"Akira," Dominique repeated not feeling surprised. It was a common name for girls. It had been ever since the last Rider of Legend had carried the name. "So just Akira? No other title?" Dominique asked. Many people, especially the rich, had titles of some sort, and this girl did look like one of the rich.

"Title?" She asked wrinkling her forehead.

"Yes, title," Dominic stressed the word.

Akira cocked her head. "I guess some people call me Akira, rider of Redemption, the last Rider of Legend, or that's what the villagers always say anyway."

"Good one," Dominique snorted, "The Rider of Legend. Then I'm Nemis, head of the council," he chuckled at his own joke.

Akira looked slightly confused at his reaction, wondering what he was laughing at no doubt. She watched him for a moment before she spoke, "Hello Nemis, it is nice to meet you."

Dominique stopped chuckling to stare at her.

"Now, would you be so kind as to maybe tell me how I got here?" Akira asked softly.

"Uh..." Dominique stared at her, wondering if she had memory loss or something. How could she not know how she got here? She was the one who had sneaked up in him after all. "How am I supposed to know?" He asked.

Akira shrugged, looking even more confused. "I don't know. I just thought that since one moment I was chasing the last of Haiden's forces and the next moment there's a white flash and I'm here, standing with you, you would have a clue."

Haiden? Dominique blinked. Was she still going on about this Rider of Legend thing? Boy, she wasn't one to give in easily. Maybe she wasn't quite right in the head and that was it. His eyes widened as another thought came to him. Maybe, maybe this was a trick from the council, maybe they had sent her! Explanations raced through his head but Dominique quickly decided that the best thing to do was to play along.

"Haiden's forces huh?" He asked trying to look like he believed her. "Well, where exactly where you chasing them?"

"At the third Academy, they were taking refuge there and planned to re-group," Akira replied without hesitation.

Dominique had indeed heard the story of the chase from the third Academy. There were five altogether, but it had been at the third that Haiden's last forces had gathered to try and re-group. He examined Akira to find that nothing in her face showed that she was lying.

"Boy, your good," Dominique muttered. Yet almost everyone knew the story of the Rider of Legend and if this girl was sent from the council then he couldn't let his guard down. How she had found him though he didn't know.

"Well, I'm sure you had them running," he said, racking his brain for any ideas of how to leave this girl here and get away.

Akira didn't reply, her forehead wrinkled as she looked around the clearing.

"Wait a moment," she murmured. "I know this place," frowning she glanced around. "No way, not possible. The clearing is too small," she muttered, and yet she looked hesitant about something. Suddenly she turned and began to run towards the trees.

Dominique watched her in confusion. What was her problem? If she was from the council why was she running from him?

"Hey!" He called after her. Yet she didn't stop. He watched her disappear into the trees and realized that this was his chance to leave. This was the chance he had been looking for. And yet something made him stay. What if she wasn't from the council but just some lost girl? Sure, she seemed a bit...well weird, but he couldn't just let her go running around in the forest and risk her getting hurt. But what if for him to follow was just what she wanted and this was all a trap?

"Akira!" Dominique yelled into the direction she had disappeared in. When he got no reply he swore before bounding after her. He had no idea where she had gone, and so when he entered the thick woods he walked blindly.

"Hey!" He was hoping for an answer, yet he got none. Sighing he trudged on. Great, this day couldn't get any better. First he managed to steal the sword of the Rider of Legend, got away from Watcher's, returned back to camp only to find that they were moving, and then came out here, met a weird girl who claimed to be the Rider of Legend, and then got lost in the woods. Dominique frowned as he remembered the white scabbard the girl had had.

His eyes widened and he swore again. She had the sword! He couldn't let her go, no way, not after what he had risked to get a hold of it! How had she gotten it from him anyway? Maybe during the freak wind and light thing...it didn't matter, all that did was that she had the sword. The council probably sent her to steal it back from him.

Letting out a snort of frustration Dominique increased his pace when suddenly the trees thinned and he stumbled into a clearing. Some distance away, stood Akira, standing as still as a statue as she stared at something.

"Hey!" Dominique shouted angrily as he walked up to her. "You have something that belongs to..." he trailed off as he reached her side and found himself staring at a small waterfall that fell into a clear pool out of which flowed a bubbling stream that disappeared into the woods.

"How the...?" Dominique began, not believing what he saw. He had come to the clearing all those years and had never known about this place that was so close by, so how did the girl?

"This isn't right," Akira murmured staring from the pool to the waterfall. "The pool is too deep, it's also wider. The waterfall is too far back." She looked at the trees around her, "There weren't this many...it's too overgrown, the area was bigger. It's all wrong."

She turned abruptly to face Dominique. "Where am I?" She whispered looking so scared and vulnerable that Dominique felt the sudden urge to go to her and put a comforting arm about her. He stayed where he was, scolding himself inwardly. He didn't even know this girl, so why was he feeling like this?

Instead he opted to answer the question. "Um, well to be exact we are just past halfway from the mountains to Academy City, at least I think tha–"

"Academy City?" Akira stared at him. "What are you talking about? There is no city at the Academy!"

"Um," Dominique stared at her. "Yes there is, at least the last time I checked there was."

"Since when?" Akira whispered as something that Dominique couldn't read flashing through her eyes.

"What is this? A History quiz?"  Dominique muttered.

"Please," Akira spoke, still in a whisper.

Something in her voice made Dominique give way and answer, "I think it was founded around seventy years after the legend was fulfilled. So that's around four hundred and ten years ago...I think."

"Four hundred and ten years ago," he saw Akira mouth the words as her face went pale and she began to sway.

"Hey, are you okay?" Dominique took a step forward, his hand reaching out ready to stop her if she fell.

Akira looked up at him, her eyes panicked. "I think..." she began. She shook her head. "No, it's not possible..."

"What?" Dominique asked.

"I...I think I traveled through time," Akira's eyes met his and Dominique. "About five hundred years into the future to be exact."

Dominique stared at her, shock running through him. Was this girl serious? Did she really believe that? And yet something in her face, something about how shocked and sincere she looked, almost had him convinced, almost.

"Uh, sorry to ask this, but are you on any medication?" Dominique asked.

Akira stared at him. "You don't believe me!" Realization filled her.

"Time travel?" Dominique raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, but it's kind of farfetched," he snorted. "I mean, come on, couldn't the council have thought of a better story for you, I mean something realistic at least. How stupid do they think that I a–"

"The council?" Akira's eyes widened, "Do they have something to do with this?"

Dominique narrowed his eyes as he analyzed her.

"Maybe they can help..." Akira murmured.

"Trust me," Dominique laughed bitterly. "The council is the last place you want to go if you're looking for help."

Akira wasn't listening. "How is it possible?" she muttered. "But if I'm here, then where is everyone else?" She shook her head, seeming to think of the answer and yet not wanting to accept it.

"Um, sorry to interrupt and all," Dominique spoke. "But, um, could I have my sword back?"

Akira stopped muttering to stare at him. "Your sword?" She asked, confusion on her face.

Dominique nodded at the white scabbard that hung from her side and Akira's gaze drifted down to it.

"But it's mine," she said raising her eyes to meet Dominique's.

"Yah, well, putting aside the whole time travel story and all, the sword is actually mine. Well technically anyway," Dominic told her.

"Brandon gave it to me before my first battle," Akira replied.

"Well I just risked my hide this morning to get it from the council," Dominique replied.

"But I've had it with me the whole time. How can the council have had it?" Akira asked looking totally confused.

Dominique rolled his eyes. Did this girl not know anything? "The council had it okay? Now can I have it back please?" He asked getting impatient. No matter how pretty, this girl wasn't keeping his prize from him.

"I can't give you something that's not yours," Akira told him firmly.

Dominique let out a sigh of frustration. If this girl wasn't going to give the sword up without a fight then fine. "You had to do this the hard way," Dominique muttered as he pulled the tube from his pocket. "Give me the sword," he demanded.

Akira eyed the tube. "No," she told him, just as firmly as before.

"Wrong answer," Dominique pressed the button on the tube turning it into a pole. He watched the Akira's eyes widen before something like fascination crossed her face, yet as quickly as it had come it was gone. As he twirled the pole he watched Akira's eyes narrow.

"Hand it over," Dominic tried again.

Akira didn't reply. Her eyes glued to the pole.

Dominique sighed before he suddenly sprang forward, whirling his pole around and aiming it for Akira's chest. He planned to knock the wind out of her, stun her so that he could take the sword back. Yet when his rod came to the place he aimed it at the spot was suddenly empty. Dominique glanced up in surprise to see that Akira had neatly sprung out of the way.

"What are you doing?" She asked looking stunned and alarmed at the same time.

"I want that sword," was Dominique's reply as he re-adjusted his grip on his rod.

Akira looked down at the sword that hung by her side and then back at Dominique. Something that looked a lot like regret, flashed across her face. Dominique watched as her hand moved to the hilt of the sword. He watched her grip it and smoothly pull it from its scabbard. She looked over the blade, as if examining it.

For a moment Dominique thought she had given in and was about to give it him, but then she suddenly adjusted her stance and put one leg behind her, bending her knees slightly and moving into a defensive position. She raised the sword and pointed its tip at Dominique.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot just give you my sword. It belongs to me, it is my duty to carry it as long as I live, to help me bring about peace and prosperity," Akira said in a low voice, her entire body tensing, as though waiting for Dominique to make the next move.

"Peace and prosperity huh?" Dominique asked. "That's a good one. Nice speech, but I hate to break it to you girl. I stole the sword and so now it belongs to me!"

"You stole it?" Akira asked in a disbelieving voice.

"Long story," was Dominique's reply seconds before he lunged again. He was surprised to find the pole blocked in the middle of his onslaught. Akira had raised her sword at the last second, stopping to pole from ramming into her chest. As pole and sword collide there was a shower of sparks.

Dominique felt unsettled as he realized that Akira seemed to know how to use the sword. Maybe he had underestimated her. He stared at her over the pole, surprised to see her blue eyes flashing with anger, anger at him. His eyes trailed down to her sword and he sucked in his breath when he saw that both the dragon and the writing on it were glowing.

"How–?" he never got to finish as Akira suddenly pushed back, sending him stumbling backwards. Yet instead of attacking she just re-adjusted her position again, holding her sword out with one hand while raising the other, watching him.

Dominique re-gained his balance and paused to stare at Akira in a new light. He realized that this was no ordinary opponent. No, this girl knew how to fight.

"Alright," he murmured as adrenalin filled him. A familiar smile touched his lips. "No more going easy then, let's see what you've got," with that he lunged forward. Feigning a blow to Akira's head but going for her feet at the last moment.

Yet he was surprised once again as Akira anticipated this move and jumped over his pole, denying him the satisfaction of sweeping her of her feet. She sprang back right after that, again waiting for Dominique and making no move to attack.

"I'd advise you to stop," she told him her voice cold.

"And give up my prize?" Dominique asked mockingly as he untied the cloak he wore and tossed it to the side. "Now why ever would I do that?" He lunged again, aiming for Akira's neck. She brought her sword up and easily blocked his blow.

Gritting his teeth in frustration Dominique began to rain down blow after blow, getting more and more frustrated as Akira blocked each one. To Dominique it was no longer a fight for possession of the sword but merely one in which he wanted to beat Akira. Yet in the process Dominique couldn't help but notice how Akira held the sword so perfectly. When he had held it, it had seemed unbalanced, useless, and now in her hands it looked exactly the opposite. She moved it, wielding it perfectly, gracefully twisting her body when needed. She moved as though she and the sword were one. And not once did she make a move to attack.

Dominique pushed her back, all the way to the edge of the pool, until its water lapped against Akira's boots. That was when things went wrong for him.

"Enough!" Akira growled as she defended yet another blow.

Dominique took a step back and watched as she thrust her hand out, as if it would do something for her. Yet when nothing happened surprise filled her eyes, a moment later it was replaced with realization. "Of course," she muttered, "If we are separated by time I'm too far away from him."

Shaking his head Dominique wondered what it would take for this girl to realize the truth. Besides, what was with the hand thing? What was she trying to do? Wish him away?

"If you're trying to magically make me disappear, it's not working," he mocked, a grin on his face.

Akira glared at him. "Now why would I ever want to do that?" She asked sweetly, something flashing in her eyes.

Before Dominique could react she sprang forward and swung her sword. At the last moment he managed to raise his pole, surprised at the shock of the blow. Dominique did not have time to think it over as Akira attacked again, pushing him backwards as she herself made her way away from the pool.

She reined blow after blow, so fast that Dominique barely had time to react. He didn't know how, but this girl was easily his equal. If he didn't know any better he would even say that she was better. Yet how was it that she was so good? Especially with a sword, a weapon that was outdated and not used anymore? Maybe there was something to her story...No! He couldn't start thinking like that. There was no such thing as time travel! The Rider of Legend and dragon had died years ago. Besides, how could this girl be the great Rider of Legend? In the story she was older.

Sweat trickled down his back and Dominique suddenly wondered why on earth he had decided to attack the girl. Akira pushed him back to the line of trees when she raised her sword once again. Dominique raised his pole and blocked her blow, pleased at the fact that he had managed to do so, when he felt her foot connect with his stomach. Gasping as the air was knocked from his lungs he stumbled backwards.  Before he could recover Akira moved, faster than what Dominique thought possible. She crouched, stuck out her leg and swiped it at his legs, striking them and ultimately sweeping him off his feet.

Disbelief filled Dominique as he flew through the air and then hit the ground hard, landing on his back. Stunned he didn't move and Akira kicked the pole from his hands before she stood over him, the tip of her sword pointed at his throat.

Dominique stared up at her. No one, much less a girl, had ever beaten him in a one on one fight before, that was not counting Ray. And yet, this girl had landed him flat on his back. He felt admiration rush through him as he realized that she sure could fight, and yet at the same time he felt anger at getting bested by a girl.

"Look," Akira glared down at him. "I just want to know how I got here and what exactly is going on!" She removed the sword from his throat and sheathed it. "I'm tired, and I'll admit scared. I just want to find Redemption and go back home!"

Dominique tried not to show his frustration at the fact that the girl continued to stick to her absurd story. "I'm sorry to break it to you, honey" he said sarcastically, "But Redemption and the Rider of Legend died almost five hundred years ago. Even their bones would have turned to dust by now. There's nothing left. They do not exist anymore!"

Akira's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "If I traveled through time then Ree would have too!"

Dominique gritted his teeth in frustration. "Wake up girl. You didn't travel through time!" He yelled.

Akira took a step back, looking shocked.  Dominique took the opportunity to get up and grab his pole from the floor. He turned it back to its tube form and put it away, strapping it to his side, before he snatched his cloak from the ground and put it back on. Then he turned to face Akira once again.

"There. Is. No. Such. Thing. As. Time. Travel!" He stressed each word, trying to get the point across. "You're just...confused. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for this all! Maybe you hit your head or something."

Akira stared at him. "Then how did I end up here?" She asked.

"I don't know," Dominique told her, "But until we find out I think its best you come along with me. If you're not with the council then you're one of us."

"One of who?"

"The Resistance," Dominique replied patiently.

"The Resistance," Akira repeated. She shook her head. "What on earth have I gotten into this time Ree?" She murmured.

Dominique ignored the last part, pretending that he hadn't heard it. This girl needed some serious help, and since he was the one who found her he might as well see if he could find her some.

"Come on," he grabbed her hand, surprised at how soft the touch of the glove she had on felt. "Let's go." She didn't resist as he pulled her along, back towards the clearing. At the same time he found Breeze's mind, asking him to come and get him. He didn't know what was going on but right now he felt that the best thing to do was head to the second hideout and take Akira along. Maybe Ray would have some idea as to who she was. Maybe they could find her family, or whoever looked after her, and get this mess sorted out.

"But what if you find no family?" Dominique tried to ignore the thought. "What if she's telling the truth?" He snorted as the thought joined the other. Yeah right. The Rider of Legend, time traveling to his time? He could think of nothing more absurd.