Disclaimer: I do not own ADJL in any way, but any OCs and a few plot ideas are mine
Her breath came in short pants as a drop of crimson rolled down her forehead and hit the ground with a soft plopping sound. The evil chuckle that came from just outside made her shiver. Tiny dripping sounds filled her ears as the laugh rang and faded to silence. He was here, just outside the cave, come to finish what he'd started. The mouth of the cave yawned behind her, and in it was framed the most evil man she'd faced yet…Or was he? She was very certain that he'd been destroyed, so this couldn't be real…
Chapter 1: New Beginnings
"Michelle!" A woman's voice called from downstairs. The girl that had just been named woke up quickly, her slightly curly, fiery red hair bouncing around her face as she sprang out of bed, pulled on a pair of fuzzy blue slippers, then sprinted downstairs. She spun around the railing, her slippery footwear allowing her to slide easily down the wood floored hall. The smells of sausage and eggs emanated from the kitchen's direction, and the girl named Michelle smiled, licking her lips. "Morning, Mum!" She said, a little bit of sleep catching her off guard and causing her to yawn at the end of her sentence. Her voice carried a distinct Irish accent, and so did her mother's. "Did Papa leave?" She asked, seating herself in one of the three mismatched chairs that sat at the little peninsula that provided a perfect little place to eat one's breakfast.
The woman to whom the girl spoke had matching hair, a slender bodice, and a kind face. She was also rather tall. She had bright green eyes and a spray of freckles across her nose and cheeks. She looked like an older version of Michelle, minus the eyes. Michelle had her dad's eyes, brilliant, deep gold eyes, the color of honey in sunlight. "You excited for today? You usually never get up right away." The woman who could only be Michelle's mother said. She also had an accent, as Michelle was purely Irish. The girl grinned, "I guess so, sort of first day jitters." She said, removing a sausage from the plate that had been set before her and taking a bite out of it.
Today was Michelle's first day at school, specifically at Millard Fillmore High School in New York. She'd been going to a different middle and high school for her eighth grade year, but her parents hadn't really liked it, and chose to send her someplace else. And so she sat, purple and black leopard spotted pajamas on, eating breakfast, and practically bouncing up and down with excitement over starting her first year in high school.
Michelle loved school, to put it simply. The only thing she really disliked was math. It was so confusing half the time, and she always got bad grades, no matter how hard she tried. She was, however, excellent at everything else, and often found herself the teacher's pet, without many friends, if any at all. So, leaving a school wasn't that bad, though it had only happened a couple of times because of her father's previous job. Hopefully though, they'd be in NYC as long as they liked, since her dad had gotten a new job that he didn't have to move around for.
Michelle quickly finished off her breakfast, licking sausage grease off her fingers as she made her way upstairs. She did this now only because her mother would scold her for the lack of a napkin in this situation. The red-head quickly made her way to her bedroom, changing out of her favorite pajamas and pulling on her favorite outfit. It consisted of a pair of dark jeans, a pure white t-shirt, a black jacket, and a pair of classic black high tops. She brushed her hair only to get the knots out, but she preferred to keep it down. After all this, the girl picked her bag up off her bed, then headed downstairs.
Michelle's mother was already waiting for her, holding a backpack, almost full to the brim with supplies like paper, pencils, notebooks, et cetera. The girl smiled and took the heavy bag from her mother. "Ready to go, Shells?" Her mother asked, using the cute nickname she'd given her daughter when she was a baby. Michelle nodded, walking out the door first so her mother could lock the door behind them. "Wait! I almost forgot something!" Michelle said loudly. Her mother smirked and opened the door again. "Whatever it is, it better hurry." She said as the girl pelted through the door and up the stairs. She went to her room once more and pulled a book from underneath her pillow. On the cover it read, '1001 Magical Creatures and the Stories Behind Them'. Michelle smiled, then stuffed the book into her bag that she'd use to carry stuff around school.
Thankfully, Michelle's mom worked close to school, and they didn't live too far either. Work and school were pretty much in a three mile vicinity for them. The girl carefully stepped out of her mother's car, then waved to her, "Bye Mum! Love ya!" She said, her mother waving back, then she drove away. Michelle turned towards the school, a big brick building, who's face loomed over everything, almost reminiscent of a jailhouse…Almost. And almost wasn't enough to deter the girl's excited mood. She hopped up the steps and walked through the doors. They'd been told to meet in their homerooms, for her it was room C187, which was, thankfully, on the bottom floor.
Michelle carefully and quietly opened the door, the plastic label on it reading 'C187'. She let out her breath, then walked inside. Well…She was one of the first people here. This made her frown a little bit, but her smile sprang back onto her face. Maybe she could make friends with the kids that were already here. But one glance told her they were total nerds, probably interested only in Dungeons and Dragons and Chess Club. She sighed and sat down on the opposite side of the room.
A few minutes later, students started to flood the room. It was, after all, only a few minutes before the starting bell. Michelle knew perfectly well that most students lingered outside or in the halls until a few minutes, or even seconds, before the bell rang. Well then, too bad for them if they were late, it wasn't anyone's fault but their own. A group of larger guys who looked like they'd be trying out for the football team this year sat at the back of the room, diagonal from where Michelle sat. Another group of girls stereotyped as 'cheerleaders' sat just in front of them, giggling about some subject that probably wasn't academic.
Michelle sighed, starting to regret her choice in seating, when a group of three students sat down behind her. One was a rather tall guy who wore a knit ski-style cap on his head, which probably was against the rules, but hadn't been noticed or removed by a teacher yet. Another of the group was a girl with dark brown skin and black hair, pulled up in two fluffy pigtails. Michelle liked her shirt to, it had a little panda bear on it. The third was a shorter boy who had spiked black hair, certainly gelled. He wore a rather interesting looking red jacket.
Michelle looked around a bit pathetically, then back to the three who had sat down behind her, eyes set on a fourth chair next to the panda-shirt girl. "Um…Do you three mind if I sit by you?" She asked quietly, getting the tall one's attention. "I kinda feel like a loner." She said sheepishly, all confidence from earlier gone. "Yeah, sure." The spiky-haired boy said. "Name's Jake, Jake Long." He told her as she got up and moved over to sit by pigtail girl. "I'm Spud." The tall one said simply. What an odd name…Spud…"And I'm Trixie, girl!" The panda-shirt girl told her. "My name's Michelle, Michelle Quinn." Michelle said. Even her name was Irish sounding. She wouldn't be surprised if they mistook her for a leprechaun or something.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened rather loudly, and a balding man with reddish-brown hair walked in. Oh, great. The last thing she needed was for people to start comparing them to their hair-lacking homeroom teacher. She slid down in her seat a little bit, as if it would stifle the fiery tinge of her hair. "Alright, students! I am Professor Hans Rotwood. You may call me Professor Rotwood, nothing else! Let's get this over with!" The man said, a German accent slightly distorting his words. Aw great, AND he had an accent…Just great.
"I will first hand out your Schedules by calling out last names. Come up when your last name is called." Professor Rotwood said. Michelle resolved to call him Rotwood, or Mr. Rotwood. It simply would not do to be labeled the 'teacher's pet' at this new school, and especially not of this guy, who she disliked more and more by the minute. The teacher continued to call out names, Trixie being one of the first up since her last name was 'Carter'. Then Jake was next. "Quinn!" The professor called, holding up the schedule.
Michelle slowly stood and walked up to the teacher. He held the schedule out in front of himself like a dirty tissue, and the girl took it from him, quickly shuffling back to her seat. She had Mythology right after lunch. Good, at least she had something to look forward to. "Do any of you have Mythology after lunch? Like, right after?" She asked. Trixie and Jake nodded, but Spud shook his head. "Nope, I have it…the one right before the one that's right before lunch." He said, sticking his tongue out. Michelle nodded, looking back at her schedule. She had math then. Well, at least she didn't have to have it ruin her appetite.
Most of the rest of the first half of the day had been fairly uneventful. They'd had homeroom, and gotten their lockers (Michelle was sure to get one with her new friends), then headed off to the rest of their classes to get their books and other things. Then it was time for lunch, which was fairly crowded and loud due to all the bodies packed inside one small room. And the food…Well, Michelle would be brown bagging it as often as possible from now on. On the menu today was pizza, but the cheese tasted like someone had run it over with a tire, and the sauce was pretty much just a mashed up tomato.
Michelle got up as the bell rang for the end of lunch. She was excited now. Mythical creatures class sounded very interesting to her. The class lost its luster as she found out who taught it. Again, she came into the room to see the same reddish-brown balding head as before. She sighed and sat down near the front of the room. At least she'd try to do well in this class. A book sat, waiting for each student, in front of every chair. Michelle picked it up, looking at the title. It read: 'Mythical Creatures: Types and Legends' Again, she sighed. She'd read this book, but she liked her book better. She felt hers was more…accurate compared to this one.
Michelle glanced over to see Jake staring at his book in almost the same way, although his expression was more disgusted than hers. More students came in, a few of them nerds, but most were cheerleaders and jocks who obviously didn't want to be here. "Students! We will be starting this class immediately as there is much material to go through in two semesters." Professor Rotwood said, and Michelle ached to correct his grammar. "Open your books to page ten, where you will see the first creature we will be studying…The leprechaun." He said, then threw a mysterious glance in Michelle's direction. What the bloody hell? Did he think she was a leprechaun?
The rest of the day passed quickly. Michelle had noted many things about the school and the different popularity levels. She knew already that jocks and cheerleaders were labeled as populars, anyone involved in Chess club, Math club, et cetera was labeled as a nerd, and then there were the bottom feeders, smarties who weren't classified as nerds, and the kids who strove to be cool but just didn't make the cut. The first of the latter was where she fell, but she didn't regret it. That meant less attention to her, which could be a good thing. Plus, she'd made friends on the first day, which was considered a record in her book.
"Hey, Michelle, wanna come over to my place today? We were going to have a gaming tournament." Trixie offered. "Yeah! Let me call my mum first though." Michelle told the girl, pulling a cell phone from her bag, which she'd had on mute the whole day. She punched a few numbers into the keypad, then held the earpiece up to her head as it rang. Almost immediately, her mother answered, "Hello? Michelle?" She said. They had caller ID at home. "Hey, mum. I made some new friends and they were wondering if I could come over? I can give you the address when I'm ready to be picked up, or I could just walk, depending on how close it is." Michelle said. "Alright. Have fun!" Her mom said. "Bye." Michelle said, and her mother responded in the same way. The red-head flipped her phone shut and stuffed it back into her bag, then ran over to the others. "I can go." She said happily.
"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon...YES!" Michelle exclaimed, pumping her fists in the air, one holding a game controller. "Ha! Third time I've beaten you! Told you I'm beastly at this game!" She teased Jake. "Aw maaan." He said, or more whined. They were currently playing a football game on Trixie's Xbox, and, of course, Michelle was winning. She handed the controller to Spud, having previously promised to let him play after three tries. She moved off the comfortable couch and watched the two boys begin another game.
"So, Trixie, is this your house or your grandma's or…" Michelle asked, sipping a full cup of . "It's my mom's house, but my gramma lives here." Trixie told her, smiling a little bit. As if on cue, Trixie's gramma called from the kitchen, "Trixie! You hungry? Do your friends want something to eat?" She said, though not coming out. "No, we're fine Gramma!" Trixie called back, then looked back at the TV as Jake proclaimed his victory against Spud and started to do a victory dance on the couch. Michelle certainly wasn't used to this behavior, but she guessed it was normal based off of Trixie and Spud's equally excited dances. She just stood awkwardly as everyone danced.
"Bye you guys!" Michelle called as she walked down the stairs of the apartment building. She walked down the street, heading for a nearby alleyway. She didn't want to have to bother her mother, so instead she would get home via her own…means of transportation. The fiery haired girl quickly turned, disappearing into the alleyway. She closed her eyes and huffed out a breath, then spread her arms, "Wings of the Dragon!" She muttered. From her back, a pair of silvery white feathered wings unfolded, sneaking out from behind her backpack and spreading their full length. Suddenly, the girl heard footsteps echoing from just around the corner, and then a face appeared. "Hey, Michelle, you forgot your-" It was Spud, holding a book of Michelle's. He quickly shut his mouth when he saw her wings. "Uh…S-spud! I…I can explain?" The girl stuttered, folding her wings in quickly, then letting them disappear. "Well…It's ah, just a costume?" She brought her hand up and dropped her head into it. "No, I really can't explain…" She sighed.
"Um…Actually, I'm used to this stuff…You're a dragon, right?" Spud asked as if he saw a dragon every day, which he probably did. Michelle sighed and looked up at the sky, "Yes…So is my Papa, and my Mum." She said. "…Jake's well…Why don't you come talk to him…" The boy suggested, and Michelle nodded slowly, not really understanding what talking to Jake would do to help the situation, it might just make it worse.
"Hey Jake! Guess what!" Spud called when they came inside. "Shush! Do you want Trixie's grandma to hear?" The girl behind him asked. "Oh, right…Hey Jake! Guess what!" He said, voice a whisper this time. Michelle rolled her eyes, then pushed from behind him and into the living room. "Jake! You're not alone!" Spud said, voice a little louder this time. "Um…What do you mean?" The spiky haired boy asked, standing and raising an eyebrow. "Michelle's a dragon too!" Spud said, looking very excited, maybe a bit too excited. "A…a dragon? Is that true?" Jake asked, looking at the girl. Michelle nodded, crossing her arms.
"Spud here had the good fortune…or bad fortune I suppose, to see my wings." Michelle said, eyebrows knitting together. She was tense, and a bit irritated. Perhaps they wouldn't like her anymore, maybe they'd just push her away and leave her to be a lone wolf. "That's awesome!" Jake said, throwing his arms in the air. "Um…Could we see your dragon form?" He asked. Trixie was standing there, arms crossed, looking at Michelle with a smile. "Girl, you coulda told us sooner!" She said, although she was kidding. Michelle shrugged, "I didn't know you guys were used to this kind of thing." She said, then glanced at Jake. "Sure I can…" She said, looking a bit uncomfortable, but nevertheless, a silvery mist started to swirl around her.
The mist dispersed slowly, although it just disappeared rather than filled the room. The dragon revealed was almost wolf-like in appearance, at least her head was. Rather than scales, she was covered in silvery white fur, and her wings were feathered, not leathery. From her mouth curved a pair of short fangs, and a pink forked tongue flicked from out from between them. Her ears were like that of a wolf, and her eyes had changed color a bit to a brighter gold. A pair of black horns curved elegantly from her forehead to point backwards off the back of her head, and identically colored claws curved off her fingers and toes. Her tail was long and snake-like with a black tuft of fur on it, connected to a fringe of black fur running down her spine. She unfolded her wings a little bit, then folded them back in, crossing her arms. She was taller in this form, only a few feet shorter than the ceiling. "Well, what do you think?" She asked, looking down at them.
They all looked a bit thunderstruck, and Spud had opened his mouth to speak. "How come your fur isn't the same color as your hair? That's what happens to Jake in his dragon form…" He asked. Michelle shrugged, "I guess it runs in my family…My papa is a white dragon too, my mum is silver." She said. "Maybe Irish dragons are different?" She suggested, then the mist swirled around her again and she was back in human form. "Do you think you could meet my grandpa? He's a dragon too…I think he might want to meet you…" Jake asked. "Um, sure…Does tomorrow work? I need to get home." Michelle said. Jake nodded, "After school then?" The girl asked, and Jake nodded again. "Well…Bye!" She said, then ran out the door, letting out her breath on the front steps before walking down and flipping open her phone. She dialed a number, then held it up to her ear. After two rings, someone answered. "Hey…Yeah, it's me…Um, Mum? Do you think you could come get me? I have something to tell you…"