An AmDrag Christmas
I do NOT own ANYTHING associated with American Dragon: Jake Long! That ALL belongs to Disney! Thank You.
Author's Notes: Good news! I haven't forgotten my fics and you readers! Even better news: I now have my Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts English! :D
Bad news: I seem to have lost the inspiration to finish my ADJL stories, including "Disney's Capture". :( So for now I've gone back to working on "original fiction" short stories and that darn novel in the hopes of finishing them for future sale. I'm also branching into a new fandom to see if that will help with my writing.
Also, please note that this is an older oneshot story that I wrote back in High School, so it might not be as good as my other stuff. I'm just not sure how to improve it. Hope you like it anyway! Consider it a very late Christmas present!
(This story takes place before "Ski Trip".)
Night before Christmas, Christmas Eve
T'was the night before Christmas, and out in the snow, the American Dragon and Huntsgirl were trying to slay each other- again.
They were fighting close to a frozen lake in Central Park.
"Aw come on Huntsgirl!" said Jake, as he dodged a swipe from her hunting staff, "It's Christmas! Can't we stop fighting each other for once and just get along?"
"Hmmm... I'll have to think about that." said Huntsgirl, pausing in her attack and rubbing her chin in mock-thought, "And I'm thinking... In your dreams dragon-boy!" She charged at him again!
He took flight, dodged her staff and spat fire at her. She somersaulted over his head, avoiding the blast and landing on his back.
"Hey!" cried Jake, "What do you think this is?! A rodeo?!" He bucked and rolled, trying to throw her off.
Finally, worn out, and with Huntsgirl still on his back, he landed.
Jake dropped to all fours as the huntress put her staff under his chin.
"Hah," she laughed, "Looks like I'll get that dragon-skin rug I wanted for Christmas after all." She moved the staff so that its blade was pressed against the young dragon's throat. "Any last words?"
Jake, who was gasping for breath, finally realized what she'd just said. As Huntsgirl positioned her blade for a killing slash, Jake cried out "Whoa! Hold up there! You're gonna do what with me?!"
Huntsgirl stopped, staring down at him. "I'm going to skin you. Then I'll use your pelt as a rug, or maybe a doormat." She said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Jake was shocked. "A doormat?!" he yelled, "If I wasn't about be slain here, I might actually be insulted."
"Does it look like I care?" said Huntsgirl dryly, "Now hold still." She slid the blade across his scales as she felt for the right spot to make the cut.
"Wait!" called Jake.
Huntsgirl stopped again. "What is it this time?!" she snapped.
"Oh come on now," said the dragon, "that's the best idea you can come up with? I mean just look at me! This is top quality dragon pelt we're talking about here, and you're gonna waste somethin' this handsome on a doormat?!"
"And I guess you have a better idea?" asked Huntsgirl.
"Well yeah,"said Jake, "I mean the least you could do is turn me into something useful."
"Hmmm..." said Huntsgirl thoughtfully, "Well, the Huntsmaster could always use a new pair of boots."
"Boots?!" said Jake, "I don't think so! Besides," he held up his tail so she could see it, "I'm not really his color."
"You've got a point there." said Huntsgirl, "Then again... I've always wanted a nice dragon-skin coat." Jake couldn't see her face, but the sound of her voice told him that she was smiling behind her mask.
He felt the staff blade slide into place over the vein in his throat.
"There," he heard Huntsgirl say smugly, "right over the jugular vein. Now just hold still, and I'll make this quick."
The deadly blade bit into his scales as she tightened her grip on it, ready to pull it back in a quick slashing movement.
Huntsgirl smiled underneath her mask. She could feel the dragon shaking beneath her, knowing that he couldn't save himself now. She only wished that she wasn't on his back. Huntsgirl wanted to see the look in his eyes when she finished him. Oh well, she thought, I guess I'll have to settle for this instead. She leaned forward, so that her mouth was beside his ear.
The young dragon felt her weight shift on his back. He turned his head slightly, and she moved her blade so that it never left the spot on his throat.
Huntsgirl stared at him. The dragon had turned his head, so that she could see the side of his face. One of his deep, black eyes was staring into her's. She saw fear in that eye, and something else... something deeper...
She shook her head, slapping herself mentally. What was she doing?! She had a job to finish. It was her destiny to slay this dragon, and finally join the ranks of the Huntsclan as a full member.
Huntsgirl leaned closer to him, and whispered into his ear, "Any last words?..."
"Well," said the dragon, "as a matter of fact... I do have some." As he spoke, a sly smile crossed his scaly face.
Huntsgirl stared at him, puzzled, until she felt his tail around her waist and his claw around the hand that held her staff.
"Have a nice flight!"
The young huntress only had time to glare at him as he winked, then threw her off him with enough force to leave her stunned when she landed on her back nearby.
She lay there, glaring up as he came over to her.
"I think I should take that." he said, reaching for the staff in her hand. She grabbed his shoulder and flipped, landing him on his back and her sitting on him.
"Heh heh," he chuckled.
She leaned closer, "What's so funny?"
"Mistletoe." he said, pointing to a clamp of the stuff over their heads.
Huntsgirl glared daggers at him. "Don't even think about it Dragon-boy."
She got off him quick, a look of utter disgust in her eyes.
He got up and rushed her, causing her to back away, onto the ice of the lake.
"I'd be careful if I were you." he called as he hovered over her.
"Worry about yourself dragon!" she yelled, firing her staff at him. He dodged, spitting fire at her. She jumped away as the fireball hit.
Though it didn't crack the ice, Jake could see that the spot had melted slightly, leaving it thinner then the rest of the ice.
Huntsgirl landed a few inches away, as Jake spat fire at her again. Again she jumped away, and landed right on the thin patch of ice! The ice cracked, then broke underneath her!
"Huntsgirl!" Jake stared at the spot where she'd disappeared.
Suddenly she popped back up, shivering and glaring up at the young dragon.
The water were she'd landed was only knee deep.
The dragon watched as Huntsgirl used her staff to haul herself onto solid ice, and then crawl the short distance back to shore. When she got back on land, the young huntress stood up and fired at him again.
Caught off guard, the energy bolt grazed his wing and knocked him out of the air. She was on him in an instant, but he threw her off.
Jake got to his feet, taking a fighting stance. Then he noticed Huntsgirl shivering.
"Hey, are you ok?" he asked.
"F- f- fine." she snapped, "I'm just fine. But you won't be by the time I get through with you!"
She charged him with her staff again. He dodged it easily. A little too easily, he thought. "You sure you're ok?" he asked, "You don't look so good."
They'd been at this for hours all through the night. Both of them were soaked from the snow, Huntsgirl even more so from her dip in the lake, and the temperature was dropping.
The girl was shaking even worse now, rubbing her arms to keep warm, then she let out a sneeze.
But she still glared at him and said, "What do you care?! We're mortal enemies, and you should be more worried about yourself!"
She attacked, swinging her staff at him. He parried her blows and dodged the rest, finally catching her staff in his claws. She struggled to pull it away from him, but all the fight seemed to have been drained out of her. She couldn't even budge it. By now, she was gasping and wheezing for breath, and shaking so badly that she could barely hold the staff.
Jake looked at her face, and was shocked to see the skin around her eyes turning a sickly pale color. But what shocked him most were her eyes themselves. They were dull, and had lost the fire that he was so used to seeing there when they fought.
"What, what are you staring at?" gasped Huntsgirl.
"Maybe we'd better take a break." he said, "You look like you're gonna fall over any minute now."
She chuckled darkly. "Don't count on it dragon." she said.
He pulled the staff from her hand and knocked her flat with a tail swipe.
She tried to get up, but couldn't. She was too tired to even speak as the dragon looked down at her. There was a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite see... Was it concern? Pity? She didn't know. But it didn't matter, she was helpless now and at the dragon's mercy.
Mercy, She thought, dragons don't have any mercy. Well, at least I can still look him in the eye. He's won't see any fear in my eyes. No. I won't give him that pleasure.
Thoughts whirled through Huntsgirl's mind as the dragon bent over her. Her life at the Huntslair, the Huntsmaster, Jake... They hadn't know each other for very long, but she was still going to miss him.
Then she remembered what the Huntsmaster had taught her about dragons, and found herself wondering if they liked to torture their prey before finishing it. The thought of it made her feel even more sick, but she tried to push that idea from her mind.
The dragon was crouched beside her now, his face inches from hers. She looked at him, glaring into his eyes.
Go on then. She thought, get it over with.
By now, she was freezing and her limbs were starting to go numb. Huntsgirl felt her eyelids growing heavy as the dragon's claw came toward her. She tried to force them to stay open.
Whatever the dragon did to her, she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of having her unconscious. She felt his claw on her shoulder, then everything went black...
ADJL;ADJL;ADJL
When she opened her eyes again, it was to find the Huntsmaster kneeling beside her.
"Huntsmaster?..." she asked weakly.
"Huntsgirl."
She thought she heard relief in his voice. She tried to sit up, but his hand on her shoulder held her still.
Then Rose noticed where she was. She was in the Huntslair, lying on a couch in front of a fire. She looked at the Huntsmaster again, and saw that his fur cape was missing. She was wrapped in it, along with a few blankets.
"What happened? How did I get back here?" she asked.
"I found you on a rooftop near the Huntslair." said the Huntsmaster, "Someone had activated the homing beacon on your staff, and Huntsgirl..."
"Yes?"
"I found dragon tracks leading away from you."
Rose lay back, stunned by what she'd just heard. The dragon had brought her back? But why?
Her thoughts were interrupted as the Huntsmaster said, "You should be well enough to hunt again tomorrow."
He left her to rest, and as she lay there, Rose couldn't help but wonder why the dragon had helped her.
By all accounts, she should have been dead, or, at the very least, holed up in some sinking dragon lair for torture and who-knew what else. They were mortal enemies after all, and he couldn't possibly expect her to spare his life if he were in that same situation...
These and other thoughts still whirled in her mind, as she drifted off to sleep...
The next night, Christmas Night...
The American Dragon and Huntsgirl were fighting in a different part of Central Park.
"Glad to see you back on your feet." said Jake, as he dodged another swipe from her hunting staff.
"No thanks to you." she retorted, "But I bet you'd have liked it if I didn't come out today, wouldn't you?"
"No way!" chuckled the dragon, "Then who'd I have to spar with?" He smiled at her as he said this.
They kept fighting. Attacking and dodging each other's attacks in turn.
Suddenly- "Hey," said Huntsgirl, "is that Santa Clause behind you?"
"Huh?" Jake looked over his shoulder, leaving him wide open for a roundhouse kick from Huntsgirl!
The young dragon was slammed headfirst into a nearby tree. He lay there, dazed as the ninja came up to him, laughing as she said, "I can't believe you actually fell for that! That's the oldest trick in the book!"
Rose poked the dragon with her staff. He groaned slightly, but didn't move.
She stared down at the unconscious dragon, setting her staff blade over the place where his heart would be.
This is it. She thought, Now I can finally fulfill my destiny. She raised her staff, bracing herself to deliver the final blow, but then, found herself hesitating... The dragon had saved her life when she'd been in this same position last time they'd fought. He could've killed her easily but he hadn't. Could she really slay him now? Like this?
Finally, after what seemed like hours, she made her choice...
ADJL;ADJL;ADJL
Jake wasn't expecting to wake up again, but when he did, it was to confusing surroundings. He was in a cave, for one thing, lying next to a blazing campfire. Stranger still, Huntsgirl's vest was draped over him like a blanket. Getting up and looking around again, he found no sign of her, and fresh snow had erased any footprints leading out of the cave.
Walking back to the fire, he picked up the vest, looking it over as if to reassure himself that it was hers. As he did, a note fell out of one of the pockets. He picked it up, staring closely at the handwriting, it looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he'd seen it before...
A slow smile crept over his face as he read, and when he was finished, a quick puff of flame destroyed the message. Putting out the campfire, the American Dragon couldn't help but chuckle as he took off from the cave, flying home with her parting words running through his mind:
Consider us even now. But next time, you're mine!
Merry Christmas, Dragonboy.
Huntsgirl
p.s. Burn this note after you read it. I have a reputation to keep!
~The End~
Happy Holidays to all! And a Happy New Year!