Huntsgirl's Slay Ride

Disclaimer: I do not own American Dragon: Jake Long. Disney does.

Chapter One: Miss Scrooge

The bell rang out through Millard Fillmore Middle School at the end of the day. All students knew what that meant: it was time for the winter holidays to begin. No school for two weeks. Who wouldn't be excited?

Well, there was one person…

Rose, otherwise known as Huntsgirl of the Huntsclan, was not happy during this time of year. She was never happy during any holiday: Halloween, New Year, Easter or Independence Day. Rose wasn't even happy on her birthday. Why? Because the people who raised her didn't care about the holidays; all they cared about was slaying magical creatures. Rose didn't. And she didn't care because the boy she loved was in fact a magical creature. All she wanted was to have a happy holiday season this year.

But she knew that she never would have a good holiday season, and as she exited her school, the thought almost brought tears to her eyes. She would never have a good holiday as long as she was a prisoner of the Huntsclan. Okay, she wasn't a prisoner, she was actually the Huntsclan leader's apprentice, and had she not changed her mind about dragons, she would be looking forward to succeeding him when he passed away. But she had changed her mind about magical creatures and now she felt like a prisoner of the clan. And now this year would be worse, for just a few months ago, she had had a dream in which she discovered that the Huntsclan had kidnapped her from her parents and a twin. Rose sniffled. She had to get out of the Huntsclan.

Rose suddenly grunted as she felt someone bumped into her, making her drop her books and fall to her knees. "Oh, I'm so…" the person started, but Rose didn't want to hear it.

Turning her head, she shouted at the poor soul in her Huntsgirl voice: "Hey, asshole! Why don't you watch where you're—Jake?!" Rose suddenly stopped when she noticed that the victim of her verbal assault was her boyfriend, Jake Long, also known as the American Dragon.

"Oh, Jake!" Rose paled. "Jake, I'm so sorry…" she tried to apologize, but she stopped when she saw that Jake was smiling.

"It's okay, Miss Scrooge." Jake chuckled. "Here, let me get your books for you."

Rose just stared in amazement as Jake picked up all of her books for her and placed them back in her arms. Jake was so nice…and she had been so rude. And then the cherry on top of the niceness sundae: "I'll walk you home if you want me to…" Jake offered.

Rose was so surprised with Jake's kindness that she could only nod. Although…Rose would hardly call the Huntslair a "home"; it was merely a place where she lived with people who did not love her and would not hesitate to murder her if they found out about her relationship with Jake. Murder her…or worse…

&*%

The two walked together in silence for a couple moments before Rose tried to break the silence. "Jake…" she said. "I'm really sorry for being so rude. It's just…it's just this time of year. I've never celebrated Christmas or anything else. I've never decorated a Christmas tree, I've never sang carols, I've never given or received a present…"

"Dang…" Jake responded. "Does the Huntsclan…?"

"The Huntsclan doesn't celebrate Christmas because they believe that it gets in the way of our life's mission." Rose explained. "And it's not just Christmas. I've never watched fireworks on the fourth of July, never been on an Easter egg hunt, never gone trick-or-treating and never gotten a birthday cake."

"Aw man, Rose." Jake moaned. "No wonder you're in a bad mood around holidays! Is there anything I can do?"

"It's okay, Jake." Rose told him. "I've learned to never show my real feelings about not celebrating any holidays."

"What do you mean, Rose?"

"It was my first Christmas with the Huntsman…" Rose started to explain.

&*%

Rose, aged seven, had just graduated from the Academy and was now in her new room in the Huntsclan penthouse. It was much nicer than her quarters at the Academy, and it was even more exciting because she had learned about something called "Christmas". Apparently, Christmas was a time of celebration where people put up and decorated trees, bought gifts for those that they loved among many other things that sounded exciting to the young girl. She had also done some research and found out about Santa Claus and that today was Christmas Eve, the day before Christmas.

Suddenly, the door to her room opened and the Huntsman stepped inside. Rose immediately jumped off her bed and stood up straight.

"Huntsgirl…" the Huntsman spoke. "Get dressed. Tonight, we are going out for your very first hunt. I'll be back in five minutes…"

The Huntsman started to walk out of the room, but little Rose called him back. "But what about Christmas?"

"What?" The Huntsman turned around, raising an eye at her. "What did you just say?"

"Christmas…" Little Rose repeated. "It's Christmas Eve. Shouldn't we stay here and…celebrate?"

"No!" The Huntsman shouted, but it didn't scare the young apprentice. "To me, Christmas is no different than any other day of the year. And it will be the same way for you…"

"But I want to celebrate Christmas…" little Rose said.

"Watch your mouth, Huntsgirl…"

"Can't we just try i…?" Rose started, but she was cut off as the back of the Huntsman's hand smacked into the side of her face, making her jerk her head to the side.

"Let that be a lesson to you, Huntsgirl!" the Huntsman growled. "You NEVER talk back to me. You get off easily this time because this is your first night under my command, but if you ever talk back to me again, you will regret it. You have five minutes to get dressed."

The Huntsman then turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him as the seven year old Rose just stood there, tears forming in her eyes.

&*%

"He hit you?" Jake asked in horror as Rose finished her story.

"News flash, Jake…" Rose answered. "He's hit me many times. Jake, I think its best that we split ways here. I don't think you should risk being seen even in human form by the Huntsman. That and I can take it from here."

Rose then turned and started to walk away, but Jake called to her: "Rose, what are you going to do?"

Rose turned to face him. "Well, when I get back to the Huntslair, I think I'm going to go take a shower and then cry myself to sleep."

"Rose, don't be like that…"

"Don't be like what, Jake?" Rose demanded, a little bit of anger flashing through her eyes. "I want my family, Jake! I want out of the Huntsclan and I want to find my family! Is that so much to ask for?! I guess it is! I guess I'll never get my Christmas wish…"

"Rose…" Jake tried to call her, but it was no use. Rose had turned and was now walking away…

END CHAPTER

A/N: So, I decided to do a Christmas story. Yeah, this chapter is quite angsty, but can you really blame poor Rose? Hopefully from here on it will be more upbeat, because there should be no such thing as a depressing Jake Long Christmas fic :P . I'll try to update as much as possible, but I am quite certain that this will go on passed the holidays.

So, what did you think? Please review.