With The Next Generation(Private/mature/continued)

Ryu let out a deep sigh as his son walked off. There was no point in explaining things to him. Ryu figured that for all his so called maturity he was still too young to understand how the empire worked. IT didn't matter what one accomplished. Rank was everything within the Empire. Ryuten had crossed the line when he argued with Sasah, a princess from an allied nation and first daughter and heir to the Tigeress throne. When Candra came into get Kei, Ryu sat up straight. He stared at the wolf as she quickly turned and left without a word. "Night Kei..." he whispered, his eyes narrowing at Candra's back. What the hell? She wasn't even concerned about his condition. She hadn't even gave him a second look before leaving. "Whatever..." Ryu mumbled and laid back down, his good eye closed. "Sasha..." he whispered softly, his body relaxing against the sheets. "I didn't want to criticize you in front of Ryuten, but I'm going to have to ask you to mind what you say as well. I dont need my family and my troops fighting." he replied softly as his head turned towards her and his good eye opened. A small smile formed on his lips though. "I'm impressed. You got my men here without even breaking a nail." Ryu chuckled softly, but shortly after winced from the pain it caused.

Ryukai's eyes narrowed. His father was going to play that card was he. Apparently his father didnt realize just how much he had accomplished in this war, if it hadnt been for him the dogs would have breached the eastern territory of the dragons. "Fine... If what I've done for your race isnt enough to let me speak freely then you can fight your own war" Ryu said with a simple shrug and walked out of the tent. He'd spend the rest of his time making sure his family was safe, unlike his father had for the whole year. "Um... well Kasumi is still sleeping... so maybe it'd be okay to rest for awhile more" Kei said and shifted into his human form. Ryukai went to where his mother was laying and crawled down into the den she had made and worked on making it a tad bigger since he now planned to sleep down there. Candra watched as her eldest son went into the den. "Whats wrong" Candra said. "Nothing much, dads being an ass again, I'm pretty sure its because I set Kasu loose when he was against it" Ryu muttered and curled up around Kasumi. Candra lifted her head seeing Sasha once again all over Ryuten making her growl. She stood up, she was normal wolf size now, She walked pass the guards and into the tent and nudged Kei. "Come on, time for bed" She said. "Night dad" Kei said and ran out of the tent. Sasha crossed her arms and smirked at Candra as she stood behind Ryuten. Candra's ears folded back and without a word she turned and walked out the tent and back to the den where she crawled into with her pups and settled for the night

"Enough." Ryu hissed, his eyes shifting between Sasha and Ryuten before going back to his son. "Ryuten, know your place. You have no right to argue with a princess. Dont forget that you're not officially apart of the Imperial Forces. Rather, you're working with wolves in agreement with the rules issued by the Emperor. You can voice your opinion, but there are limits to what you can and can not say." Ryu stated in a very deep crystal clear tone. His men sat silent. Sighing deeply, Ryu shifted his gaze down to Kei. He smiled at his son and ran his fingers behind his ears. "What do you think Kei? Should we stay or should we rest a little?" Ryu asked even though he had already made up his mind. His rose and left the tent. If Ryu was going to stay, he'd want 24 hour patrols around the area. He'd also want an alert system set up just in case the enemy managed to sneak past the patrols. Luckily, one of the men on Ryu's team specialized in barrier techniques. Once the men were gone, Ryu laid back down and let out a small sigh. He had Kei sitting on his bedside.

Just then Kei came running into the tent a big smile on his face. "Dad! I just flipped big brother over while we were practicing!" He said with a big smile. Ryukai walked in rubbing his head. "Yeah... landed me right on a rock" He muttered and rubbed Kei's head. "So we're moving out huh?" Ryu asked and his hues shifted to Sasha. "There's really no need to rush sir, we'll make good timeeven if you were to rest for at least a day" she said. "True, a day wouldnt be too bad, but the more time we spend out here the more probable that the enemy will make there attack all the sooner." Ryukai said thoughtfully. "The captain needs to rest" Sasha argued. "He can, my mother can carry him while I carry my siblings and you can lead the way" Ryu said with a smirk. Sasha glared at Ryukai, her tail twitching irritably. "Or...is it more so you wanted more time with a mated man" Ryu said. "He's not her mate yet boy" She hissed. Ryukai crossed his arms with a smirk and Sahsa's ears folded as a blush crossed her face.

Ryu let out a small sigh of content. He felt ten times better now that he was laying down. With his good eye half open, he listened to Sasha's report carefully. The situation was worse then he thought. Deathwing's condition was critical. From the sound of it, he could pass at any moment. Ryu let out a very deep sigh. There was no doubt that the enemy already knew of Deathwing's condition. If that was so, then surely a surprise attack would be launched at some point. "I see.." Ryu replied softly. He looked up at Sasha and gave her a small smile. "Thank you, but I assure you that I'm fine. I'm just tired." he replied softly before shifting his eyes towards his men. "We dont have time to rest though. Prepare to move out immediately." he ordered. His men looked at each other and blinked. "Um...sir we're only a few days from the capital. With your condition, there's no reason why you cant rest." one of them stated. Ryu forced himself to sit up and shook his head. "No we need to get back. We dont want to be on the road when the Emperor dies. Besides...I need to get my family into the city wallls."

Sasha smiled, her tail swaying back and forth, "Its no trouble at all" She said with a soft smile. "It's to be expected that you'd be tired after having to exert so much of your power to protect your family" She said. She had started to give her report when he stopped her. "Of course I don't mind, she said and put her arm around him and helped him back to his tent. Candra's bright blue hues narrowed and a low snarl left her throat. Ryukai had stopped and seen the tigers close touch with Ryuten. Once inside Sasha had Ryu lay down and finished giving her report. She sighed softly, "I hate seeing you so drained sir...it hurts to see you like this" she said softly

Ryu let out a small groan. His head was still pounding. He rose to his feet and walked over towards Sasha. He needed a report along with any news she might have received from the capital. "Hey, sorry for the trouble. I'm sure having me passed out for so long was a hassle." Ryu smiled slightly as he rubbed the back of his bandaged head. "So, has there been any changes at all?" Ryu asked, though his eye had shifted over towards his sons. It looked like they were sparing one another. The sight reminded Ryu that he would have to have a talk with his oldest son. Even if Kasumi had probably saved their lives, Ryu would have never exposed her to such dangers. She was a child whether she had a double personality or not. Without him realizing it, a small growl left his lips which made his head hurt even worse. "Ah...sorry, do you mind if we talk about this while I lay back down?"

Under a pile of rocks near the camp site is where Candra and the kids were. The tigress claimed the distance would put Ryu-sama at ease, the the less noise would make it easier for him to sleep. Candra had wanted to tear out this girls throte, but since the kids were here she held back. Candra had dug out a small den under the rocks and laid Kasumi inside it to keep her safe as she slept. She climbed back out and laid next to the hole of the den and watched as Ryukai was training Kei in their animal forms. "Don't be afrain to use your wings as an advantage, but dont depend completely on them either, thinking like that can get you killed in a minute during battle" Ryukai said. Kei lunged at Ryu, flapped his wings once, to help him jump over his big brother and locked his needle like fangs into the back of Ryukai's neck. "Not bad" Ryu said but stood up on his hind legs and fell backwards, hitting the ground with a thud. Kei yelped and whimpered as Ryukai rolled off him. "The throat. If you want to lock onto a part of the body and cause the most damage, and even kill, always go for the throat... it'll be hard cause many know to guard their necks against wolves" Ryukai said. Kei sat up and shook out his fur and pawed at his head. "Okay, okay" Kei muttered

By the time Ryu woke up, night had come and the moon was shining brightly. His men were sitting close by around a fire talking of news that had just come from the capital. "Word is Deathwing-sama is doing much worse then we thought. The Grand Sparx might be held earlier then what was predicted..." One of the mumbled. "Do you think Ryu-sama has a chance to become Emperor? He's got allot of harsh composition. I heard his step sister has been accepted as a candidate." Another whispered. "Forget her, I'm worried about the Emperor's eldest son, Jabberwock. It's said that out of all the 150 candidates, he's stronger then at least 99% of them. If he becomes Emperor...well...the war will end swiftly...but the world will burn." one of the men shivered. Ryu let out a small groan and sat up. His good eye shifted from the left and to the right. "Ah, Ryu-sama you're up. You had us worried." one of his men smiled as they all turned to face their leader. "Where's my family?" Ryu asked, his hand pressing gently against his head. "They're near by. They were worried about you too. " they stated. Ryu nodded and attempted to stand. His body was still a bit weak though so he ended up falling right back into his bed.

"He fell hard, but I imagine his disorientation comes from using nearly all his power" Ryukai said as he stood up and walked over to his mother and siblings. "e had been fighting the beast before having to drain his power... I imagine thats why he's worse off than I am" Ryukai said, it made enough sense. Yes he was exhausted himself, but he had only drained his power of his element. His father had drained his bodily strength as well. Sasha gave Candra a displeased look. "And how is it the leader of the wolfen race did nothing" She accused. Candra's ears folded back and a deep snarl left her throat. "Mom hasnt been feeling good!, she wasnt well enough to help fight!" Kei growled defensivly. Sasha turned her back and lead the way back to where they had set up camp.

"Well...we wanted to regroup as soon as possible so..." Ryu whispered, his eyes closing as he felt Candra lick him. His body began to sway slightly and he ended up sitting right back down from where he had stood. "Damnit...give me a second...everything feels dizzy..." he mumbled softly, his head slightly hung. "I've...never seen him like this. How big a hit did he take??" one of the dragons asked. The other men shifted their eyes over towards Candra. "Maybe we should let him lay down. We've already set up camp." another suggested. His men nodded and slowly helped Ryu up to his feet. They moved underneath his arms to support him while walking. "Its ok sir. You're going to be fine." One of his men stated. Ryu gave a small nod. Right now, all he wanted was to lay down on something soft. Maybe then, his dizziness would go away.

((I forgot the tigers name so her name is now Sasha))

Candra licked the blood from Ryu's face and whimpered lightly. "Are you crazy sir? surely there must have been a way around the death valley, you could have all died" Sasha said with an angry expression. Candra's ears folded back and she bared her fangs at the princess, but didnt say a word. Ryukai sat down, his long ears perked as he stared at this princess, He could sence jealousy and worry coming from her. He bent his head and scratched his ear, seeing these events play out would be amusiing....

Ryu's men quickly came to stand beside him. They helped him up to his feet and made sure that he had his balance. "Sir what happened?" They asked. Ryu rubbed his head. His eyes scanned over his family. They all seemed ok for the most part. "We traveled through death valley...got shot down...and...fought the valley's monster." he mumbled, his head pounding now. A small trickle of blood began run down his face. "I dont really remember the rest. I think...I got slammed pretty hard." he replied softly before his eyes shifted up towards the tiger princess. Was she not going to speak to him?

"Dad!" Kei barked and Candra stopped and turned around, nuzzling her head against Ryuten's shoulder. "Take it easy, you've been out for six hours" Candra growled softly. Kasumi was fast asleep on Candra's back and Ryukai was staring off into the distance, seeing the group of soldiers before his father noticed. "Well, I suppose traveling in a larger group will be benificial" Ryu said

Ryu must have been out for hours and hours. When he finally had awoken, his family had long left the valley. Ryu's good eye shot open! His body suddenly rushed up causing him to fall right off Candra's back. "Ouch..." Ryu mumbled and pulled his face out of the dirt. He let out a small sigh. His body hurt all over. He looked like shit even though he had gained most of his energy back. He ran his claws through his dark hair. The dragon seemed to be a little out of it. Maybe he had been slammed a little harder than what anyone thought. "W-Where are we?" He asked, his eyes shifting up towards Candra. Just then, in the distance the sight of several demons appeared. It was Ryu's men and the Tiger Princess! The two groups had finally caught up...

Kasu let down her barrier and fell to her knees. She stretched her arms out over her head and yawned. "I'm beat" she said sleepily. "We're indebted to you" Ryukai said, his voice was tired. "I know" She yawned before falling asleep. Ryukai shook his head and stood, "Kei you alright?" Ryu asked. "I'm fine" He said. "Mom?" Ryu questioned. "I'm fine" She said and looked to Ryuten as he passed out. "I can carry all of you so you can rest, it shouldn't be too dangerous now with that thing dead" She said as she fazed into her larger wolf form. Ryukai helped lift Kasumi and Ryuten onto her back before jumping up himself. "Are you sure? You cant be straining yourself." Ryu said. "I'll be fine, just get some rest" She said and started to walk

Ryu had though the explosion would never end. When it finally did, he found that they now sat in the center of a crater that stretched for miles and miles. The explosion had completely wiped any and all local life that had been within the range of the blast...which had been pretty wide. Ryu let out a sigh of relief as he collasped into the sand below. His body was so worn out that didn't even have enough energy to maintain his transformed state. His body reverted back into his human form, his breaths shallow as he rolled over and stared up at the now clear sky. He was too tired to argue, too tired to yell, and far too tired to beat Ryukai for endangering his younger sister even if she had probably saved their lives. Ryu's body was struggling to fight the exhaustion which consumed him, but soon found himself giving up. His good eye closed, his body sinking into a sort of hibernation in order to restore the energy he had lost.

Kasu watched the two as they put of the barrier, Ryukai forced all the power he had out to make sure the barrier held. As the eruption continued, Ryukai's power began to drain, forcing out so much darkness was not something he trained for very often for practical reasons. Kasu looked at the barrier, it was started to crumble. "I'll take over" She said and stood up, She may have been more experienced in posion, but she was still a part of Kasumi's body which also held the power of Electricity that was passed from Candra. Kasu tapped into that power, sparks of electric surrounding her, a white barrier expanding from her body and slowly engulfed the rest of them. Kasu kept a focused gaze as she held the barrier, waiting for the explosion to die out

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"Fuck..." Ryu cursed and slowly stood up. His crimson eye shot towards his son. He had instructed Ryukai NOT to awaken Kasumi. He'd deal with him later on though. The dragon sunk his hooked claws into the sand below. His wings folded as streaks of darkness raced towards his body forming a small sphere around him. A dark vicious growl left the dragon's lips as he forced the sphere to expand till it it covered most of the surrounding area. With Ryukai's help, he was able to fully cover both himself and Candra. They had made it just in time. A second later, a mass explosion unlike anything Ryu had ever seen went off! Even with the Ryukai's added power, Ryu had to strain his body in order to keep the barrier up. Little by little though, the barrier began to crack. Ryu suddenly rose up on his hind legs and extended his wings! He summoned every ounce of power he had and used it to reinforce the barrier...

Kasu landed all the way by Ryuten and looked at him. "Faze to your human form" She said, her voice unbelievably calm. After he finally did, she grabbed his arm and flash stepped to Ryukai and the others. "Your powers should be a little less hard to control, you have to wrap us in the darkness before that thing erupts, it's going to take both of you, so do it now" Kasu said looking from Ryukai to Ryuten. "Listen, that things aura was what disrupts the dragons magic abilities, with it this weak and about to die, it's aura is diminishing as well, combine your strength and cover us, or else we'll all be killed anyway" Kasu said as she sat down

The infernal was quickly brought to it's knees. The creature let out a pained cry as its body began to break down. The pulsing green light which surrounded most of its body suddenly turned jet black. There was a penalty for bringing the monstrosity down, one which Ryu had desperately tried to avoid. As shades of black mixed into its core, the beast began to let out violent cries! Something was beating within its body. As the beats became harder, harsh vibrations tore through the ground forcing apart the sand covered earth. Ryu let out a low groan. The dragon slowly opened his good eye before turning himself over. "shit." he mumbled, his crimson orb now resting on the Infernal. It was going to self destruct!

Kasu smirked as the beast's attention focused on her, "Thats right, your hungry arent you" She said in a acidic voice, her hues narrowing to slits. As the ball of slim came hurtling at her she jumped, appearing up in front of the beast a couple yards away from him. She put her hands together, her hands slowly began to emit a toxic bright clean aura as a ball of pure poison began to form in her hands, growing bigger. Any time the beast took a chance to hit her or grab her she vanished just seconds before being hit until she appeared near his glowing core. "EAT THIS!" She howled and thrust her arms out, shoving the pure poison energy into the beast, the poison merged with his core and began to turn the darkest of blacks. Within moments the creatures bones should begin to melt and fall apart, but with this things size, who knows she'd probably have to shove a few more poisons into him

Everything the Infernal's feet touched melted down. Solid rock or sand, it didn't matter. The massive beast stormed forward and grabbed Ryu by the tail. With a hard swing, he sent the unconscious dragon flying into a small hill of sand. His core screamed to be fed! Just as he were about to feast, his attention shifted back towards Kasu. She had a large soul, one that would help to fill the void within the beast. With Ryu still knocked out, the creature turned his full rage loose on Kasu and shot another slimy energy ball right at the small girl.

Candra and her children had no choice but to watch as Ryu was batted down like a mere fly over and over again. When he hit the ground and didnt move Candra tried clawing her way past Ryukai. "RYU!!!!" She screamed. "Enough!" Ryukai snarled and turned, pushing his pointed nose against Kasumi's forhead, the girls multi colored hues widened before slowly closing, her body falling limp. Within moments a pair of sharp multi colored hues opened. "Ryu-chan?" Kasu said and looked around, her body tensing. "Can you defeat it or knock it out so we can get away?" Ryukai asked. "Hmph, you forget who you speak to" Kasu said with a grin and walked forward toward the beast

Ryu came crashing down into the rocks. He had lost count, but he knew that he had probably crashed somewhere between three and five times during that day alone. "We're leaving!" he roared as he folded his wings. He was too late though. A dark slime like green energy ball came spiraling into the hillside side knocking loose the rocks Ryu had used to stand on. His body tumbled down the hill until he hit the bottom with a hard thud! His body remained motionless, his good eye closed tight. The infernal let out a ghostly screech. It loved only to consume the bodies and souls of other demons. It had slept for about one hundred years, but now it was time for it to gorge itself.