When Sketch and Kazano arrived back in the shrine, the others were already resting in the dome not far away. It was the evening and it seemed a good time to get some sleep. Kazano pointed Sketch the way to his room as they approached the dome.

"Your room is in the top floor, Tucker," said Kazano. "You need to get plenty of rest."

"Yes, sir," said Sketch.

Kazano smiled. "Try to relax for a while," he said.

Sketch smiled. "I'll try. Where will you be while we're at rest?"

"I will be training on my own," said Kazano. "You should get your belongings and take them upstairs with you."

With that, as Kazano was on his way to an unknown destination to train alone, Sketch took off the top part of his heavy uniform and got his suitcase. He climbed what seemed like an endless light of stairs until he reached the fourth floor, where a door was open. "This must be my room," he said. With that, he took off the rest of his uniform and put on his pajamas, which were stored in his suitcase. He also had his plush dragon inside, which he always took to bed.

Sketch smiled to himself. "I wonder what the girls would think if they knew I slept with you," he said to the dragon. Without any hesitation Sketch fell onto his bed and fell asleep.

Sketch felt someone shake his shoulder. He opened an eye and groaned. "Don't tell me it's morning already." He looked out the window.

Nighttime.

"What time is it?!" he said with some surprise. He looked at his clock.

It was 11:45.

"I set the clock at the right time here," he assured himself. He felt a little insecure. "There's no way he'd want us to start training this early!"

He began to think to himself. "Who could possibly want to wake me up at this hour?" A thought had occurred to him. He cringed. "That better not be Donna or Iris behind me."

A deep, low voice rang out. "Nope."

Sketch's eyes grew wide. The voice was not Kazano's. He grew a little frightened. "W-who's there?" He slowly turned around. The sight made him jump back in shock.

Beside his bed was a tall, red-orange Dragon, about a foot or so taller than he was. The Dragon bore two red wings, two long red-orange horns, two ears that looked like fans, and a small necklace with a ruby on it. A small sharp tooth peeked out underneath each side of the Dragon's mouth.

"No way…" said Sketch in disbelief and fright.

The Dragon approached rather slowly. "Um, hi," the Dragon said, with a small sound of insecurity in his voice. "I suppose we met before…"

Sketch looked down to his bed, where he left his plush dragon. The plush dragon was gone, and in its place was a tall behemoth in its likeness.

Sketch's eyes grew even wider. "You're a for real DRAGON?!" he said in amazement.

The Dragon looked a little nervous after Sketch said this. "Um…yeah," he said hesitantly.

"COOL!"

The Dragon seemed rather surprised to hear such a response. Never had he heard such a reaction to a Dragon's appearance. He blushed.

"I can't believe it!" said Sketch in a state of excitement. "My own plush dragon was a real Dragon in disguise!" He turned to the Dragon. "Who are you? Why did you hide yourself as a plush?"

The Dragon cleared his throat. "My name is Kazuya," he began. "I was made by a young Mage named Oedipus Mikhail. When he was only 7, he had begun reading a spellbook and found a spell that could conjure up a dragon. Sure enough, I was born. I had the ability to hide myself as a small toy since Oedipus wasn't originally supposed to be playing with magic at that age. But we've been good friends."

"Why did you leave him?" asked Sketch. "You seem rather nice!"

"Well, his elders discovered me in my real state, and scolded Oedipus for making me. They tried to get rid of me with their own magic, but I escaped. I never saw him again."

"Shouldn't his elders be gone by now?" asked Sketch.

"It's hard to say," said Kazuya. "A Mage can live for an extensive period of time. Why, if Oedipus is alive now he should be at least…" Kazuya began to add up numbers in his head. "He should be at least 135 years old by now!"

Sketch was stunned. "Whoa. That means you're--"

"Very old," said Kazuya, immediately stopping Sketch from saying a specific number. "But Dragons are immortal. They only die when someone kills them. Mages are different. Their lives are limited, but they don't have a set average lifespan. Oedipus once said of an elder…Merlin, I think he said his name was…that lived over 1000 years!"

"Whoa!" Sketch rubbed his head. "Is that possible for anyone to live that long?"

"Well, of course!" said Kazuya. "Miss Tenko is a Kyubi Kitsune. Those Legends have an average life span of 1000 years. Only a few live longer, but never above 1300."

"Heh. What a life that must be!" Sketch sighed. "Just out of curiosity, how did you get your name, Kazuya?"

"Oedipus wanted me to be a good dragon," Kazuya explained. "Through the years his elders told him of stories of terrible Dragons that menaced the lands of Britain, his home. They have also told him of Dragons known to be sacred and respected in Japan and China. Of course, not all the stories of the Oriental Dragons were too different from the ones in Britain. But keeping the thoughts of the sacred Dragons in the Orient, Oedipus made me, and he gave me an Oriental-sounding name…Kazuya!"

"Odd reason," said Sketch.

"Well, that's what he told me," said Kazuya, who shrugged as he made the comment.

"By the way," said Sketch, "After you escaped, where did you go?"

"Well, I was sad that I would not be able to meet Oedipus for perhaps a very long time, but I didn't want that terrible fact to plague me for the rest of my life. So as a possible means of taking my mind off of my troubles, I began traveling through the world and saw the sights. Often I had to hide so that no one saw me. Sometimes I had to disguise myself as the plush toy to keep from being discovered. But during those trips I learned a heap of interesting things. Call it a transfer school if you must." He smiled.

"But how did you get to my house?" asked Sketch.

"By accident. I was visiting America and looking at how much things had changed over the years. I thought I was about to be discovered so I quickly hid in a nearby toy store and disguised myself. Suddenly I found myself at the checkout counter where your father was about to purchase me as a gift to you."

Sketch laughed. "So you wound up as a present by accident?"

Kazuya nodded. "Yeah. The cashier decided to sum up a suitable price since they weren't able to find a price tag, and the next thing I knew I was in your arms."

"Why didn't you say anything?" asked Sketch.

"I was afraid of revealing myself," said Kazuya. "You know how some folks can be when stuff out of the ordinary happens. I really don't like being the victim of hate. But after all these years, I felt that this was perhaps the most opportune occasion to tell you."

"Ah." Sketch understood. "I suppose this means that you'll probably be going on your way, huh?"

"Not necessarily," said Kazuya. "I've spent a lot of time with you, and I'd feel guilty about revealing myself and leaving. I'd like to perhaps stay a little bit longer before I decide it's time."

"Sounds fair," nodded Sketch.

"I suppose in the meantime I'll continue to be your little plush dragon. But don't say anything to anyone about this, okay?"

"All right," said Sketch.

"Thank you." Kazuya smiled. "Good night then. You have to get your rest!"

Sketch smiled. Kazuya changed back into his plush form, and Sketch was back in bed, holding his old yet new little friend in his arms as he fell into a blissful sleep.