Wandering Dragon



Title: Wandering Dragon
Author: Plattnum Wolfe
Rating: PG
Pairing: Dawn & Jazer
Genre: Fantasy







Stupid birds. Why are they always in the way? Dawn thought to herself pulling feathers off of her clothing. She was soaring through the air on her broom, and had just run into some seagulls. The only thing not covered in feathers now was her black cape, but her dark blue jeans and black tee-shirt were nearly white with them. Even some blood. Dawn looked to her hip. Her sword and intricately carved scabbard were still clean. At least that still looks nice. Wish I could say the same for my clothing. Dawn saw something other than the ocean below her. Thank God. She sighed, swooping toward the coast.



*-*-*-*-*-*



A dark forest loomed in front of her. Terrifying sounds rose up from its depths, and it looked uninviting. Dawn sighed. Isn't there a building I could sleep in? I've been flying for twelve hours, and jet-lag is starting to kick in. And then it appeared, like a monster rising to greet her, a glorious castle with warm, inviting lights gleaming in windows. Tons of towers were shooting up from the building, appearing in no particular order. Sanctuary. Dawn thought pleasantly. But then a screech rose up out of the heart of the forest. It sounded almost human. Maybe a girl scared out of her wits. She tilted her broom into a deep dive, and started scanning the forest floor for someone, or something.

Then in front of her she saw a dark figure standing out in a clearing. Quietly Dawn got off her broom. She leaned it against a tree and slowly approached the person. Dawn accidently stepped on a twig, then it turned around to face her. "Who's there?" He asked cautiously. His voice was strong and deep, but that was almost hidden by his fear. His voice was oddly familiar too.

"Jazer? Is that you?" Dawn asked in shock.

"Dude! Dawn! What are you doing here?" Jazer asked matching her shock.

"Ran away. What was that scream?"

Jazer smiled and stepped forward. Dawn could see him clearer now. His 6'2", Dark brown hair and eyes, and his scrawny figure was just as she remembered from two years ago. Now he was only three feet away from her, and he pulled a crow from behind his back. "I was trying to teach it how to sing before school started." Then Jazer blushed slightly, and scratched the back of his head, "But apparently crows aren't meant to be song birds."

Dawn laughed. Jazer hadn't changed a bit. Jazer looked at her quizzically. "What?"

"Nothing. Just happy to see you." Dawn smirked.

Jazer smiled again and started walking out of the clearing. Dawn turned around and bent to pick up her broom. Jazer looked at her and then sighed. "Why are you still using that piece of crap?"

Dawn looked at him. "I'm still using this 'piece of crap' because I don't have the ability to turn into a bird like some people I know!" Dawn thought to herself, I know as well as you that you're a shape-shifter. Jazer was a really skilled shape-shifter, and Dawn was the only one that knew. Apart from Dragon Flameclaw. He knew basically everything. Jazer didn't want anybody else to know, because he saw what people did to other shape-shifters.

Jazer looked at the ground. "No. I wasn't talking about that. I meant putting your boon to good use."

Dawn remembered her gift from Dragon Flameclaw. The boon she received was for returning fire chalice to him after it was stolen by a Floobersploot. A Floobersploot was a round ball of fur that was intelligent and was a serious kleptomaniac. Dragon Flameclaw allowed her to have the gift of speech to any animal on earth in return for the return of the chalice. He could do that by giving her a drop of his fiery blood to drink while it was still steaming hot. It was a wonderful boon she had been given. Dawn loved knowing she could understand anyone and anything, and to be understood by them.

"I suppose I could have ridden something over here, but I didn't think of that." Dawn commented.

Jazer gave her a 'no duh!' look, and remembered what he wanted to ask Dawn. "Hey Dawn," He began, "Why did you run away form your parents?"

Dawn cringed. The word parents alone filled her with a feeling of hatred, desire, and loneliness all at once. "My parents were put in jail, and I refused to go to an orphanage."

"Orphanage? Jail?"

"Yes. My parents didn't want me around anymore. They just handed me over to the state." She was speaking with an almost 'dead' tone. Like there was no life left in her.

"Oh." Jazer replied quietly. "But what about the jail thing?"

Dawn glared at the dirt beneath her feet. "My dad was caught selling drugs and stealing beer," She mumbled. "And my mom was caught beating me in public. They were turned into the police." Then Dawn looked into Jazer's eyes. A look that contained all of hell within. "I don't care what else happened to them. I hope they're tortured to death. Or they're beaten, or sent to Hell."

Jazer knew how she felt about her parents. He also knew how her parents had beaten her every night after she turned seven years old, how they hated her, and how they were drug addicts. He wished she would have told someone sooner, but another thing he knew was how Dawn refused to let anyone know about things like that. She had told him once when he was cleaning some of her gashes. Jazer sighed, "Well, I guess I should take you the castle. Introduce you to the headmistress, Jazera, see what she wants to do with you."

Dawn gave Jazer a look of pure fear. "You won't tell anyone. Will you? And the headmistress won't summon the American police will she?"

Jazer looked her in the eyes. "No. I'll make sure she won't find anything out about you that you don't want her to know."

She breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

The two of them walked toward the castle, Dawn holding the crow.

*-*-*-*-*-*

At least I'm in the same house as Jazer. Dawn thought as she walked to the Gryffindor girls dormitories alone. Thank goodness the house colors are blue and silver. Yellow would have looked stupid on me.

After Jazer had taken her Jazera's office, the headmistress had dismissed him. After he had left her office, Jazera had held a small sorting ceremony for Dawn. She had ended up in Ravenclaw, and after being told the rules, Dawn was sent to a large gargoyle in the shape of a werewolf. Why would they have a werewolf for Ravenclaw? Dawn thought looking at the beasts stone eyes.

"Dinictis." Dawn had said to the statue, and she watched the creature jump to the side.

I can't wait to get into a real bed. I've been sleeping on a pile of hay for five years. She pushed her way through a crowd of excited Ravenclaws trying to welcome her. But Dawn wouldn't let them. She was too darn tired, and these people were too darn happy for her mood at the moment. Right in front of the first year girls dormitories, she heard some girls giggling. Oh great. She thought. A bunch of hyper girls talking about make-up and boys. Lucky me. Dawn rolled her eyes and pushed open the door, expecting the worst. What she found was not something she had expected at all.



"Jazer!?" Dawn looked at the wide-eyed boy tied to a chair. The girls she had heard before were putting massive amounts of make-up on his face. He had a small towel tied around his head, serving as a gag. Dawn ran up to him and looked at what the girls had done to him. (The mass of females had moved aside for Dawn's viewing pleasure.) Dawn couldn't help but laugh at the struggling victim with neon pink lipstick smeared all over his lips.

"Mmph! Mmmphhh!" Jazer said through his gag.

Dawn laughed harder than she ever had for about seven years. She started to tear up, and she collapsed to the floor in giggling fits. A smile tugged at the corners of Jazer's mouth. But unless you had been looking at his face very intently, you never would have noticed. After almost a full minute, Dawn managed to say between gasps, "Camera, -I-need-a-camera."

A very tall girl with beautiful Asian skin, aqua colored eyes, and purplish black hair handed Dawn a small silver camera. Dawn caught her breath and aimed it at Jazer. Jazer's eyes got huge with horror, and he started to struggle even more. All of the girls in that dormitory, (It wasn't that much since there were four girls not including Dawn in the Dorm.) Had to hold his chair down. They posed as Dawn snapped the picture.

Dawn smiled, "Priceless. Okay people! Get 'im cleaned up and out of here! I'll hide the evidence!"

The other girls tarted to untie him and wash the junk on his face off. But they were very careful to keep the gag in his mouth, should he call out for help. After everything was put away and cleaned up, which only took three minutes, the girls shoved him out of the room and yanked off the gag. Before Jazer had a chance to turn around the girls had locked the door and turned off the lights.

Smiling, Dawn put on her pyjamas and slid into bed. She loved the feeling of her fuzzy blue night pants, and matching top. And as she slowly fell asleep, Dawn went over the strange conversation with the sorting hat.

"You have many things on your mind." Said the hat in her ear.

"What do you mean?"

"Pain, longing, a desire for ultimate strength, and hatred. Maybe Slytherin"

"That's all you found?" Dawn thought, releaved.

"No. I found several other things. Things like a kind heart, great listening skills, and an enormous amount of courage."

"Where are you going to put me then?"

"Definitely Gryffindor." The hat suddenly went silent, and then said Gryffindor so Jazera could hear.

*-*-*-*-*-*

"Burn them." Jazer said to Dawn on their way to dinning hall.

Dawn smirked. "Only after I have them posted on every bulletin board in the school."

Jazer's eyes got huge. "You wouldn't."

Still smirking Dawn looked him in the eyes. "Try me."

The two of them entered the dinning hall, with Jazer begging Dawn to not post the pictures she had taken last night. Dawn just kept walking toward the Gryffindor table with a defiant look on her face.

"But you can't do this to me!" Jazer said once they had sat down.

Dawn speared some French toast and put it on her plate. She pretended to ignore him. Jazer tried frantically to think of something. Then it hit him. "I'll tell everyone about your parents if you don't burn those pictures."

Dawn froze in mid-bite. "So this is what it's come to. Blackmailing your own friend just to save you from extreme embarrassment."

"Yes it has."

"Fine, but I get to keep a copy for myself."

Jazer put his hand in front of her. "Deal. Shake?"

Dawn held up a finger as she munched on the French toast. When she finished chewing, Dawn shook Jazer's hand. The girls from her dorm walked up to the table, and sat down. It took everything in Dawn to keep from bursting out in laughter. Because the girls, to say the least, looked terrible. Their hair was dripping honey, and it had leaves and twigs stuck in it. Next their faces looked as though makeup had exploded on them. Lipstick was smeared around their eyes and nose, and there were bright pink spots all over their face. And the eye shadow was all over their lips and forehead. And their clothing... I won't even go there. But I will tell you, it wasn't pretty. Dawn looked over to Jazer, and saw him smiling happily.

"Did you do that to them?" Dawn asked in mock horror.

Jazer didn't answer. He just kept on smiling.



"Urg!!!" A short blonde girl threw her books on Dawn's bed. Dawn looked up and noticed it was Katrina Rosmonde. She was a very pretty girl, but just a bit up-tight.

All of the girls were back in their dormitories. Somehow they had managed to carry their home work to their beds, and the other girls were currently trying to fix themselves. Dawn was strangely amused by their frantic attempts to clean their hair, and even... their tears. Surprisingly only two girls were crying from spending a day looking the way they did. I wonder what they'll do to Jazer? Dawn thought amused. She tunned back into the girls conversation, her emerald green eyes sparkling

Katrina was talking. "...Most inconsiderate brat to walk the earth!!!"

The tall girl with purplish-black hair started talking. "You need to start widening your vocabulary. Try calling him a Fu-"

"Jasmine!" The five other girls cut her off. (The girls in her dorm had brought some friends.) Dawn just sat there thinking, Note to self: Jasmine is my kind of person.

"I was just saying there are much more creative names to call him than a jerk." Jasmine shrugged.

"You wouldn't want to be that mean to him." A very shy red-head spoke up from her bed in the corner. "Would you Katrina?"

"No. He's too cute for that." Katrina responded.

Dawn jerked her head in Katrina's direction. Cute? Jazer? Dawn put her pencil down on her home work. Wherever this is going, I have to hear it. Dawn thought.

Jasmine smiled. "So you think he's cute too?"

Katrina bit her lower lip and nodded her head.

The shy red-head in the corner stood up. "I think he's really hot."

Dawns jaw dropped as she watched all the girls around her start nodding in agreement. Who are these people? Dawn thought reaching for her school bag. I have to get out of here. I know where this is going. Everyone seemed to be ignoring her, and that was just fine with Dawn. She did not want to get into this.

Jasmine was talking, "...Yes. You are so right. His dimples are the cutest."

"That depends on which dimples you mean." One of the other girls commented.

"The ones on his cheeks, of course."

"Which cheeks?" The girl smirked.

Oh man! That is just wrong! Dawn started throwing her books into her bag. Oh crap. They had better not say anything worse.

Then a different girl spoke up. "And don't you just love how his butt is shaped? I mean, when the wind blow just right, you can see every sexy curve."

AHHHHH! This is just sick and wrong!!! Dawn grabbed her Arithmancy book, and started hitting herself in the head. I don't want to hear this!! I don't want to hear this!! Please shut up!!!!

All of the girls turned to look at Dawn, who was still hitting her head. "Are you okay?" Jasmine asked.

Dawn stopped smacking her head with her book. "Hmm? Oh-yes. I'm fine." She grabbed her bag and walked out of the room. All the girls watched her go with weird looks on their faces.

On her way down the staircase, Dawn saw a black cat staring intently at her. It had a strange sword shape on its forehead. The shape was made out of the blackest color even thought possible. There was only one creature that could manage that. "Hello Jazer."

The cat's eyes got huge, and it held a claw to its chops for silence. "Don't say my name." Jazer rasped. "Someone might hear you."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah. Every one can hear you in a deserted corridor, with sound proof doors." She had exaggerated a bit on their sound proof quality. But basically they were.

Jazer growled. "Meet me in the deserted corridor, on the third floor."

Dawn nodded and walked through the common room and out the hole behind the gargoyle. The hallways seemed deserted. This doesn't seem right. Dawn thought. Classes just got out. The hallways should be filled with students. Dawn walked a little further and turned a corner. She saw why the halls were empty. Oh crap. She thought. There was a giant monster of some sort. The top half was a giant black wolf, that easily took up most of the corridors walking space. The bottom half was just as big. But instead of a wolf, that half was a black snake tail. Massive dragon wings were folded on its back, And there were huge snake fangs hanging out of its mouth. An acid like fluid was dripping from them, and it was holding a limp figure in its giant claws. Jazer.



No. Dawn thought. No, not Jazer. She ran forward, so she could hear what the huge beast was growling. Quietly, Dawn hid behind a suit of armor, and listened. Not daring to breath. "Why would a shape-shifter be in this place." The monster mumbled to itself.

Dawn looked around her hiding place. I need a weapon. She thought. I can't run out there with nothing. Dawn fingered her wand at the bottom of her cloak's pocket. No. I don't know enough spells yet. She studied the suit of armor, and saw it holding a sword. Perfect. She yanked the weapon from the suit's hand, and quietly stepped out from behind. The creature had heard her move, and had turned around to face her. Huge drops of venom kept dripping from it's fangs. And one of its eyes had a huge scar running through it, even the actual eye ball. To say the least, it wasn't a pretty sight. Dawn stood there motionless, The small bit of courage she had mustered, left her instantly. The wolf-thing glared at her and dropped Jazer on the ground. The animal half slithered, half crawled away with amazing speed for its size. In a matter of seconds, it had vanished into the shadows.