-Alright! This my first requested fic, this will mainly focus on the canon from the first season but I'll still sneak in some things from later episodes. First part is gonna explain why and how the camp came together.
"Chapter 1 : The Draconian Baby Boom"
No one saw it coming. And when they did it was too late.
In 1972 when Luong Lao Shi (at the time known as the Chinese Dragon) defeated the Dark Dragon for the first time, a strange plague swept over the magical world. It was a plague that would affect nearly a whole generation worth of magical creatures for years to come.
A few years later, shortly after settling down in New York City, Lao Shi was idly dusting off a counter in his shop when his six year old daughter asked him a ground breaking question.
"Father?" she asked warily, scratching her upper arm. "How come I can't breathe fire like you?"
He furrowed his brows in sadness, It was rare but not unheard of for the young of even a pure-blooded dragon to lack their special traits. "Because my dear, my more dragon-like genes simply... skipped your generation. Nothing to worry yourself over."
Patting her on the head and leaving her off to play with her mortal friends, Lao Shi would have left it at that. If not for the reports that came in through the following weeks.
"Hey old man, take a look at this." Fu threw a newsletter over to him and urged him to read on. "Looks like a bunch of dragons are being born with next to no powers. Crazy, right?"
He read the edition hundreds of times and still has yet to find the answer. His children's lack of power wasn't so much a genetic fluke as it was a curse. Dragons were never a common species but they had a fairly stable populace until late. In the few short weeks after the newsletter's publication, word seeped through the crowds that many significant dragons were unable to produce young, and those who were successful found their child to either lack powers or die very young.
The implications sent chills up the older dragon's spine. He was simply glad that his children were alive and happy. Soon after the influx of magically and physically sterile offspring, an even crueler cut was made to dragon and magical kind.
Lao Shi remembers it like it was yesterday. He had made coffee for him and Fu when a defunct hand-crank television came to life, broadcasting a faerie news channel.
"Word had come in that many magical creatures, primarily children, have contracted a strange and highly infectious disease. In documented cases, the symptoms can appear from hours to a day after infection and mainly target the nervous system. At least thirteen have sadly perished from complications. Their names included... "
Lao Shi buried his head in his hands. Of course Susan wasn't affected by the deadly virus, she held so little dragon DNA that it couldn't infect her. But the sheer thought of some many creatures losing their family to something as unbiased and preventable as disease was heartbreaking. For months afterward as the death toll climbed higher and higher, he would send out condolences to the families who had lost their loved ones. One he especially remembers was Dragon Councillor Kulde who never revealed exactly who he'd lost to the plague.
By the time the mermaids were able to develop a vaccine, 25% of the known magical populace had died out. And 75% of the time the coffins were child sized.
Lao Shi feared greatly for his grandchildren, believing that either they would be born mortal or they would suffer at the hands of another cruel cut. When his very human son-in-law passed the newborn Jake into his arms, he felt as though he was entrusted with a delicate glass doll. It would only be over a decade later when the threat of the disease and the lack of draconian powers ebbed off, that Lao Shi would train his eldest grandson to become a strong and capable dragon.
But an even stranger shift in population had yet to come.
/X\
"WOO HOO!" Jake screamed to the heavens, holding a sheet of paper high above his head. "Five A's!" He had honestly worked himself to the bone for the tests and was reaping the spoils of war.
He felt on top of the world. And why shouldn't he be? It's not everyday you complete your High School exams with flying colours. The past few years had been hectic, with Rose disappearing, the Dark Dragon being vanquished, and with Jake maturing into handsome, respectful young dragon – okay maybe not respectful.
Trixie clapped him on the back proudly. "There's my genius dragon master! Now tell me what are we gonna do to celebrate?" She had recently completed her own set of exams and showed promise in becoming a doctor.
"I'm thinking arcade. I going through Pacman withdrawal." Spud chimed in. Although preferring a casual approach to school work, Spud did carry a high enough score to get quite a few architectural schools interested.
Before they could decide on a destination, a small meadow sprite flew out from the bushes and landed on Jake's nose. Blinking away the fairy dust, Jake quickly regained his composure and barely flinched as the tiny creature was nearly shouting into his eyes.
"Mister Dragon!" She squealed with unbridled happiness. "Have you heard the great news?"
"What great news other than my GPA score?" he joked, not realizing what was to come.
The sprite ignored what he said and replied in a hurried tone. "Go to Lao Shi, he'll explain everything. I got to tell everyone!" She flew off without a care into another group of bushes.
Unquestioningly, the three started their way down to Jake's grandfather's shop, having grown accustomed to meeting there for whatever reason.
"That was odd." Trixie broke the air, thinking over what the sprite could have meant. "You think something big is happening down in the magical community?"
"Not that I would have known of. I've been so busy that past few weeks, if something big did happen Gramps would have told me." Jake explained, blindly pressing the traffic button. "At least it doesn't seem like a doomsday device or an ogre raid." He shuddered at the memory of a particularly violent gang of ogres that raided the Troll market. Due to the laws of the Troll market they were in turn violently "disassembled" all over Manhattan.
"Must be something really, really big. Going by the amount of unglamoured fairies that are out and about." Spud pointed out the small chatty groups of human-sized fae folk that seemed to be so engrossed in the unknown news that they had forgotten to glamour their wings.
Now that Spud had mentioned it, Jake did notice that a lot of creatures were out in the open. Sprites flew haphazardly past his head, Brownies weren't even trying to hide themselves, and he even saw a flock of harpies soaring above the skyline. It was odd; for being unglamoured in public was punishable by fine or arrest under the Dragon Council. Any human that were walking past either didn't notice or didn't care that the streets had become slightly more magical.
Just as he heard the bell of his Grampa's door ring, he and the other two teenagers were roughly pulled inside and dragged into the back room.
"Kid you'll never believe this." Fu patted down the dragon's red jacket anxiously. "We just had a Baby Boom."
Jake squinted confusedly. Wasn't a Baby Boom an event that happened decades ago? "Sorry Fu, but I ain't following ya."
The shar-pei rubbed a paw over his face and sighed. "Back in the 70s, the magical population, especially the dragon one, dropped like a brick. Only 6 out of 10 kids would survive to adulthood and half of them would be either non-magical or unable to have kids of their own. Now we just got word that there's hundreds of healthy tots running about!" He smiled widely, unaware of the humans' lingering confusion.
Spud was the first to comment. "So you guys had like a sterility virus and now it's cleared up?"
"Well that's part of the reason. Gramps thinks that it was a series of curses that came with defeating the Dark Dragon the first time. Guy used to have his claws in some nasty magic, destabilizing our numbers would have been child's play to him. Needless to say a lot of creatures are happy that they can have kids again." He flipped on one of the TV's, showing a similar faerie news broadcast.
"Breaking News just in! After a survey was conducted over ten major magical cities, researchers found that the successful birth rate had risen dramatically over the past four years, coming to a record breaking five thousand births this Spring alone! Be careful young lovers, you're not of the blue yet!"
Grampa walked into the room with a rare aura of joy decorating his form. "It seems that you're aware of what has happened." He greeted them with a bow, which was returned by all three teens.
"We got a lot more little monsters running around that's what I know." The younger dragon stated, laughing internally at the image of baby troll or cerberus. "I guess it's plenty enough reason for everyone to be walking around."
Gramps nodded, his face becoming sterner. "It also means that your duties will increase ten-fold if the numbers continue to rise. Plus there will be a higher amount of hybrid creatures than before."
"You taking like fairy plus centaur or just fairy plus human?" Trixie asked, seating herself down by the coffee table. "Cus, if the second happens, there is gonna be a lot of confused people walking around."
"Precisely." Grampa agreed, turning on the kettle. "During the past thirty years magical creatures have been marrying into human families more than before. It was considered a safer choice as human-creature relationships produce young less likely to be affected by curses or supernatural diseases. This of course has caused the lines separating mortal and magical to wane and thin."
As the tea was served out, Lao Shi continued to talk of what had occurred during the previous decades, trying to keep his composure. He talked of how the Dark Dragon may have been responsible for what had happened and how truly overjoyed the magical community was to shrug off his curse.
"Maybe... " Spud stared into his cup, watching the brown-green liquid swirl. "Since Jake killed him for real, it became null. That's how curses work right?"
"In theory yeah." Fu answered, chewing on a biscuit. "The Dark Dragon was pretty arrogant, so he never made his curses extend beyond his "natural" lifespan. When we took him down the contract for the curse ran out. "
"And still I feel responsible for what happened." Grampa bowed his head in shame. "He likely created all those curses because of his original defeat. To either get revenge... " He took a long sip of tea before finishing. "Or to leave me with the guilt."
Jake wrapped his arm around his Grandfather and pulled him closer. "Look Gramps, even if he did do it after you slam dunked him, he likely would have used the curse sooner or later. He was a jerk like that."
"Thank you Jake, but I will still continue to make peace with those affected by his touch. I feel it is the right thing to do."
"Going by how fast people are making up for it, you don't need to." Trixie said suggestively, placing down her empty cup.
Just then a pixie morphed into the room wearing a courier's outfit. "Mr Long and Mr Luong?" she asked in a dead monotone staring at the letter in her hand. After she had given the message and got a nice tip she disappeared, leaving them with the ominous letter.
"What's it say Gramps?"
"It says that the Council wishes for us to join in a conference on Draco Isle tomorrow night. Apparently the recent rise in numbers is effecting dragonkind as well." Grampa raised an eyebrow as he reached the end of the letter. "That is unusual... "
"What is?"
"It also says that since the defeat of the Dark Dragon, many previously mortal people are becoming dragons."
Jake was taken aback. Was this also a curse or was it an effect of permanently defeating the Dark Dragon those short few years ago? Either way his thoughts wandered to the future. Surely with so many people becoming dragons, they would have to reveal themselves to mortalkind. He himself had revealed his true form to his father barely three years ago and the panicky mortal man had taken it in his stride.
"So will it be a fancy event or a dress casual thing? Cus I don't want to show up in my gym shorts." Spud commented, draining the last dregs of his tea.
/X\
Draco Isle had certainly changed since Jake's last visit. Oh sure the buildings were still there, the gardens and streams were as beautiful as always, and the five (with a new representative for Asia since Chang's betrayal) Dragon Councillors stood at the steps of the Auditorium as they did when Jake first arrived. The big difference was the sheer number of people that were walking around with half-morphed dragon bodies. Jake and his family had arrived on special request that even his mortal friends should join them. So far Trixie and Spud were dazzled by the Isle's beautiful landscape and Jake's parents were busy taking snapshots of everything and anything they could find.
"Ahh Lao Shi and the Long family." Councillor Omina greeted, shaking their hands and leading them up the steps. "We were waiting especially for you."
"How come? Is the Jakester receiving an award?" Jonathan Long, ruffled his son's hair, feeling extremely proud of his accomplishments over the past few years.
Councillor Andam explained as they made their way into the auditorium. "Many speculate that the Dark Dragon was responsible for our drop in numbers over the past years. And that with his death, our numbers will soar higher than they ever did before."
"Your role in defeating the Dark Dragon focuses much praise onto you. Many dragon families wish to thank you personally for what you have done. Myself included." The new Councillor said graciously, her yellow robes fluttering as she moved.
"Well I do what I do-" Jake's not-so modest comment was interrupted by Councillor Kukulkan.
"And we wish for you and Lao Shi to address the people publicly."
"Say what?" Jake asked nervously before the Council hurriedly brought him to the front of the auditorium. Seating him and his grandfather right beneath the Council seats, his family and friends sat nearby in the front, his mother producing a video recorder from her travel bag.
The seats began to fill as a horn signaled the meeting's start. Many of the new faces were of mortal stock and some were so clueless on how to control their powers that they were stuck mid-way between dragon and human. One face Jake recognised among the rows was Fred Nerk, the Australian dragon he had met years previous, staring straight at him with a mischievous smirk. Returning the expression, Jake calmly waited for the Council to begin their protocol.
The Councillors rose from their seats to address the crowd, Councillor Kulde leading the conference. "I welcome you all to Draco Isle. I am aware that many of you are not familiar with our world, especially among those who have recently transformed into dragonkind." Gesturing to Lao Shi and Jake he introduced. "This is Luong Lao Shi and his grandson and protégé Jake Long. In 1972 Lao Shi defeated an entity we call the Dark Dragon. Being a practitioner of dark magic, the Dark Dragon laid multiple curses upon the magical world, the most obvious being a curse of sterility and weakness among dragons born after 1972. Few dragons that were viable didn't posses any draconian powers and often married into human families."
He passed the torch to Andam, who used the plasma panels behind him to demonstrate his point. "Due to the nature of these marriages, the young were more able to fight off the curses but were more likely to be more human than dragon. When young Jake Long defeated the Dark Dragon permanently four years ago, it set off a chain reaction of previously human beings to redevelop dragon powers. Hence why so many of you are here today. Will Misters Luong and Long say their piece?"
Grampa stood up first, bowing to the crowd respectfully. "I defeated the Dark Dragon many years ago in Hong Kong when I was still a fresh face to the world. Being the dragon representative of China I was called to investigate a sighting of him by a friend who betrayed me then and many years later." His eyes flickered, locking the pain of that time behind them. "I supposedly killed him by drowning in the Hong Kong harbor and the curses appeared soon after his death. Unfortunately we were all proven false four years ago."
He looked over to Jake, urging him to continue. The younger dragon looked nervously at the crowd and straightened his back, deciding to explain how he rediscovered the Number 1 threat in the magical world.
"When I was thirteen I came to Draco Isle to go through a series of tests that would determine my worth as a protector. During the final test me and a fellow student came in contact with the Dark Dragon. He'd been lying low for years and was being info'd by an old Council member, the same one that would betray me and my Grandfather. Four years ago the Dark Dragon got the drop on Gramps and was trying to set a trap for me. When me and my friends overpowered him we killed him permanently and I guess we broke the curse." His eyes darted around the room, trying his best not to seem disinterested or overly causal. A thumbs up from Trixie and Spud proved that he did well.
"Thank you Misters Luong and Long." The new Asian Councillor nodded, pulling out and reading from a scroll. " Now with, hopefully, the majority of you here, the most pressing matter is how we can be able to train so many young dragons at once. Draco Isle's amenities were only built to nurture a hundred students at a time. Accommodating our new charges could prove difficult."
Just then Jake thought of a perfect solution, which he accidentally spoke aloud. "It's not like we could make a summer camp for all them. Keep it out of sight and keep all the students in one place."
"Jake!" Lao Shi gave him a whispered scold, concerned about making a bad impression. "This is a very serious matter. The Council will have to create a more feasible solution than a summer camp."
"Actually... " Kukulkan pondered with a pleased look. "Such a feat could prove valuable."
"Pardon?" Kulde questioned, taken aback by the other councilman's opinion. "Please explain you theory brother Kukulkan."
The Central American dragon smiled in confirmation, leaning towards the audience. "The majority of the newly found dragon populace is within the age range of twelve to eighteen, likely due to the natural development of powers in their bodies and the fact that many were born from the previous non-magical generation. By keeping this unpredictable age group in a definite area, we can properly divide attention between all groups. What will happen post-Summer will be to the choices of the parents or students."
"I say we call a vote. Me and the other Council Members will decide amongst ourselves in private. Until we return we ask that you all stay on the Isle for the duration. We will sound the alarm when we've reached a verdict. Meeting is adjourned." Kulde concluded, pounding a gavel.
As the five Councillors retreated to an undetectable room, Jake slumped over in his seat. Mentally exhausted by the meeting, he barely notice the dumbstruck look upon his friends faces.
"You did a-mazing Jakie!" Trixie praised, patting his hair down. "You really held yourself together there."
"Yeah it's not everyday you have to decide the fate of hundreds of people." Spud commented, gaining a displease glare from the others. "I'm just sayin'... "
Jakes eyes wandered over the crowd. There were older, wizened dragons blinking in disbelief as if caught in a strange dream. There were young and confused families attempting to breathe dragon fire and trying to reverse their morphs. At first Jake saw the situation as a big mess, some of the older dragon masters would vehemently deny the previously-human students and the students would vehemently deny that they had been turned into dragons. Then his eyes passed over small family units, the groups were talking animatedly amongst themselves while is their arms held newborns with scales and fangs.
The American Dragon sighed. Even if the whole "Boom" would cause more than a fair share of problems, as any event would, it would have a positive end result. There would be a lot more cocky teenage wyverns flying around but there would also be young fledgling that would hold immense potential as guardians or masters. He thought about his sister Haley, she was growing into a strong young dragon, perhaps she'll grow into an even greater protector then him. He let a smile sneak through his lips as she gave him an encouraging hug.
The alarm sounded merely minutes later.
"The Council has reached a verdict." Kulde stated, his voice deafening all sound. "We will go forward with Mister Long's idea and create a private encampment for all dragons between the ages of twelve and twenty. Older dragons shall be taught personally on the Isle itself. Such training shall be spread over the next three months until the start of the regular school year. Those who wish to train but keep their professions should address their specifications to Councillor Omina after the meeting. Preparations shall go under way immediately. Meeting is adjourned." The gavel was pounded one last time before the Council sat back down.
The auditorium stood still for a whole minute. Jake and his grandfather stared at each other incredulously, Jake was only running his mouth and yet the Council took it as a genuine solution. Soon the auditorium was filled with pleased cheers and praise, leaving the master and student pair in a state none too similar to drunkenness.
"Misters Luong and Long?" Omina broke them out of their spell, speaking in a quiet tone. "We wish to speak to you and your family in private."
Without question the Long family followed the Council into the same undetectable room they used for voting. They shifted uncomfortably as they sat on the rough stone chairs and scanned the intricate marble wall carvings. The Council may be uptight but they still had some mad style.
"Now that we have come to our decision, we wish to ask something of you." Kulde began, allowing the new Councilwoman to speak.
"We ask that Jake himself joins the program."
"Say what?" The younger dragon blurted out. "But I've already completed most of my training, why would I need a whole summer full?"
"It's not a measure of how well you have been taught. It is a way of sending a good impression to the new faces that you'll be learning with." Andam reassured calmly. "With them now knowing of your accomplishments, many of our new students will look to you as a guide to the magical world.
"Why exactly does he need to be a guide?" Jonathan asked, still not well versed in how the magical world functioned. "Shouldn't these kids have a least some inkling of what's happening?"
"I'm not going to lie to you Mister Long, but the recent generation of dragonkind is ignorant." Kukulkan admitted shamefully. "Ever since 1972, the parents of these dragons have kept them under lock and key out of fear of the curses. Not to mention those who were born into fully mortal families would only learn that the magical world existed today. Jake and the other World dragons on the other hand are well versed in the creatures and areas beyond dragonkind. Having them among the new students will make them indispensable."
Jake groaned and fell back into his seat. "But I'm seventeen, a lot of these dragons are going to be older than me. How am I suppose to get them on the same page as me?"
The Norwegian Dragon raised his brow in amusement. "You've taken down countless monsters and most of the dreaded threats to the magical world, yet you fear your own peers?"
"High School, Kulde. High School." Susan explained in a knowing tone.
"Even so, he won't be the only experienced dragon there. I understand your rival Fred Nerk is interested in our endeavor?"
"Really?" Jake tried to mask his delight. Having not seen any of the other World dragons for years, it would be refreshing to catch up with them. "I haven't seen Nerk since my evaluation. How has he been doing?"
Kulde chuckled, glad to see that the American was excited to see his fellow protectors. "He's been doing fine but with a recent rise in numbers, he is finding it difficult to keep up. Australia has become a very popular country to settle down in. Humans and creatures alike."
Lao Shi finally expressed his main concern. "With so many World dragons in this training program, how can they in turn watch over their protectorate?"
Andam produced a long list of names from his robe, giving it to Grampa to read. "We thought of that and many of the older dragons would be glad to pitch in every once in a while. Under the masters' watchful eyes of course. Any other concerns?"
The family stared blankly at the scroll for a long time. Still not believing that such a thoughtless comment could lead to such a well orchestrated plan. The silence was broken when Haley made her concerns known.
"Can I come? If Jake gets to go, then I get to go!" She stood on the table proudly. Twelve years old or not, she still felt a need to validate her powers and compete with her brother.
"Haley, don't you have dance classes over the next few weeks?" Her father asked warily.
"To oblivion with dance class! I want to actually train with fire and moves, not just show up to some drunken stage mothers!" She argued. Haley had felt for a long time that her restricted schedule had cut into her training, though until now had a reason to speak out about it.
With a quick discussion and an even quicker decision, Haley smiled wide as the Long family and Jake's friends left the auditorium. As Jake discussed how he could still spend time with Trixie and Spud over the summer, he failed to notice the many amorous looks pointed his way.
-Ahh! The beginning to a shameless plot heavy Summer Camp Episode! I really enjoyed writing this and I hope you peeps can leave a review or suggestion. :D