A/N: this is an original story written by me. all characters are owned by me. i have concept art of some of my characters on deviantart.com my username on there is the same as here, avalarprincess. please leave reviews and be sure to check out my friend's karzarkprincess, original story on fictionpress.com it is called Trenton. i hope you enjoy both of our stories

The Guardians of Yosotani

Chapter 1: Peace in the Valley

I stretched my arms out to the side as I lie on my back and felt the crisp grass between my callused fingers. I looked up at the bright blue sky as a crisps autumn breeze gently shook the trees’ branches, blowing some of the leaves across the sky. I gently closed my eyes as I turned my head to the source of the noise. I immediately saw the comforting sight of sleek skin colored black as ebony stretched across the muscular body of my “brother” and closest friend, Knight Rider. He had found himself a nice sweet patch of grass to munch on while I had taken a short nap. I slowly sat up and hugged my knees as I soaked in my surroundings; the pure bliss and beauty of the Valley of Yosotani. I reached for my wooden bow and felt the soft leather of the handle as I slung my quiver of fresh arrows across my back. I stood up and walked over to Knight Rider. I gently grabbed a small tuft of Knight’s coarse, long mane near his withers as I used it to hoist myself onto his back. As Knight Rider’s hooves thundered across the grass I felt as though I were flying with the wind blowing through my soft, honey maple hair with blue streaks that I kept cut off just above my shoulders. He thundered across the meadows and past the great herds of mustangs and deer. We soon stopped at a bubbling brook to take a rest. I hopped off Knight’s tall back and kneeled at the edge of the brook. I cupped my hands under the water and then brought them to my lips. The cool water sent a chill down my spine as it passed through my throat. Knight reached his large head down and took a drink as well. He then laid down and I curled up on his shoulder. As I closed my eyes he turned his head to me. I could feel his warm breath and velvety nose touch my face as he quietly nuzzled me as we drifted off to sleep again. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few hours later I was abruptly awaken by something grabbing me by my shirt and throwing me to the ground. I tried to get up but the creature pinned me to the ground before I could. It had mangy grey fur covered in mud and burs that took on the shape of a wolf. I could hear him growling between bared teeth. My emerald green eyes looked straight into his topaz orange ones. Then he did something that caught me completely off guard. He began laughing! He soon jumped off of me and was rolling around on the ground laughing hysterically at me. He got himself recomposed and said in a gruff voice, “Boy did I get you, Baka!” I just looked at him confusedly until it hit me. “No, you didn’t, Cyrus! You know you can’t scare me that easily!” I screamed. “Aww, you’re no fun.” he said as he stopped laughing. Soon Knight Rider walked up soaking wet. It hadn’t even occurred to me that Knight was missing. “What happened to you?” I asked him. He spit out some water before replying, “That mangy mutt threw me in the water!” Cyrus immediately rolled to his stomach and snapped “Who you callin’ a ‘mangy mutt’?!?” “Well you certainly look like one!” Knight snapped back at the muddy wolf. “Alright, enough you two!” I yelled pushing them away from each other. “Now what do you want?” “Hang on! Don’t get your tail in a twist.” Cyrus stood up on his hind legs and transformed back into his human state. His jacket was unzipped to reveal the black T-shirt he sported underneath and his coconut brown and orange hair spiked back in its usual porcupine fashion. I looked down to his feet to see his dad’s combat boots that were four sizes too big. “I don’t know why you wear those things, Cyrus.” I said motioning to his feet. “I told you a thousand times, Baka. They’re the last thing I have from my dad. Now back to business. The others are waitin’ for us in the clearin’.” He said annoyed. “Fine.” I said pausing. “Wait a minute. Where’s Ravage Rider?” Cyrus gave me a smug look and whistled. I heard neighing and hooves stomping. I turned towards the bushes just in time to see an orange blur burst out from the bushes and start running in circles around us. “Tell your stallion to quit showing off.” I said annoyed. Ravage Rider slid to a stop tossing his black mane around. “Hey there Blackie.” He said with a sly grin. Knight Rider put his head to the ground and snorted back. “Just ignore him, Knight.”I whispered in his ear. We both climbed up on our stallions and rode off through the trees towards the clearing. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we were getting closer to the clearing the first thing that caught my eye was the fiery red skin of Kazan, Shane’s stallion, and the bright pink mane and tail of Kazehime, Seraphine’s mare. I looked around to see Shane, Hunter, Kirino, and Seraphine along with their horses, Kazan, Doromichi, Sutorimu, and Furyoku. “Hey Shane, Kirino.” I said half-waving. “Hey.” Shane replied stretching his arms. “No snotty remarks, Rapunzel?” I asked Seraphine. She crossed her arms across her chest and huffed. “So. You ready?” Hunter asked. “Ready for what?” I asked petting Sutorimu’s head. “Ready for our flying lessons, Baka.” Seraphine snorted at me. “Wow. The beauty queen of Yosotani showing up for flying lessons. I never thought I’d see the day.” Cyrus teased. I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Oh, shut up, Baka.” She said glaring at me. “Alright enough chit-chat, kiddies.” We heard a baritone voice say. We looked over to see red, green, blue, and yellow dragons landing. “Hello, Elder Gyokuseki.” We said in unison. He glared at us and snorted. We loved how it got on his nerves to be called “Elder”. “Enough teasing Gyokuseki, younglings.” A large red dragon hovered down to us smiling. “Horses, you know what to do.” Immediately, our horses began to transform into dragons. We climbed up onto them and took off. I could hear the gentle flapping of our dragons’ wings and the soft chirps of the birds. We began flying higher and faster as we reached our destination. “Alright, here comes the tricky part.” Gyokuseki yelled over the rushing wind. “Just follow us!” They dove down into a deep canyon being careful not to crash into any of the large rock formations that were scattered along the canyon floor. “Pretty sight, isn’t it?” Gyokuseki said grinning from ear to ear. “He and some Earth dragons made it.” Aisushado yelled to us. As we kept flying through we began to see that the canyon was getting smaller. “How in the ancestors are we supposed to get through that?” Seraphine cried. “Just lay low!” Tochi yelled. We watched as the older dragons twisted to the side to run along the canyon wall. Our dragons followed their suit and we just laid down low and let our dragons do the rest. I could feel the rocks just barely scrap against my back as we passed through the crevice. As soon as we emerged from the canyon Cyrus was hooting and hollering. “That was awesome!” Cyrus yelled obviously drunk on adrenaline. I rolled my eyes as I yelled back, “Of course, Cyrus! You are the Valley’s record holder for the most near-death experiences after all.” He just stuck his tongue out at me. No sooner had we touched the ground did we hear someone call “Elder Tochi!” We turned to see a red and yellow dragon fly down to us. “What is it now, Flame?” Tochi asked the annoyance clear in his tone. Flame had a record of annoying everyone at the temple and Tochi was about fed up with it. Flame whispered in Tochi’s ear. As Tochi listened his eyes grew wider. “WHAT?!?! That’s impossible!” he exclaimed. “What is it Tochi?” Kirino asked shyly. “Don’t worry about it kids.” he said, “Go back to the temple and stay there until we come back.” “But, Tochi,” Shane started protest. “No buts about it, Shane.” He interrupted, “Now go. Now!” We immediately got back on our dragons and took off back towards the temple. I turned back to see the elders follow Flame back to the villages.