly his chair colliding heavily with the ground below. "ooff."

Jake blinked repeatedly trying to clear his head, the hall was gone, Rose and the Huntsmen, even Haley were all gone.

_It was like it had never happened._

He rolled of the chair he was lying on and sprung to his feet hands in a fighting position he looked frantically around the room for some sign of what he had just seen, but found only the gypsy sitting just in front of him looking as calm as ever and watching him with her hawk like gaze.

He turned to her breathing heavily "what was that!?" he demanded.

Still calm, she replied, "It was the future, as I promised." She folded her hands neatly together on the table in front of her and continued to watch him.

His breathing slowing somewhat he gasped, "But-- but how? it was so vivid, and things and-- and Haley!" he shouted the last word desperately.

The gypsy smiled baring her shiny teeth, " it was the future child, none of those things have occurred yet, and only your desperation to change them could have brought you back, so judging by that logic I'd say they never will." she said still in that eerily calm manner.

Jake gulped not taking his eyes off her, hope and relief flooding his veins and slowing his heart down to its normal rate. "So she's still? And Rose is still?" not making much sense to himself, but apparently the message was crystal for the gypsy, she nodded, her multiple bangles jingling, she waved her hand and snapped her blue painted fingernails and the table and its cloth disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Jake glanced outside the door, past the beads, the sun was still blazing down and he could hear the buzz of cicada's 'was it possible he'd never left'

"If you do not wish to purchase anything else, I have kept up my promise and you are free to leave." The gypsy said standing up and moving behind the counter again looking uninterested.

Jake stared at her for a moment before swinging on his heals and bolting back out into the heat.

-----

"I tell you kid, no need to worry those gypsy's are a bunch of floosies, pay them no mind." Fu repeated as he and Jake swept into grandpa's shop the small gold bell tinkling at the entrance, his grandpa who was sitting on a stool behind the counter looked up as the pair entered. "gypsy?" he questioned suspiciously.

Fu stopped to answer but Jake just hurried into the back room "yeah, poor Jakey here is freakin' out, 'cause some nut in shawls read his future." Fu snickered as if it were all one big joke.

Lao shi however looked thoughtful and swung himself off his stool following Jake into the backroom and crossing the threshold just as a high pitched shriek sounded, "get him off me! Grandpa Jakes' been hit over the head again!"

Lao shi folded his hands together and watched curious as Jake released Haley from the massive hug he had just engulfed her in, taking her shoulders he watched her closely as if looking for a mark on her confused looking face.

"Jake?" Lao shi questioned suspicious.

"Just checking gramps," he replied a wide faced grin appearing as he looked down at his short sister who was craning her neck to watch his face dumbfounded.

"Can you please describe this gypsy?" Lao shi asked still watching the siblings closely.

"Run of the mill really, gold teeth, a dozen bangles on each arm and another dozen warts just for effect." Fu dog answered from behind Laoshi stopping to watch Jake and Haley as well "smiled at me funny and told be to beware of blue trolls." He shrugged as if disturbed but not willing to admit it.

Loa shi frowned thinking hard before his face straightened and he whispered, "Elsa."

"What are you doing Jake?" Haley question in her high pitched six year old voice. "According to my reading boys of your age are afraid to show affection." She squeaked

Jake beamed, never so happy to hear her ranting; sweeping her into another crushing hug he couldn't be happier as she squealed in his ear. Putting her down again he relaxed and said "just glad to see you're alright that's all."

---------------------------

Two days later

-------

Jake stared intently at his shoelaces, studying their every detail while going over his explanation in his mind, he would have liked to see Rose earlier, but with Huntsman still watching her closely this was the best they could do.

He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching and his carefully planned explanation was gone, he'd have to settle for bumbling through it. "Hay Jake," Rose greeted cheerfully smiling at him brightly and sitting down next to him on the park bench. "You said you had something important to tell me."

He nodded silently returning to watching his shoes, this was the last thing he wanted to be doing at the moment, but he knew he had no choice; he couldn't let any of it happen.

"Rose," he stated looking up to face her, "what do you see in the future?" he asked quietly.

Rose laughed and joked, "Your not going to propose is you?", when he didn't laugh she knew it was serious and quickly paid more attention.

Jake shook his head solemnly, "well I see a lot, and if I don't change something it's not going to happen." He swallowed, "you are a good person Rose, you really are, but it's going take you far to long to finally accept that."

Rose looked at him completely confused, and concerned at the same time, "I know this isn't going to make much sense, but maybe you were right, it's too dangerous for us to see each other, to talk to each other."

He stood up from the bench looking down at her, his eyes glazed. "Jake where the heck is this coming from!" she demanded devastated.

"Some things are just more important then love," he whispered quietly.

"Like what!"

Jake looked at her determined and replied in the same way she had, "family." With that he turned on his heel and walked away his hands tucked in his jacket pockets, a single tear slipping down his cheek, just as the same thing happened to Rose.

Epilogue.

----

Jake eventually told his grandpa the in's and outs of what he had seen, and the elderly man immediately made plans involving the rescue of the other two dragons who had been the Darkdragon's victims.

They both agreed to keep in between the two of them, and especially not to mention it to Jakes mom who would freak out if she knew what had—or hadn't--happened to her baby girl.

Jake and Haley grew up some more, the young girls black hair quickly gaining its golden outline, while she actually shot up a few inches in height. Every morning when she would bound downstairs with a perky smile on her face Jake would smile back and tilt her head to check her jaw for any scars—just in case.

When Haley was sixteen she came home from school one day having made a new friend—Jake had laughed as he had been introduced to Harvey the troll.

The years flew by and Haley eventually grew into the dragon Jake had seen in the future, she was lightning fast, was the color of a plum and was Jakes most valuable ally when he needed her.

He started appreciating the building of New York more, and visited the oracle twins more often, not taking for granted the chances he had.

His decision—however sure he was that it was the right one--didn't stop him from missing Rose and on the odd occasion he would go to his top draw and pull out the framed photograph of them at the dance- it would hurt like a knife in the chest—but then he'd go down stairs sit at the dinning table looking around at his gathered family and the pain would dull.

And that future that he had feared, never did come…

--------------

End story.

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