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Robin rolled his shoulders, cracking his neck as he tried to shake off the slight discomfort. “That kinda felt like the first time I went into a barrier, nostalgic but not exactly in a good way,” he griped.

John hummed in response. Looking up intending to check on everyone else, he was too late spotting Violet sway before she began to fall. To his surprise, Alison reacted quickly, stepping into Violet's path. Unfortunately, the moss-headed saviour hadn't compensated and lost her balance, causing the both of them to tumble into Robin.

Robin, more sure-footed, caught both girls and steadied them. "Whoa, you two okay?" he asked with a light chuckle.

John was by their side before either could answer. With the back of his fingers, he brushed Alison's hair out of her face and asked, "Are you alright?"

Alison, blushing, nodded with a shy smile. John gave her reddened cheek a light kiss, before scooping Violet out of their grip into a princess carry, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck.

Violet somehow looked paler than usual. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Do you need something to eat or drink? Should I loosen your top to make it easier for you to breathe? Or find a doctor or something? Are there even doctors for ghosts?" John fussed, worried the gate affected her unexpectedly due to being a spirit.

Forcing a smile, Violet nuzzled into him, shaking her head. "I'm fine, really... Can I just stay in your arms until the world stops spinning?" she asked.

Feeling less panicked, John sighed and a slight smile formed before he kissed Vi on the forehead. "Take as much time as you need," he replied. Looking around he asked, "How is everyone else feeling?"

Robin nodded. "Yeah, fine, thanks. Been a while since I felt queasy from something like that."

Ellie leaned into John’s shoulder, her fingers lightly brushing through Vi’s hair to comfort her. “Each time is easier, so I’m fine,” she murmured softly.

“I’m o-okay, just a l-little d-d-dizzy,” Alison reassured John, pulling his focus back to her.

Noticing Robin’s lingering hands on her shoulders, John’s expression hardened and he straightened up, locking eyes with the other guy. “Hey, you want to keep to yourself, eh, chief?”

The sudden aggression shocked the girls, their expressions shifting to concern, while the guys engaged in a tense stare-down.

Alison opened her mouth to defuse the situation, but her words were drowned out by Robin and John’s loud laughter, which released the built-up tension among everyone else.

Gently pushing Alison back, Robin met her gaze with a warm grin. “Feeling steady on your own now?”

Blushing, Alison nodded in response, prompting Robin to give her shoulders a light squeeze before releasing her. “So, little John, what are we doing first?” he asked, his tone light.

“Master!” a melodious voice echoed from above, catching John’s attention. He looked up to find a mesmerising sight: a feminine figure descending gracefully on wings resembling sunset-hued cirrus clouds.

John was distracted for a second by Violet who had vanished from his arms but had moved to hug him from behind again, rubbing her cheek against his. “Hope you don’t mind if I hitch a piggy back ride,” she whispered.

He nodded then turned his attention to the flying woman again as she alighted in front of him, her cloud-like wings gently dissipating as she touched the ground. John expected to see one of the kobolds, but though bearing dragon-like traits, this girl was unlike any of the kobolds they’d left behind.

Her form was lithe, with a smooth pale complexion resembling marble. Coral-pink accents adorned her sail-like features on her tail, the tips of her long pointed ears and her delicate short snout, and her entire horns, reminding John of an axolotl.

Curiously, she wore black jeans with a belt, while a bandage wrap bound her modest chest. She was short, roughly around one-thirty centimetres, making her a head or so taller than Skye or Terra.

Before John could extend a greeting, the ground rumbled beneath his feet, diverting his attention once again. Just outside the stone circle of the Cullis Gate, the earth swelled, announcing the emergence of another figure. Unlike the amphibian-like girl who’d appeared moments earlier, this newcomer had a more reptilian snake-like visage.

She too was female, standing at a similar height to the previous arrival but with a resemblance to a humanoid spiny bush viper. Her face lacked any semblance of a snout or nose, while sparse patches of sharp spines adorned her joints, legs, and arms.

It was her thick, spiked tail which drew John’s attention, likening her to the snake, every inch of it was adorned by sharp spines. Her spikes had a clear effect on her clothing, her rather modern-looking white shorts with a yellow stripe flanking her hips and yellow tank top both showed clear wear and tear, some holes even having spikes protruding.

“Skye! You promised you’d wait for me!” the spiky olive-green lizard girl complained, before turning to John. Though her head faced him, her glazed green eyes seemed to look through him, giving him a tingle of déjà vu. “Master, welcome back. We’ve been waiting for your return.”

John found himself bewildered, a puzzled glance darting between the two new women. “Skye?” he echoed, his gaze settling on the pale girl. Despite her blue eyes being directed in his direction, a fog clouded them in a similar manner to the other girl’s.

“I’m sorry for not reintroducing myself sooner, master. With our change in appearance, it should have been the first thing I’d done, though someone didn’t give me the chance. All of the kobolds have… What did Dewdrop call it? Meta-, met- we’ve all changed. The kobolds have become drakelings, while Terra and I are now greater drakelings,” Skye clarified.

John blinked, taking a moment to do mental gymnastics with the new information he’d been given. He took a breath and **** a smile. “Well… I suppose that’s no stranger than my faerie wife turning out to be a dragon,” he muttered, before returning his attention to the two girls. “But what exactly are drakelings?”

Terra and Skye exchanged glances, though the serpentine girl seemed more confused, shrugging before whispering, ”-Did you listen to what Dewdrop said? I have no idea how to answer that… More importantly though… do you think master approves of our new appearances? I mean, I even grew breasts and he likes those, right?-”

John tried to give them his attention but could hear whisperings from Ellie explaining to Alison about Terra speaking in draconic, noting that John could understand and speak the language. Rubbing the back of his neck, John made an effort to focus on the drakelings.

Skye’s thin lips pursed before she shushed Terra. Taking a deep breath, she gazed back at John. “The others have become a little frantic after hearing of your return. I think our conversation would be quieter if we took a walk along the lake shore. That way everyone should have time to calm down,” she suggested, taking John’s hand in hers without waiting for a reply and guiding them out of the Cullis Gate towards the water.

Terra quickly flanked him, linking her arm with John’s. He looked back, Ellie and Robin both seemed amused, while Alison’s cheeks puffed up a little, blushing profusely when she realised John noticed her hint of jealousy.

Once the group was gathered, with Vi remaining on John’s back, Skye began her explanation, projecting her voice, “Drakelings… are basically an entirely different species from kobold, and we owe our change to your presence as our master. The change was caused by our draconic blood being awakened.”

“Yeah! So we’re all way more unique from each other now. Some of us have similarities like eight of us have human-like bodies. Lizzy and I have the most human faces, though Sindra might be in the same boat, depending on if her skull is detachable or not… From what I’ve seen, she has a human lower face underneath it,” Terra chimed in enthusiastically.

Skye nodded and continued, “Yes, There are four of us who still resemble kobolds, though they’re still much more unique than before. Some have even become more beast-like, though you’ll have the pleasure of meeting them soon.”

John had noticed two pools further down the beach, but now they were close enough for him to get a better look. Neither of them was natural, that was obvious because of the wooden-clad walls. The first John was able to see inside, he noticed it was a fish trap. Fishes could swim in easily but had difficulty finding an exit.

The second pool was lush with plant life, covered in a layer of green, hair-like strands of vegetation. Cattails stood tall on the far edge of the pool, and a large lily pad floated on the water’s calm surface.

John hadn’t noticed the boulder beside the pools until they were approaching and it turned to look at them. What he’d assumed was a rock was actually a humanoid turtle, busy whittling a chunk of driftwood.

“Terra, Skye,” the turtle greeted in a gravelly voice, nodding at them. It then made eye contact with John, and its leathery brow raised. “Master, it’s a happy. Glad to see you. Can I help you at anything?”

“Sheldon, you mixed up some words again, you should say ‘it’s a pleasure’ and ‘can I help you with anything’, but you’re doing great,” Terra reassured, smiling at the turtle.

Sheldon nodded and hummed, then turned to one of the pools and called out, “Ysera -sweetie, we have guests. Master has returned.-”

A deep rumble emanated from beneath the water, causing ripples to spread across the surface and disturbing the submerged plant life. Gradually, the pool calmed, and everything became still once more, making it apparent that the group was not going to have a face-to-face introduction.

“Is she still getting used to her new size and being underwater?” Skye asked, tilting her head thoughtfully.

Sheldon hummed and nodded slowly. “We found a underwater tunnel, but she got stuck and scared. So she been napping since,” he explained.

“Maybe it would be easier trying to get used to one thing at a time. Tell her to spend some time on land so she can focus on adjusting to her size, and then she can get back in the water,” Terra suggested.

Sheldon nodded again. “I told her the same, but she not listen. Always want to do everything at once, but does not have the energy,” he explained.

John craned his neck, trying to spot the newly evolved drakeling. “You said she got bigger? The pool isn’t all that big. Is it really deep? Or is she hiding in the plants?” he asked.

“Oh, master, that is Ysera. She’s a little smaller than the pool, but she has plant-like camouflage. The pretty lily you can see is actually the tip of her tail,” Skye explained. “Well, I hope you don’t mind our visit being short. We have more things to do and reintroductions and introductions to make.”

Sheldon slowly stood. John was surprised that he was still taller than the turtle. He gave the group a nod before picking up a primitive weapon, halfway between a spear and short sword. Once armed, the giant turtle began to wade through the shallows into deeper water.

“Let’s head back and get you introduced, shall we?” Terra asked, pulling John back in the direction they’d come from.

As they began walking back, Ellie stopped to pull off her shoes and socks, which prompted the rest of the group to do the same. They all enjoyed the warmth of the sand beneath their feet. “W-why i-is the sand b-black?” Alison asked, looking to John for answers.

John, Ellie and Violet all started to respond at once and laughed. Violet and Ellie gestured for John to continue so he cleared his throat. “It’s because some of these mountains are volcanic. It’s probably mostly eroded basalt.”

Vi and Ellie nodded in agreement, and the spirit added, “There’s probably magnetite too. Ooh, I wonder if we might find any obsidian sea glass? Do you think the drakelings would make weapons from it?”

Terra perked up, looking at the spirit. “What’s ob-sid-ian?”

“It’s a type of black glass formed in volcanos,” Ellie answered quickly. John and Robin chuckled, assuming Ellie wanted to sound smart too.

Terra’s eyes lit up and she turned to the other drakeling. “Oh, Skye, I think they’re talking about night stone. We’ve made weapons from it before, but the… I think the faeries called it luminite? Had magic making it more suitable for weapons,” she explained.

The group nodded and agreed as they passed the Cullis Gate and continued walking along the shore. Vi floated over to Robin, whispering something to him, causing him to nod and whisper back.

Violet turned to the group with a broad smile. “Quick break,” she declared.

John was quickly swept up into an impromptu photoshoot in front of the lake with the girls. The dark sand, teal crystal water, and beautiful mountain backdrop created a stunning photogenic scene that John couldn’t argue against.

Ellie and Violet took charge, directing everyone enthusiastically. They all surrounded John, who couldn’t help smiling like an idiot at their excitement. After taking numerous group photos with the girls, Robin and the drakelings, who were kind enough to take some pictures, Violet suggested they take individual pictures with John.

Ellie was first. John draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling her close, and leaned his head against hers. After a few pictures, John kissed her, only to hear the shutter click from two cameras.

Turning, he saw Robin chuckling with the phone in his hand. John’s brow furrowed when he looked at Violet. ’Isn’t that? It is! That’s the old phone that went missing from the junk drawer. I looked all over for that,’ he thought, then he mentally shrugged realising it was probably one of the few forms of entertainment she had.

Next was Violet. She quickly hugged him from behind and Robin took a few pictures for them. Vi kissed him on the cheek before whispering, “Does this count as a first date? This has been so much fun!”

Smiling, John turned and cupped Vi’s cheek, kissing her on the lips. More shutter clicks followed and John waved his arm at them dismissively before they separated, both laughing.

Violet floated off laughing, before pushing Robin to get in on the pictures. It was the first time they’d gotten to act like typical guys and it was a moment which made the girls all smile, though they did get a little worried when the boys started getting their powers involved in their antics. Eventually, it was Alison’s turn.

John gently pulled Alison in front of him, wrapping his arms around her upper chest. She sighed, letting her head fall back, resting on his chest and shoulder. Robin took several pictures, then John decided to mix things up. He suddenly scooped the girl up in his arms, causing her to yelp and giggle.

To steady herself, Alison quickly wrapped her arms around John’s neck, their gazes locking. A scarlet hue flooded her cheeks, a shy smile creeping onto her face.

John’s grin widened as he leaned in, pressing his lips against hers in a tender kiss, a chorus of playful calls and whistles echoed in the background before he gently set Alison back on the sand.

As they stood by the tranquil lake, Alison’s embrace lingered, their bodies close. John’s hands brushed down Alison’s sides, resting on her waist, and this time, Alison took the initiative, gently pressing her lips against his.

Their foreheads met, a silent exchange of affection captured in a final photograph, the intimate moment being abruptly interrupted.

“As I live and breathe! Robin?” a voice boomed, drawing the attention of the entire group.

All eyes turned to a dwarven man striding towards them, his imposing physique on full display without a shirt, adorned with geometric tattoos. A stylish mohawk adorned his head, complimented by more inked designs. He lept into the air, wrapping his arms around Robin’s neck, nearly causing him to topple over due to the height difference.

The dwarf’s thick beard hid their kiss from sight but it was clear what was happening. John stood awkwardly, before looking at the others around him in an attempt to figure out how he should react or where he should look. “I, uh, what?” he stammered, his confusion palpable.

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