Cody's eyes opened to the sound of footsteps in heavy boots. For a moment, he forgot where he was, but then looked ahead and saw the massive stone fireplace... Right. He remembered now.

Following his arrival at the ranch's front door, Cody had been given a hot bowl of stew, dry clothes borrowed from a ranch hand, and then everyone left him to sleep on the couch and rest while Dr. Parathos headed back out into the snow to check on Chase.

After the brief moment of panic had subsided, Cody groaned and plopped back down onto the pillow. He felt like he'd been hibernating for months, every part of him felt heavy and his mind slumping back and trying to sleep even more.

The footsteps caught his attention again, and he looked through sleepy eyes as Dr. Parathos came down the nearby stairs. Other than the glow of the fireplace, the house was dark and quiet.

"Mornin', Cody..." He greeted, "Sorry if I woke ya."

"No no..." Cody yawned, "...I've been up for a while."

"Uh huh..."

Cody rubbed his eyes, "Mmmm... How long was I asleep?"

"About fifteen hours."

Cody blinked.

"No worries, you obviously needed it."
Dr. Parathos walked over and added another log to the fire, "Chase was worried about you."

"I'm not surprised..." Cody shifted position so that he couldn't lay back down so easily, fingers brushing through his hair. "...How's he doing?"

"Pretty banged up, but he'll be just fine. Got him patched up and left him in Peri's capable talons."

"Peri?"

"The herd's queen. Motherly sort to just about everyone, but especially the little ones."

Cody nodded, so that one dragon was their queen...

The man gestured to Cody's feet, "How's your ankle feeling?"

Cody shifted his foot around- it still hurt, but more from lack of use than anything else. "...Stiff, but better."

"Good..."

Both of them looked to the window, where Cody could see it was still dark outside. "Is it still storming out there?"

"No, thank the stars... Might just be able to clear out to the road if we get out there now."

"Need some help?"

"You're our guest, you shouldn't feel like you need to-"

Cody swung his legs over the side of the couch, testing his ankle for a moment before standing. "I want to help. I can check on Chase while I'm at it."

Dr. Parathos smirked, "Well, alright then... Grab a coat from the closet and I'll find you some boots and gloves."

Cody nodded, going where directed and collecting a coat. Once dressed for the weather, the two stepped out onto the porch, witnessing the tall drifts and thick blanket of snow across the open space. The wind had died down to just a faint whistle, and the snow was only a few flakes tumbling silently from the heavens. "Wow..."

"Pretty, and pretty annoying." Dr. Parathos mumbled, and then started the trek towards the large building with a glowing light over the doors. Through the silence, Cody could hear the hum of life from beyond the barn's doors. "I'm coming, guys! Just hold on!"

He pulled the doors open and the sound of several voices all greeting at once met Cody's ears. Now that he was far less disoriented and cold, Cody could look at the dragons much more closely. They came in just about every color, and in lots of shapes and sizes, but they all greeted the 'keeper' as they were calling him with the same enthusiasm.

"Yeah yeah, morning." The man chuckled, going to some of the stalls and opening them. "We got a lot of snow out there, so you burrowers get to work clearing paths, got it?"

The three dragons, wingless and stocky, nodded and then headed out the door into the snow.

Cody heard more rustling, and looked to see the queen dragon, Peri, getting up in her own stall. He walked over to the door, peering over the side as he saw Chase stirring. His wounds were wrapped and tended to, but as he tried to stretch, he winced and curled up again. "Hey, Chase..."

The officer's eyes opened and he lifted his head from the straw, searching for a second before his eyes focused on the boy. "Cody! Ergh-"

"Whoa whoa, don't get up if it hurts." Cody interrupted as Chase tried to pull himself up from the floor.

"N-No, I got it...!" Chase hissed as he found his footing, "Just stiff..."

Cody then looked to the queen, "Permission to enter?"

Queen Peri giggled, "Of course... Queen or not, I would never keep a dragon from his human."

Cody entered and then wrapped an arm around Chase's neck, pressing his forehead against his scales. "It's okay... I'm safe and sound..."

"Thank Primus...!" Chase whispered, turning his neck enough to nudge Cody's head with his muzzle. "When I saw you were unconscious, I was worried the virus had hurt you."

"I don't really remember much... I remember it grabbing me and then... waking up out there in the snow. Everything else is kind of a murky mess."
Cody leaned against Chase's shoulder, "What about you? Got anything to fill in the blanks?"

Chase sighed, "Yes... We heard you cry out and came to investigate, and then..."
Both of them looked down as they thought about Heatwave, but then Chase spoke again. "...Blades stayed behind to tend to him, while Boulder, Blurr, and I went after you... It knocked Blurr and Boulder off of the road with a missile, but Boulder told me to keep going. I managed to disable the virus enough to get you back from it, but then... then we were grabbed by the Dark Hand."

"Another anomaly?"

Chase shrugged, "Perhaps, but can't confirm... I informed the rest of the team that I had you with me and you were safe, but..."

"Who knows how long it's been since then..." Cody pressed into Chase's shoulder a bit more, "...They're probably running themselves ragged looking for us."

Chase gave a soft whine, nudging Cody with his nose again. "We'll get back, Cody... I swore to protect the people of Griffin Rock... and that especially includes you."

Cody managed a smile, reaching over and wrapping both arms around Chase's neck. "Thanks, Chase..."

"Well, now that you're not fighting off hypothermia and can stand..."
Dr. Parathos walked into the stall, "Mind if I do a little physical check?"

Chase shook his head, and Cody stepped back from him to let the veterinarian get close. "Are you concerned there might be underlying problems?"

"I just like to make sure that all of the dragons in the sanctuary are in good health is all..." He looked to Peri with a mild glare, "And you're next, young lady."

Peri rolled her eyes, "I'm fine, Aaron. Really."

"Hmm. Well, can't take any chances. This is your first pregnancy, after all, and you went out on an unexpected patrol in a blizzard last night."

"Plenty of wilds do the same in my condition-"

"Periphery."

"Alright, alright...!"

"You're expecting?" Chase looked to the other dragon, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Chase..." Peri sighed, looking towards one of the small windows to the outside. "...Now if only we could find the father..."

"Missing?"

"Stolen." Dr. Parathos growled, "A bunch of hooligans broke onto the grounds about a month ago and caused a ruckus. While we were all out trying to calm everybody down and get the ones responsible, they somehow managed to snatch Arson right out from under us. I have a feeling I know who the mastermind was but-"

"Arson...?"
Chase practically felt his hopes rise in his chest. He was a dragon here and now, just like he'd been in his visions, like when he'd heard Arson's voice calling out to him, calling for him to get help. Was this here and now? Was this Arson the same Arson, and his abduction was why he needed Chase's help?

"You know him?" Dr. Parathos asked.

Chase's head drooped a bit, "I...I knew an Arson... He was like an older brother to me and the rest of my team. It might be wrong to assume and hope so quickly that the two are one in the same."

"It wouldn't if you're from Sigma Seventeen."
Cody looked up as Rush appeared at the door, giving the officer a nervous but hopeful smile. "...Hi, Chase... Do you remember me? We... Started at the academy together? Well, we started a lot together-"

Chase's eyes widened, and he moved towards the other dragon slowly. "Whitewater Rush...!"

Rush's smile widened a bit, "It's been a while..."

"Yes... I thought for certain you had-"

"A lot of us are that way, I'm afraid..."
Queen Peri sighed, "...Every so often, we find a lost cybertronian soul wandering these lands as a dragon, unsure of what happened to them or how they came to be here..."

Chase looked back to the queen, "You're Periphery, one of Arson's teammates on Sigma Twelve."

"Correct... and thus Arson is the one and the same."

Cody heard a soft snarl come from Chase before he recollected himself. The boy walked over and patted Chase's shoulder, "We'll find him, Chase. I promise... Might as well while we're here, right?"

Chase looked back at the boy, and then gave a firm nod. "Correct... and then we'll get you home, Cody..."

"First things first." Dr. Parathos responded, "You gotta get back in good shape. You can stand, but you're still wounded, and we don't even have proof of my theory yet, so no rushing off and pulling your stitches."

"Aaron's right, Chase." Rush encouraged, "Let yourself take the time to recover. You don't have to run to the rescue right away this time..."

Chase sighed, carefully settling back down on the floor as Dr. Parathos finished his examination. "Very well..."

"In the meantime, we can catch up and you can meet everyone!" Rush looked off to the side as the red dragon who'd rescued him approached. "You already sorta met Cliffjumper. He was a fighter in the big war that broke out apparently."

Cliffjumper smirked, "Gotta love how you keep saying 'apparently-'"

"Well, we weren't there for it, so-!"

"Just teasin' you, Rush. You'd have made a great warrior, you know."

"Erm... I'll stick to my current regimen of hauling carts, thanks."

"What about you?" Cliffjumper looked back to the pair, "How far did you get? Pretty far if you met a human."

"Oh... we avoided being in the war as well." Chase admitted, "Our ship came under siege by an energon eater and we were forced to shut down the engines. There was no one to wake us after, and then the war began and... we didn't matter to HQ as much."

"Damn... That's rough." Another dragon mumbled.

"We finally were awakened by a message from Optimus Prime, calling all autobots across space to convene on Earth. By then, the war was mostly over. We had no war training and it would have cost valuable resources and time to train us, so my team and I were hidden on Griffin Rock, where we met Cody and served alongside his family as emergency personnel."

Cody smiled, "And they do an amazing job... But enemies were made nonetheless. One of them was the creator of that virus, who wanted to wipe the bots out so he could take over... The virus itself must've figured that the human element the bots had was the key to their success, so it captured me to act as its driver."

"I pursued, but then we encountered a snag and... now we are here." Chase sighed, "What about you?"

"Our story should be told by Arson when he returns." Periphery mumbled, "He remembers it best of the rest of us... Cliff?"

Cliffjumper shook his head, "I let my pride get the best of me... took on too many enemies than I could handle. The others... didn't make to me in time."

"I'm sorry."

The red dragon shook it off, "Eh, it happens to the best of us... I have no doubt they gave 'em what they deserved. I'd better go make sure the burrowers aren't just making tunnels haphazardly."

Dr. Parathos rolled his eyes as the dragon left, and then thumped the door of the stall hard. "I'll bet you guys are hungry. I'll get ya some. Cody, want to lend me a hand?"

"Sure, Aaron..."

______________________________________________

Chase had to wonder if they'd been brought here on purpose.

Merely being taken from their world and thrown into another was one thing, but if Arson and his team had also been brought here, was there a reason? Had that Anomaly sent him and Cody here to help Arson somehow?

The roughness of the hand's grasp when it had taken them suggested not, that it was merely coincidence. Still, it was oddly comforting to know that he wasn't crazy, that perhaps Arson actually had been calling out to him. He evidently had become the head of the dragons on the ranch's grounds, and while he was gone... his queen was in charge.

Chase didn't know Periphery very well, though Arson had spoken highly of her when last they'd seen each other. They must've gotten quite close through this experience if the two were soon going to be parents together.
She seemed kind however, checking in on each of the other dragons while they waited for the humans to return.

Whitewater Rush was another matter. Chase had known her since the very beginning. He still had the memory of bending down over the side of The Well, grasping her hand and helping another newly formed bot haul her up to the top as well. The two of them would have graduated the same vorn if not for some clerical issue causing her to have to retake a whole module of classes, but last he'd heard, she'd been on her way to operating with a team herself. It hadn't been with Sigma Twelve, however, so Chase had to wonder how she also wound up here...

The ranch itself was evidently a rescue sanctuary, inhabited by dragons unable to fend for themselves in the wild. For some it was injuries, others illness and they soon would be able to return, and then there were some, like Chase, who were wandering souls, not raised to endure the wild and would be quite lost out there on their own... Though, that was not to say that a cybertronian couldn't figure it out. Periphery had mentioned that there was a group of dragons out there that they believed was led by a variant of Megatron, though not one out to take over the land. It was a migratory herd, one that would not be seen for several months until they returned in mid-spring.

Chase had been a little concerned when Dr. Parathos had mentioned getting food for the dragons, but only because he had no idea what it might be. He'd ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to determine whether or not he was supposed to be carnivorous, but that sort of thing could probably be a question for Boulder... 

...He hoped Boulder and Blurr were alright. He'd gotten that call from Boulder telling him to keep on chasing after the virus, but had the bulldozer sustained damage? Were he and Blurr able to pull themselves back up onto their pedes to continue following them? What must they have thought when they followed Chase's signal to its last known location and found nothing? Would they even know that they'd left their world?

A nudge from Rush to his side took him out of his thoughts, and he turned to the other dragon. "S-Sorry, did you say something?"

"You're really tense, Chase..." Rush murmured, her brows furrowed with worry. "...You're worried about your brothers, aren't you?"

"Of course I am." Chase sighed, "Heatwave was hurt, Boulder was hurt, and not only can I not contact them to make sure they're alright, but they most likely have no idea where I am or if Cody and I are alright...!"

Rush nudged him again, "...That's how Arson felt when you all went missing..."

"It...was?"

Rush nodded, "He was livid when you guys didn't come back from the Quintessa Quadrant. We all know how dangerous that sector is, and yet they added it to the route of some fresh graduates!?" She shook her head with a soft growl, "There had to be some motive..."

"Heatwave had the same guess, but we have no way of proving it now." Chase sighed, "...We made it through, however. What is past has passed."

Rush nodded, "When he got here, he was frustrated that he couldn't keep looking for you. He said he never would have stopped had he had the chance."

Chase hummed a bit, But if you all hadn't wound up here, then you might've been destroyed with the rest of our world...

He didn't know how much about the Anomalies and their ways that Sigma Twelve knew, he had to keep that to himself for now. For all they knew, this could be nothing more than a result of a space-bridge malfunction. "...What about you? How did you get here?"

Rush shook her head, avoiding making eye contact. "I'd... Rather not discuss it."

"Very well. Periphery said that their story was best told by Arson when he returns."

Rush nodded, "He has more of the details... The rest of them were knocked out for part of it, so he remembers what happened in that amount of time, I guess..." She lowered her voice to a whisper, "...But I do remember there was betrayal involved."
Her head then perked up as they heard the door open, and she peeked out of the stall and down the corridor. She then gasped with a smile, "Score! You got the good stuff!"

"You with your kelp obsession, Rush." Dr. Parathos chuckled, walking over and handing her a rectangular shape. It appeared to be wrapped in kelp, and as she tore off some of the kelp with her teeth, he saw what appeared to be grain of some kind, held together by a sticky substance.

Cody handed one to Chase, "Think you can figure out a granola bar?" He asked.

Chase gave the boy a look, "If I can figure out the pattern to how often we have to save Mr. Harrison from his copter-pack, I think I can figure this out, Cody."

"There's an odd sentence if you don't mind my saying so." Rush mumbled.

Chase pulled the chunk up to his mouth, clamping his teeth down on it a few times before a small chunk broke off. "Griffin Rock is a technological testing ground," He murmured, moving the chunk around in his mouth with his tongue as he tried to find the best way to swallow it. After a minute, he succeeded, though he had a feeling he'd looked quite silly as Rush giggled.

"Right." Cody agreed, "New technology would be sent to our island to be tested in a controlled and isolated environment, so a lot of the rescues we had to deal with were... unusual."

There was a scrabbling sound and some grunting, and then a tiny head of a young dragon- probably half Chase's size- popped up over the top of the wall separating the next stall. "Weirdest one! Was it gross!?"

"River, get down!" His mother scolded, scooping him off of the wall. "Let the poor thing alone for a bit. He's had a rough night."

Chase gave the mother a sympathetic smile, and then bit off another chunk of the grain bar. "We've certainly had a lot of strange occurrences... Hard to choose just one."

Cody leaned back against the wall, "Hmm... I think the craziest one so far has to be the Velgrox."

Another dragon made a gagging sound at the word.

"Velgrox, yuck!" Rush snorted, "Snub-nosed, web-tongued scavengers...!"

"Not to worry, Sigma Seventeen chased them off."

Chase grinned, "Boulder took their navigation system out of their ship so they'd be hopelessly lost once they left."

"Good!" Multiple dragons snapped.

Cody gave a smile back at the officer, "You know what, Chase?"

"What, Cody?"

"...I think we're gonna be just fine here."

Chase nodded back, his smile widening a bit as Rush nudged his shoulder. "Yes... I think we will."