Future Dragon: Rose Long (Season Two)

Chapter/Episode 2: Teresa

Night had fallen and every room in the Huntsclan Academy was pitch black. All except for the Huntsclan library, which was lit with a candle at one table. Sitting at the table, writing something down on a piece of paper was a boy wearing a trainee's uniform. The boy's long curly black hair was too long for the mini-mask over the top half of his head, so the hair went passed the mask and went down to his shoulders. The trainee had some muscle in his arms and the fire coming from the candle illuminated the number on his shoulder: #666.

"Hey..." #666 looked up from his paper and turned his head to the side, where he could see #56 entering. In his hand, he held a lit lighter. "...You're still here..."

"Of course I'm still here..." #666 said as he turned his head back to normal and looked back down at his paper and started to write it again. "...I need to get this paper on how I would slay a dragon done so it can be ready for the Graduation Rite..."

"That's not for another two months..." #56 told him.

"I need it to be good enough to get a passing grade on it." #666 said, not looking up from the paper. "I have to pass all my classes for me to be eligible for the Graduation Rite. Have a seat..." He then added.

#56 nodded as he started to walk closer to the table. He reached the opposite side of the table and sat down, clicking off his lighter. "The Huntsgirl is here..." He said bluntly.

"I know." #666 said, still not looking up from his paper. "I saw her enter earlier today."

"You're not concerned that she'll steal all of my-I mean, your popularity here?" #56 asked, hoping that his "friend" had not caught his mistake by the time he finished speaking.

#666 glanced up from the paper he was writing. "Are you kidding?" He asked. "Huntsgirl's welcome back reception has not been very warm thus far. Wouldn't you agree?" As he finished speaking, he looked back down at the paper he was writing.

"But it could change..."

"Not likely..." #666 replied. "...Is this why you came here? Because I really don't think it's worth discussing. I have my future as a Huntsclan member to worry about..."

#56 said nothing as he just stared at his fellow trainee as he worked on the paper. Without saying anything, #56 slowly got up from his chair, turning and walking out of the library. After exiting the library and turning down, starting to walk into the wall, he held up his lighter and clicked it open, lighting up the area around him so he could see where he was going. "I can't have her impress the other trainees..." He whispered to himself. "...I can't let her become more popular than #666. I have to do something about her..."

#56 continued on walking until he reached the door to his room. He started to reach out for his doorknob, only to freeze. "...Maybe..." He said to himself. "...Hmm...Maybe I could..." A smile crossed his face. "...Chase her away from the Huntsclan..."

LINE BREAK

The next morning, Rose was walking down the halls of the Academy, trying to keep her gaze away from any students that she passed by, hoping to not catch their hostile gazes. Rose looked up from the floor as she passed by a trainee, only to verbally groan as she saw a line of five trainees headed toward her. Sliding to the middle of the hall, Rose braced herself for the impact.

Rose grunted as she made contact with the two trainees closest to the middle, pushing through them. After she made it through them, she stopped and whirled around, glaring as she watched the trainees walking away.

"Huntsgirl!" Hearing the familiar sound of The Huntsman's booming voice, Rose gasped as she quickly whirled around again, watching as The Huntsman walked up the hall, a young girl wearing a trainee uniform with a black backpack slung over her shoulder walking beside him. "Shouldn't you be heading for class?" The Huntsman asked as he and the girl stopped right in front of her.

With the new trainee in front of her, Rose could see that she had gray eyes, was a few inches shorter than her, her hair was up in two black pigtails with a red line going down both of them; the pigtails dangling over her shoulders. Finally, on her shoulder was her number: #101.

"I was just on my way, Huntsmaster..." Rose told him. "...Um, pardon me for asking, but who is this?"

"The newest trainee..." The Huntsman said, his tone sounding like he thought that Rose must be the stupidest person alive. "...That should be no concern of yours." He put his finger in Rose's face, making her step back. "You get to class while I take her to her quarters."

"Yes, Huntsmaster..." Rose replied, taking another step back, then, she shuffled to the side, turning her head to the side as she watched The Huntsman and #101 started walking down the hall again.

Returning her attention to the hallway ahead of her, Rose sighed as she started to walk down it, completely unaware that from several feet away, #56 was following her.

Rose continued walking down the halls on her way to her class, the hall starting to turn and wing into a C-shape. At the end of the short spiral, there was the start of another hall and a bump in the wall with a door that led to the inside of a closet.

Still completely unaware of being followed, Rose continued on, as #56 stopped behind her very briefly, a small, mischievous smile crossing his face. "Exactly what I need..." He whispered to himself.

Then, with a grunt, #56 started to run toward Rose, his footsteps making loud noises against the floor. The footsteps were so loud that Rose heard them, stopping in her tracks as she was just a few inches away from the bump in the wall that was the utility closet. Turning around, Rose was able to see the trainee charging toward her, just in time to grunt as #56 slammed into her.

#56 grabbed onto her arms and shuffled to the side, taking Rose with him before he started to run her right toward the closed door to the closet. Before Rose could do anything to defend herself, she grunted as #56 slammed her against the door, her back colliding against it. #56 quickly grabbed hold of her shoulders and pushed her to the side, where Rose stumbled back before accidentally tripping herself, falling to the floor on her back with a grunt, just as #56 grabbed the knob to the door of the closet, pulling it open.

As Rose groaned, starting to slowly slit up, she heard footsteps approaching her. Turning her head to the side, her eyes widened as she saw two girls wearing trainee uniforms. One girl had brunette hair and the other one had dirty blonde-colored hair, almost to the point of being a light orange. The two girls quickly stopped their conversation and were now looking down on Rose, a look of contempt in their eyes.

"Oh, look..." said the brunette. "...Huntsgirl just got whooped by a trainee..."

"What?" Rose's eyes widened even more. "No...No I didn't!"She tried to shake her head from side to side, but when she turned her head back to normal, she could see #56 walking up toward her, the door to the closet wide open. "Hey!" Rose told him angrily, her eyes narrowing. "Who do you think you are? I'm your superi-!"

However, before she could finish, #56 leaned down and grabbed her by the collar of her uniform, forcing her to her feet as he stepped back. "Hey, let go of me!" Rose ordered, but #56 refused, dragging her over to the open closet before he turned himself and Rose to the side so that her back was to the open closet.

"You can't do this!" Rose told him, but #56 didn't listen. Instead, he shoved her into the closet. Rose stumbled into the closet before she collapsed in a sitting position, #56 walking up to the door. The last thing Rose heard before the trainee closed the door was the joyous laughter of the two girls. Then, she was in the dark.

As #56 turned away from the door, he could see that the two trainee girls were still laughing. Smiling, #56 started to walk over to the girls, turning to them as they stopped laughing. "Very nice." The dark blonde told him. "I can't believe you were able to do that to her."

"This just shows how she's fallen..." the brunette replied, turning her head to the side to look at her friend. When her friend nodded in agreement, the brunette turned her attention back to #56. Seconds later, her face lit up. "...Hey, aren't you...#666's friend?"

"Yeah..." #56 replied, a small smile crossing his face.

"Hmm..." the brunette said as she and her friend started to continue walking down the hall, #56 stepping to the side. "...Then maybe one of these days, you can be almost as cool as him..."

Hearing this, #56 turned to the side to watch the two female trainees walking down the hall. "Come on..." said the dark blonde eagerly. "...We have to go tell the rest of the school that the Huntsgirl got whooped by a trainee!"

As he watched them walk away, #56's small smile grew into a much larger one. "Maybe..." He whispered to himself. "...I can become even cooler..."

LINE BREAK

Rose was not in darkness for very long. Soon, a green light lit up the room, revealing Rose up near the ceiling, pulling her hand away from the button next to the light on the ceiling. Rose was in a splits position in the air, her feet making contact with the opposite walls.

Grunting, Rose pulled both her feet away from each side of the wall and she dropped to the floor. There wasn't much in the closet Rose was trapped in. There was a trashcan in the back corner and a broom in the other, and surprisingly, a coil or rope near the door. Not caring about her surroundings, Rose reached out for the knob and took it, but when she turned it, the door would not open.

Anger flashing through her eyes, Rose wrapped her other hand around the knob, grunting as she pushed against the door. Still, the door wouldn't budge.

"Open this door right now, you little twerp!" Rose shouted as she pulled her arms back to her side, clenching her fists. "Let me out or I'll tell The Huntsman! I'm not lying!"

Still, the door remained closed, Rose locked in. Growling in annoyance, Rose shouted: "Fine! I'll kick the door down! HIYAHH!" Rose then jumped up and aimed a kick for the door, just as the lock to the door clicked and the door opened, revealing a trainee. However, Rose's kick made contact with the trainee's neck instead of the door.

With a grunt, the trainee fell to the ground with a thud as Rose landed on her feet. Rose's eyes were filled with anger as she looked down at the trainee, expecting to see #56. However, it was not #56.

This trainee had black hair that was in two ponytails, a red streak going down both of them. On her shoulder was the number 101. She was panting heavily as she stared up at Rose with her gray eyes. Shocked, Rose gasped in horror at what she had just done.

BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK

BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW

#101 groaned as she rolled over onto her stomach. She started to pick herself up onto her hands, but before she could sit up, violent coughs started to hit her. "I'm so sorry!" Rose apologized, walking over to her side and kneeling down, putting her hand on the girl's back as she coughed again.

Finally, after about four more coughs, the girl groaned as she turned her head to the side, looking at Rose. Rose sensed this, so she turned her head to the side to look at her as well. "I'm really sorry." Rose told her. "I didn't know it was you. I thought you were #56."

"It's okay..." #101 told her, her voice raspy.

"Wh...What were you doing, anyway?" Rose asked.

"I saw what happened..." #101 explained in a raspy voice before she looked back down at the floor, hacking up a loud cough. "...I wanted to help you..." Her voice was even raspier as she turned her head back to the side after coughing again.

Rose just stared back at the girl on her knees, not knowing what to say. Finally, she decided on what to say. Pulling her hand away from the trainee's back, she asked: "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." The trainee said, turning her head back to normal, reaching up with one hand to put around her neck.

"Are you sure?" Rose offered. "If you want, I can take you to the Hunts-nurse..."

"I'm fine." #101 told her as she started to get to her feet. Rose watched as the trainee finally managed to get to her feet. Then, she watched as the trainee started to slowly walk down the hall, wheezing every time she took a step.

Quickly making up her mind, Rose got to her feet and quickly jogged up to the wheezing trainee. As soon as Rose reached #101's side, she reached out and put her arm around the girl's shoulder, making her stop. "Come on." Rose said. "You should see the nurse. Come on. I'll take you..."

LINE BREAK

#101 now sat in a padded table with the Hunts-nurse standing over her. Despite being a nurse, the Hunts-nurse wore the standard Huntsclan uniform with a cape and a dragon skull helmet. Rose sat in the corner with her arms crossed as the Hunts-nurse put her fingers to #101's throat.

"She'll be fine..." The Hunts-nurse decided, pulling her hands away and turning around to face Rose. Unlike The Huntsman or any other Huntsclan master, the Hunts-nurse's voice was soft and even somewhat caring. "...She's already beginning to breathe normally again."

"That's a relief..." Rose said, using a softer version of her Huntsgirl tone as she lowered her arms.

"Yes..." The Hunts-nurse agreed. "...But why did you kick her in the neck in the first place, Huntsgirl?" The tone of her voice darkened; she didn't sound angry, just disappointed.

"Well, I-" Rose tried to explain, but before she could begin, she was cut off by #101.

"I snuck up on her..." She said in a raspy voice, making the Hunts-nurse turn around. "...And I startled her. So...she accidentally kicked me..."

To Rose's surprise, this got a chuckle out of the Hunts-nurse. "Yes..." She said, putting a hand on #101's shoulder. "...That can happen when you sneak up upon a Huntsclan warrior, my dear. We are always prepared for the worst and we are always on guard."

"I know that now, Hunts-nurse..." #101 told her.

The Hunts-nurse nodded before she turned back around, facing the door. "If you will excuse me..." The Hunts-nurse said kindly. "...I will go get you girls an escort to your class. She turned her head to the side. "Huntsgirl, you have Dragon Slaying 101. And you?" She turned back around to face #101.

"Same..." She replied, her voice still raspy.

"Then I will get you both an escort..." The Hunts-nurse said, turning around and starting to walk toward the door. Rose turned her head to the side and watched as the Hunts-nurse opened the door and stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

As soon as the Hunts-nurse was gone, Rose quickly got up from her chair and walked over to #101, who smiled at her when she looked at Rose. "I'm sorry." Rose told her, wrapping her arms around her sides, almost hugging herself. "Thanks for making up a story for me..."

"No problem..." #101 smiled, her voice still a little raspy as she held out her hand. "...And it wasn't really a story that I made up. It's mostly true..."

"I guess..." Rose replied as she pulled her arms away from her side and reached out, taking #101's hand, both of them shaking.

"My name's Teresa." #101 told her.

"Rose." Rose returned.

"Nice to meet you..." Teresa smiled as their hands parted. "...And you have no reason to apologize to me for kicking me. It was a complete accident."

"Thanks for being so understanding..." Rose told her sincerely. "...So..." She changed the subject. "...You've got Dragon Slaying 101 first thing, too?"

"Yeah." Teresa's face lit up. "It's the class I'm looking forward to the most!"

"Oh..." There was no hiding the disappointed tone in Rose's voice and she took a step back.

"Yeah!" Teresa continued. "All day, I've been hearing about this Graduation Right thing! You get to go out and slay magical creatures. If you slay one, you get to graduate! I'm excited!"

"Well, you have to get good grades in your classes to be considered eligible." Rose explained.

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard..." Teresa was grinning from ear-to ear. "...How hard can these classes be?"

LINE BREAK

When Rose and Teresa entered the classroom for Dragon Slaying 101, they were surprised to see that it was relatively empty. The only other trainee who had arrived was #56, who was sitting at his regular seat. Rose glared at him as she walked over to her seat, sitting down, looking at Teresa, who was looking around the room, hoping to find a place to sit.

Finally, Teresa looked over at Rose, a hopeful look in her gray eyes as she started to walk over to the table Rose was sitting at. "Ro-" She began, but she was cut off when Rose said in a hushed voice:

"You need to call me Huntsgirl in public around here." She whispered. " Just like I need to call you #101 in public. It would sound suspicious if we addressed each other by our real names."

"Okay." Teresa replied softly. "Then do you mind if I sit here, Huntsgirl?" She pointed at the spot at the table right next to Rose.

"Well, my roommate sits here, but she isn't here yet." Rose shrugged. "So...I guess it's okay..."

Nodding with a smile on her face, Teresa turned to the side and walked around the side of the desk, sitting down right next to Rose. "Thanks..." She said.

"Don't mention it..." Rose replied, just as about five more trainees walked into the room. As they started to make their way to their desks, all five of them looked at Rose, snickering and whispering.

Rose did her best to ignore the trainees as they walked passed her and instead kept her eyes on the door, just as Amberly stepped into the classroom. Amberly walked over to the table that Rose and Teresa were sitting at, her eyes slowly widening as she reached the table. "Who's this?" Amberly demanded, pointing at Teresa.

"This is #101." Rose replied calmly, gesturing to Teresa with her hand. "It's her first day and since you weren't here yet, I said she could sit here."

"But where am I going to sit?" Amberly asked, looking over the room. "Someone already inhabits all of the other seats..." As she said this, she looked back at Rose.

"Well, there is one seat that's never been taken..." Rose replied, indicating to the empty seat next to #56.

"But..." Amberly started, but she quickly stopped. Instead, she just sighed as she turned to the side and slowly started to walk over to the table across from the one that Rose and Teresa were sitting at.

LINE BREAK

"Now, class..." Several minutes later, the Huntsclan instructor stepped away from the board after drawing yet another somewhat poor picture of a dragon. "...I am about to show you the correct way to skin your dragon."

"Wait, skin?" Teresa asked, blurting out just as the Huntsclan instructor started to turn around. Teresa's outburst caused Rose to turn her head to the side and the Huntsclan instructor to turn around to look at her.

"Yes, #101..." He repeated impatiently. "...Skin."

"But..." Teresa asked. "...Doesn't that sound...cruel?"

"The dragon will already be DEAD, #101..." The Huntsclan instructor said impatiently, rolling his eyes.

"Dead?!" Teresa's eyes widened.

"Yes, #101..." The Huntsclan instructor turned his attention back to the chalkboard. "...The dragon will be dead. They will not be able to feel their scales being skinned off. Although honestly, I think they should feel it...Now pay attention, class..." He put the chalk up to the board again.

Her eyes wide, Teresa turned her head to the side to look at Rose. "No one ever told me that we were going to be killing dragons..."

"Be silent, #101!" The Huntsclan instructor shouted, turning around to look at her. "I will have no interruptions in my class..."

Quickly, the Huntsclan instructor stepped back, pointing his piece of chalk at the back of the dragon, while still being able to look at his class. "Class, the best place to start skinning your dragon would be at the top of the chest and then you go down their belly. You want to avoid the neck, because if you slice the artery, it can get a bit...messy..."

Rose was looking at the Huntsclan instructor as he spoke, but when she heard moaning coming from Teresa, she turned her head to the side, her eyes widening as she saw that Teresa was hunched over her desk, her head in arms wrapped around her head. However, her moaning soon ended and instead, Teresa's body tensed and jerked as a muffled heaving sound.

"Teresa?" Rose asked in a worried tone, forgetting her own advice, just as Teresa heaved again.

Teresa, as she heaved for a third time, sat up in her chair, turning her head to the side, just as she heaved for the fourth time. "Hunts-" She started, but was stopped by a fifth heave. "I think I'm gonna-" Once again, she was forced to stop because of heave number six.

"And that class, is how you skin a dragon..." The Huntsclan instructor had turned to face the board, but now he turned around to face the class, only to see that Rose had gotten up along with the still heaving Teresa.

"Huntsgirl, what are you doing?" The Huntsclan instructor demanded as he turned his head to the side, following Rose and Teresa as they made their way to the door.

Rose quickly opened the door and started to help Teresa out before she turned around to face the instructor. "I'm sorry, sir." She apologized politely and sincerely, just as Teresa heaved again; Teresa then ran out the door, turned and ran down the hall as quickly as she could. Rose turned her head to the side just in time to see Teresa running away Quickly, she returned her attention back to the instructor. "But I think #101 needs to go pray to the porcelain god!" Rose then quickly turned and ran out of the room, following Teresa.

LINE BREAK

In the girl's bathroom, Rose was leaning against the door, blocking anyone else from coming in as she looked to the side, looking into the open stall as Teresa sat on her knees, her mini-mask on the floor as her side, hunched over the toilet, releasing the contents in her stomach, making a sickening splash.

Almost immediately after throwing up once, Teresa heaved and lost the contents of her stomach for a second time. After she finished throwing up, she just sat in place, moaning in discomfort. However, about fifteen seconds later, the poor girl heaved again; seconds later, she emptied her stomach for the third time.

After she finished, Teresa started to lift her head up and she reached over, grabbing her mini-mask. "Feeling better?" Rose asked as she watched Teresa slip the mini-mask on before she slowly started to get to her feet. Then, she reached over and flushed the toilet.

Rose watched with sympathy in her eyes as Teresa turned around and slowly walked out of the stall. She then turned and walked over to the sink and turned it on, rinsing her hands. "Feeling better?" Rose repeated.

"No." Teresa answered, turning off the water and turning to the side so she could look at Rose, allowing the water to drip from her hands onto the floor. "I still don't feel good."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

To Rose's surprise, Teresa just shook her head. "I didn't think that we killed magical creatures, Rose. I never heard that. Everyone has been saying 'slay'."

Rose just looked at Teresa with confusion in her eyes, but before she could say anything, Teresa spoke again: "That was so wrong, Rose." She said. "I thought we just slayed magical creatures..."

Finally, Rose found her voice. Stepping away from the door, she turned to the side and held out her hand. "Come with me, Teresa..." She said.

LINE BREAK

Teresa stayed close to Rose as they entered the Huntsclan library. The two girls walked passed all of the tables before they reached the rows that contained the books. "Come on." Rose said as they walked down one of the rows.

Once they walked down the row, Teresa stopped in her tracks, instead opting to just watch Rose as she walked down the aisle. Finally, Rose stopped in the middle of the aisle and turned to the side, putting her finger on the shelf as she went down the row. "Here we go..." Rose whispered as she came to the book she needed. She quickly pulled the book out, which was a thick hardcover book that was covered with dust.

Taking the book in both hands, Rose turned to the side to face Teresa as she started to walk back down the aisle. "Come on." Rose said softly as she walked passed Teresa, making the girl turn around as Rose exited the aisle and walked over to the nearest table.

Rose set the book down before she pulled up a chair, sitting down in it as Teresa slowly walked up beside her. As she reached the table, Teresa looked down at the dusty cover of the book and read the title: Webster Dictionary.

"Sit down." Rose said softly, turning her head to the side as Teresa pulled up the chair next to the one Rose was sitting in, sitting down.

"What are you going to show me?" Teresa asked.

"You'll see..." Rose said as she turned her head to the book. Opening it, Rose skimmed through the hundreds of pages before she finally found the page she was looking for. "Here." She said, looking down at the page. Rose then put her finger down on the page and went down it, before she finally found the word. "Here it is." She said, scooting the book to the side so that it was right under Teresa's nose.

"Read this." Rose said, taking her finger off of the word.

"Slay." Teresa read. "Verb. To kill or murder." As she read this, her eyes widened with horror. Quickly looking up from the book, she turned her head to the side to look at Rose. "Rose..." She began. "...H...How cou...could anyone do that? What gives us the right to take another life?"

"Many Huntsclan masters..." Rose said as she turned her head to the side to look at the trainee. "...Think they have the right because they are normal and magical creatures are gross and unnatural."

"But..." Teresa's eyes widened some more. "...How can they be? They're living creatures, just like us..."

"Exactly..." Rose told her sadly. "...The truth is that we don't have the right to take away their lives. But at the same time..." Rose turned her head back to normal and lowered her head. "...We don't have a choice..."

"What can we do, Rose?" Teresa asked. "I don't want to kill any magical creature..."

"We don't have a choice, Teresa." Rose said, looking up and turning her head to the side again. "If we don't kill magical creatures, then we risk endangering ourselves. That's why I got sent back here..."

"What?" Teresa asked.

"You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone this..." Rose's eyes darkened.

"I promise, Rose..."

"I refused to slay a dragon..." Rose said in a hushed tone. "...The Huntsman just doesn't know that. He simply thinks I accidentally cut him loose." As she said this, she turned her head back and lowered it again. "But I meant to do it. And I don't regret it."

LINE BREAK

Sitting at a table in the cafeteria, Rose stared at Teresa as she sat right across from her. She seemed to be feeling a little bit better; while she didn't touch the food, she was at least sipping from her carton of milk.

Rose was just about to say something, but before she could, she jumped in surprise as a tray slammed against the table right next to Rose. Turning her head to the side, she could see Amberly sitting down in front of the tray, an angry look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Rose asked.

"You know." Amberly said. "This idiot takes my seat." She pointed at Teresa, who lowered her milk carton as her eyes widened. "If I were you, I'd be embarrassed." Amberly said, leaning into the table. "Who doesn't know what 'slay' means? Jeez..."

"Hey." Rose's tone changed; now it was much more stern and her eyes narrowed. "Don't talk to her like that..."

"I'm just saying it like it is..." Amberly defended herself, using her fork to dig into her slop. "...You both know that when you go back into that class, you're both going to be in trouble."

"I was just trying to help #101." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal to look at Teresa. "The teacher will understand. If he doesn't, I'm sure Huntsmaster will."

"Yeah, well I hope that you understand that I want my seat back..." Amberly said as she lifted up her fork. "...I don't want to sit next to that loser again." She added, using her fork to point across the room to where #56 was walking with a tray in his hands.

"Hmm..." Rose said, staring at him, a devious look in her eyes. "...Well, maybe I can make it so he isn't such a loser anymore." She started to get up from her seat. "Excuse me..."

Teresa lowered her carton of milk from her lips as she watched Rose walk around the table and walk away, heading for #56. "Where is she going?" Teresa asked Amberly.

"Hopefully telling that loser that you'll be sitting next to him from now on..."Amberly answered as she put her fork in her mouth. Not satisfied by this answer, Teresa turned around on the bench, watching as Rose finally reached #56.

#56 was about to near the exit when he felt someone trapping his shoulder. "Hey..." He heard the sound of Rose's voice from behind. #56 quickly turned around, just in time to see Rose throw a punch at him, which made contact with #56's face, throwing him off of his feet and onto the ground.

#56 landed on the floor with his tray landing on his stomach and some of his sloppy food flying up and landing on his mini-mask. Clutching his face with one hand, #56 looked up at Rose as she looked down on his, her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed.

"That's what you get for locking me in the utility closet." She told him.

Rose then turned around to face the table that she had been sitting at and as she started to walk toward it, she could see that Amberly was laughing hysterically and Teresa was staring at her with wide eyes.

As Rose reached the table again and sat down, Amberly returned to her lunch, while Teresa turned back around on the bench to look at Rose. "Why did you do that, Rose/" She asked.

"Revenge..." Rose replied. "...That was just the Huntsgirl talking..." As she said this, she lifted up the hand that she used to punch #56 and started to shake it out.

END FLASHBACK

Rose finished speaking briefly and looked up at the dragon Joel as he chuckled. "That trainee deserved what you gave him..." He said.

"Yeah, he did..." Rose replied. "...But Teresa told me that I probably shouldn't have done that. As I would soon find out, she was probably right. From that day on, I had an enemy at the Academy..."

"Well, everything turned out alright..." Joel told her. "...So things couldn't have been that bad, right?"

"Teresa was only one good thing about me being in the Academy at that time..." Rose told him. "...But when it was bad, it was really bad. And little did I know that some really bad events were about to transpire..."

BLACKOUT; END

A/N: Please review.