Kaida ignored the aching of her feet as she continued to move forward. She much preferred traveling with Draco, as she didn't have to walk as much, or as fast. Aquila moved quickly with her powerful wings, and rarely gave Kaida time to rest. The bird had to constantly loop around, however, since Kaida was much slower. She was very good at making sure Kaida ate though, and so Kaida was almost never hungry anymore. And yet her heart longed to go back to the purple and black dragon that she had befriended.

"We will stop here,'' Aquila said as she hovered in front of Kaida. Kaida nodded, and flopped down into the tall grass, hiding her from the world. She yawned, and sat back up, looking around. Very faintly, she heard a quiet growl, and turned to look behind her. She saw sad purple eyes in the trees that turned away once Kaida saw them. Kaida watched as the familiar purple and black dragon flew away, leaving Kaida's heart heavy. She brought her knees up to her chest, and hugged them tightly, staring at the ground. She heard Aquila huff, and she looked up at the bird.

"I don't see why you're so sad. He's just a stupid dragon," the eagle insulted. Kaida glared at the bird.

"He's my friend," Kaida growled. "So you better not insult him anymore."

Aquila was silent for a moment, before laughing quietly and shaking her feather head. "You seem to care for him very much. I don't understand why, since he's a danger to you. But if you want me to, I will go get him. If you trust him enough that is."

Kaida nodded and the bird sighed. "Then I will go get him." Aquila paused for a moment, and she tilted her head. "Perhaps you will be more friendly with me then." Her voice was filled with wry amusement.

Kaida watched as the bird flew off, and she waited patiently for the bird to get back. She didn't believe that the bird would get Draco, and so she just sat there, knowing she might never see her friend again. She was about to lay back down when she heard a soft chirp off to her left. She turned to look, and saw a creature she recognized well.

A scorpion... she had seen a few when she went up to her grandparents house, though this one was different than all the ones she had previously seen. it was mainly black, though its stinger and claws were purple. Kaida stood, and stared at the small creature that stood by her foot. She recognized it as the constellation Scorpius, though nearly everyone knew this one due to the zodiac. It moved towards her, and she yelped and moved away.

The scorpion continued to follow her, and she continued to dance around, trying to avoid it. After several minutes of this, the scorpion stopped moving, in which Kaida responded by not moving. As she stared at the creature, a purple mist began swirling around it and in a heartbeat, the arachnid disappeared and in its place stood a tiny humanoid scorpion. It could probably fit on the palm of her hand.

"I'm not going to hurt you,'' a squeaky voice rang through the trees. Kaida kneeled down, and allowed the scorpion to approach her. It was tiny, barely the height of the bottom of her palm to the tip of her middle finger. She gently scooped it up, and it held onto her fingers as she stood up. She smiled at the small humanoid scorpion, who smiled in return, before looking down.

"You don't mind if I change back into my other form? This one is uncomfortable," the tiny creature asked. Kaida shook her head.

"Go ahead," she said. The same purple mist surrounded the creature, and it changed back into a scorpion. Kaida smiled, and gently lifted the scorpion up onto her shoulder, where it gratefully went, and Kaida waited for her guide to come back by sitting on a rock.

She stared around the trees, seeing nothing but different shades of green and brown. She spoke of random things to the scorpion, who listened, but said nothing as a scorpion cannot speak. Eventually, Kaida heard the sound of wings above her, and she looked up to see Aquila leading Draco toward her. She stood and stared at the dragon, who was watching her nervously as he gently landed, not even a leaf shaking to his large paws touching the ground.

She very cautiously went up to him, where he bowed his head, and refused to look her in the eyes. She hesitated before ducking under his head, and hugging his neck. She heard a surprised noise come from the dragon, and she smiled softly.

"I don't blame you for what happened, Draco,'' she murmured as she stepped away, looking into his eyes deeply.

"But I should have had better control of my anger,'' he whispered, looking away from her again. Kaida sighed softly.

"Draco, it's okay. Everyone loses their temper every once in a while," she said.

Draco's head shot up, his eyes burning a fiery purple as his anger with himself came through.

"I tried to kill you, Kaida," he said. "That's not okay. I... I don't think I should be around you if I can't keep control of my temper!"

"But it wasn't just your fault" Kaida whispered, trying to convince the dragon that she didn't blame him. "It was also partially my fault, for pushing you so far!"

Draco opened his mouth to argue, before closing it again as he stared at her in shock.

"You blame yourself?" he asked softly. Kaida lowered her head, and closed her eyes, fighting back tears.

"Aquila says I shouldn't. But how can I believe her when I pushed you to answer a question that you don't even know the answers to? It's partially my fault for causing your anger to finally explode."

Draco was silent for a few moments before he spoke quietly.

"Do not blame yourself, Kaida. You are not at fault. I shouldn't have blown up like I had," he murmured. Kaida shook her head, tears dripping from her eyes as the guilt of making Draco angry finally overflowed.

"Kaida, don't cry,'' Draco whispered, before a purple mist surrounded him, his humanoid form appearing, allowing him to take Kaida into his arms and hug her tightly. She didn't hesitate to wrap her arms around him and return the tight hug, sobbing into Draco's chest.

Draco whispered soothing words to her as he rubbed her back gently. After several moments of them just embracing each other, Kaida finally pulled away from Draco, and wiped her nose on the sleeve of her shirt, which did nothing to help. It felt more like she was scraping her nose against the ground, instead of clearing it of snot. She sniffed a couple times afterwards, trying to keep the mucus from leaving her nose. It didn't help much.

A small chirp from her shoulder reminded her of the little scorpion on her shoulder. She smiled softly as she lifted a hand up to her shoulder. The little scorpion jumped on it, before a purple mist also surrounded it, and the tiny creature took on its humanoid form.

"Are you alright, Kaida?" Scorpius asked. Kaida nodded, and the humanoid scorpion transformed back into its normal form. Draco stared at the scorpion in surprise.

"Scorpius, what are you doing here?" Draco growled softly. The scorpion chirped at the dragon, to which Aquila sighed softly.

"Scorpius, we as constellations may be able to understand each other in our forms, but you might want to transform so Kaida will be able to", the bird said softly.

The scorpion chirped again, but transformed so Kaida would be able to understand him.

"Orion and I are connected since I am the one who caused his death. So I know where he is at all times, and he knows where I am. We can also know each others intentions due to this. Artemis didn't exactly stop that from happening when she had me poison Orion", the scorpion said in annoyance. "But I know that he wishes to protect Kaida, and so I will help him do that because I no longer want to be his enemy."

Draco and Aquila stared at the humanoid scorpion incredulously, and the scorpion squirmed under their scrutinizing. Kaida smiled at the small scorpion.

"Thank you, Scorpius", she murmured. "I trust that you will help me in my travels?" He nodded, and Kaida look back at her dragon friend.

"I think he's good to stay with us", she smiled. Aquila shook her head softly.

"I'll be the judge of that", Aquila said. "Your choice of friends hasn't exactly been the best." She shot a pointed glance at Draco, who looked away in embarrassment. Aquila turned back to the scorpion before shaking her head.

"If you so much as lay a claw on Kaida", she threatened, a motherly tone overtaking her voice. Kaida tilted her head to the side, but opted to ignore the bird's tone. Aquila turned to face the direction they needed to go in. Draco got her message, and transformed.

"Kaida, we must go,'' he rumbled softly, and Kaida nodded, looking to Aquila to answer her next question.

"Are we still going to Cepheus?" Kaida asked. Aquila nodded, and brought herself up into the air. Draco waited for Kaida to get into her normal spot on his back before taking off into the air. Kaida felt something tug on her hair, and noticed that Scorpius was holding on tightly. She smiled softly, before facing forward once more, the wind blowing past her as they moved quickly over the greentops. However, the trees grew more sparse the further north they flew, and soon, they were landing.

Aquila turned to Kaida.

"We're on foot from here,'' she said gravely. "The Queen's palace is not far from here, though I have no doubt she has been watching from her crystal orb."

Kaida nodded, and watched as a purple mist surrounded Aquila and a woman appeared. She was taller than Kaida, and covered with black and purple swirled feathers, especially at the elbows and knees. Her head had feathers coming off it almost like a crown. Kaida gaped at her.

"Woah. You almost look like a queen yourself, Aquila," Kaida complimented. The regal looking woman only glanced at her, before walking forward. Kaida started following, only to jump when a hand touched her shoulder. She saw Draco's humanoid form, and smiled at him. He walked alongside her, and they continued into the now barren valley, a few tree stumps here and there. Kaida couldn't help but feel sad for the trees that used to be here, probably having continued the beautiful forest that they had just left.

As Kaida walked, she quietly hummed a song that her mother used to sing to her when she was afraid. It was a beautiful tune, and Kaida couldn't help but smile at the memories it brought.

"Stop humming," Aquila hissed. Kaida stopped, and that's when she noticed Aquila and Draco looking around nervously. Several centaurs came charging at them from around a rock.

Kaida noticed more about them once they were closer and had stopped moving. They were all decorated with beads or armor in some way and all held spears that glinted dangerously. However, there was one centaur that stood out the most. He was mostly black, and had several purple swirls about his body, as well as small white specks. He stood only a few feet away from Aquila, who was watching him warily. The centaur stood stiff and regal, and Kaida assumed he was the lead centaur.

Kaida was watching the two, but was distracted when Draco growled softly. When Kaida twisted her head to glance back at him, he was standing very close to her, as if he meant to protect her.

Kaida looked back at the centaur, who was staring at the humanoid eagle.

"Centaurus, what do you want?" Aquila snapped. The centaur only smiled softly before stomping one of his hoofs into the ground, and all the centaurs that surrounded them stopped pointing their spears at the small group.

"It is good to see you, Aquila," the black centaur said, stepping forward into the circle, looking at the human that was with them.

Aquila snorted, before smiling. "As it is you, Centaurus. Now, please explain why the Queen's guard has come to us."

"The King wishes to meet with the human girl before she is to face the Queen," Centaurus said. Kaida stepped forward, earning a surprised shout from Draco, and warning glance from Aquila.

"I am glad to be given the opportunity to speak with the King. Perhaps we should go there, instead of waiting for someone to swoop in on this large gathering," Kaida said confidently, surprising everyone around her. Draco was the least surprised, having sensed her confidence hidden deep within her. He had hoped that she would show it before they met with the queen, and it had. Kaida could feel pride radiating off of him, and she fought back the urge to look back at him and smile. Instead, she let her gaze level with the black centaur, cold and unwavering.

After a few moments, the centaur smiled. "Come. We will take you to the castle."

Kaida released a relieved sigh, and turned to Draco, who was grinning at her.

"That took some guts, talking to the head of the royal guard!" Draco grinned. "Even I can't do that without being unable to look him in the eye! Centaurus is one of the best constellations around. He may not be as powerful as me, but he's smart and knows how to take down a dragon."

Kaida smiled, before noticing the centaurs were waiting impatiently for Kaida to start moving.

"Come on,'' she said. "We should get moving. Don't want to keep the king waiting."

Draco nodded, and they started walking through the barren lands. Kaida was sad that there was no life here, and that it had been desolated like this for so long. She wished it would be a beautiful forest once again.

In the distance, she could see something shining the sunlight. As they got closer, Kaida realized it was a large castle. It was beautiful, but it hurt her eyes to look at it due to the sun shining off it so brilliantly. As they approached the gates, Kaida noticed a few centaur guards waiting for them.

Draco leaned down and whispered into Kaida's ear. "Be polite", he whispered. "Even though he doesn't really rule anyone here, he did when we were still in your world, and thus he still sees himself as a king. Be warned: Cassiopeia is much worse than he is."

Kaida tilted her head at this, and wondered what could be so bad about a once king and queen acting as they had before they were placed in The Firmament.