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The three girls catch up and look up at the mountains.
"Oh you don't wanna go up there. Ruby Dragons have been spotted in that area," Mioko says, shouldering her shurikin.
Rina looks terrified at the thought, though Mioko seems almost intrigued at the thought of possibly fighting the extremely powerful creature.

"Let's do it!!" Mioko says in a sudden burst of excitement.
Rina catches Blank's look, and gives a tiny smile, appreciating his concern. She looks back to Mioko, and then to Aki, who also looks slightly eager to fight a Ruby Dragon.
"We should go. I shall do my best to keep you all alive," Rina says, determination in her un-encouraging words.
Mioko jumps up and down in excitement and starts heading towards the mountains. Aki laughs and takes Rina's hand, following their friend. She smiles at Blank, knowing he would be excited too.

Mioko leads them up a steep, rough trail and high up into the mountain. She actually seems to know exactly where to go, and she picks her way over the dangerous terrain expertly.
"Uh, Mimi? Have you been here before?" Aki asks, curious about her friends random knowledge of the area.
Mioko laughs and grins sheepishly at her friend.
"Well, yeah. Manami and I explored the area a few times. We heard the rumors about Rubies and wanted to investigate. See that small plateau over there? There's a cave and a Dragon lives in it. We only peeked but it's definitely there. There are probably more higher in the mountains, but that was as far up as we could get without killing ourselves," Mioko explains as she leads them forward.
They walk for about 20 minutes up the steep, crumbling trail, until they finally reach the plateau. Mioko peeks over the edge for an instant, then climbs up quietly. She helps her companions up and crouches in the shade of the mountain.
"Everyone ready?" she whispers, glancing towards the cave which was about 30 feet away.

"Mmmhmm. As soon as we get close enough for it to hear us it will probably come out of the cave and we can fight it on the plateau. You guys need to make any preperations?" Mioko says.
Rina holds up a finger, indicating them to wait, and casts a haste spell, and then both a protect and a shell spell on all of them.
"I'm ready," she says, her voice trembling.
"I'm ready too," Aki says, reaching over and squeezing Blank's hand.

Mioko stands, followed by her friends, and they make their way across the open space. Rina stays fairly far behind the rest of them, getting ready to cast her defensive spells. Aki and Mioko stay right at the front. Mioko calls out to attract the Dragon, and they hear a rumbling from inside the cave. Suddenly the Dragon comes stomping out, snorting angrily at the group.
Mioko attacks immediately, hurling her shurikin at the dragon. It takes the full hit, though with it's hard scales it barely feels the sting of her weapon. She catches it and charges.
Aki charges at full speed, and leaps into the air in her familiar fashion. She brings her sword down with a great clash, and the dragon roars in anger. It hardly registered her attack either, and retaliates by swinging it's huge, think tail at Aki. She dodges, but it still manages to catch her leg, knocking Aki to the ground with a thud.

Aki groans in pain, but quickly jumps to her feet. She casts a thundaga spell at the dragon, and it roars as the electricity shocks it's body. Mioko follows Blank and Aki's lead, and casts a holy spell at the raging dragon.
The Ruby Dragon rears its head and breathes out a wall of fire, which is somewhat lessened by Rina's shell spell, but burns nonetheless. It then casts reflect upon itself, but this is quickly remedied by a dispel cast by Rina.
Aki charges again, trying to get under the dragon to attack its softer belly. She dodges its first claw and manages a good hit on the beast before its other front claw catches her across the stomach. It hits Aki straight on and sends her flying backwards into the mountain side. She lays silent for a minute or two, then groans in pain as she regains consciousness.
Mioko sees her friend fall and charges in anger. She casts another holy spell, then slashes her shurikin across its belly, causing it to roar in pain. The dragon then takes another breath and hits Mioko with the full force of its fire. She too is flung backwards, but towards the cliffs edge. She thankfully lands a few feet short of the cliff, and she staggers back to her feet.
Rina, who had been silently watching from the shadows, casts a blizzard spell at the dragon, though it doesn't seem to effect it too much.
"Use thunder or holy! Those are it's weaknesses!" Mioko cries, readying herself to charge again.

Aki is silent for a moment after Blank speaks to her.
"...Yeah. Just get it," she says through clenched teeth, still laying on the ground clutching at her stomach. She listens as he re-joins the battle, then pulls her hand away from her wound. Her shirt was torn bad, and there were three large gashes across her abdomen that were bleeding pretty heavily. She brings her hand up and looks at it, and frowns as she sees it was covered in blood. She starts to feel a little light headed, then remembers that her arm had never gotten healed before the battle.

Mioko charges the dragon, then leaps high into the air. She tosses her shurikin upwards and casts holy on her weapon. It falls toward the dragon as a blur of light through the sky, then strikes it hard. The dragon rears its head as it takes heavy physical and magical damage. Mioko grins as she lands, and catches her shurikin as it flies back toward her.
Rina heeds her friends advice and casts a holy spell at the dragon, her power much greater than her friends. The dragon roars, and catches a charging Mioko with a swing of its head. She is knocked in the chest by its horns and lets out a cry of pain as she is flung backwards. She instantly gets back up however, and charges again.

's**t... I've lost a lot of blood...' Aki thinks, as she struggles to get to her feet. She keeps one hand clutched to her stomach, and grabs her sword with the other. She manages to stand and turns in time to see Mioko flung aside by the dragon's horn. Aki casts another thundaga spell, and staggers towards the beast, her sword at the ready.

Aki stumbles no more than a few steps before she collapses. She gives a small moan of pain and attempts to stand again, but Blank's arrival stops her. She lays her hand on his chest and gives him a weak push.
"Kill it first, heal up later. That thing will rip us all apart if we don't get to it first; you don't have time to worry about me now!! Please, don't leave Mioko out there alone..." she says, anger also seeming to creep into her voice.
She reaches around Blank and casts another powerful thundaga spell, then attempts to stand again.
Rina catches their heated words and turns her attention to the couple. She sees Aki covered in blood and hardly able to stand, and her eyes grow wide. She instantly casts a curaga spell on her friend, which mostly closes the wounds and stops her bleeding. But Aki still felt weak from the blood loss, and her legs give out from under her once more.
Mioko notices Blank run to Aki and frowns. She was concerned about her friend too, but they would be no help to her dead, and their opponent certainly wasn't going to give them a chance to check up on fallen comrades. She rushes forward again with renewed vigor, and dodges its mouth as it attempts to bite her. She rolls under its head and between its front legs, and then brings the point of her shurikin into its soft underbelly before jerking it upwards toward it's throat. The dragon roars in agony as it begins to bleed profusely. Mioko rolls out of the way, casting a holy spell towards its gaping wound.
"Blank!! Help me finish it!" she yells, charging at the rampaging dragon.