Author's Notes: I'm glad people like Ann. It's a gamble to make up a main character; they may rub the audience the wrong way and stop reading! It's happened when I was reading on FFnet, except they buggered a likable character from the cannon (which is even worse)!
Thanks to ArkansanDragon for being my beta.
Disclaimer: I don't own… please don't sue. If I did, it would still be running with the original animation and the guy that came up with the idea for Homecoming (the ending at least) would be looking for a new job. I only own the characters I made up.
PS: Please forgive me for the possible random changes of how people's names are spelt. There's multiple ways of spelling them & my spell-check approves them all. The main one is Loa/Lao. I keep forgetting which one I've chosen.
Previously on A Race to Protect
When the group got to the entrance to the deck, Sun greeted Jake with a slight nod in his direction while Ann failed at looking like she didn't want to ask 'How many of them are living here?' Curbing her curiosity might be harder than she had thought.
Now all they had to do was to sneak past the goons on lookout, the police camped on the dock, and the media surrounding the perimeter. No problem.
A Race to Protect
Chapter 14: Run for it.
On the ship, 3:45am.
It was an unspoken agreement between them all to keep Clarkson in the dark for as long as possible. It wasn't as thought they didn't trust her, far from it. It was for her own safety, as well as theirs. The less she knew (or suspected), the less she could unwittingly tell anybody else. It was the whole basis why nobody except Jake, his grandfather, Fu and a few members of the Dragon Council knew about Rose. If the magical community knew about her, it might filter back to the Huntsclan. Besides, Jake found their mock aggression towards each other entertaining and sexy; there was something to be said for a confident and dangerous young woman.
The group started moving quietly towards the side of the ship with Jake staying in the middle – being the least likely to be able to fight or run away. Fortunately for them, the kidnappers were clustered on the side with the police blockade – hurling threats, insults and the occasional item found on hand. Unfortunately, they were smart enough to have patrols.
"What da hell??!!" was the response from the man who appeared around a corner and almost walked into Loa's chest. He backpedaled before the old dragon could recover for his own surprise to clobber the thug on the head. He released a few rounds over the dragon's head at an attempt to scare him off before he was picked up and tossed into the Hudson River. Using their acute hearing (which they should have already been using), all three dragons knew some of his fellows were coming to see what the commotion was. The group hightailed it in the opposite direction and hid themselves amongst the large crates, masses of rigging and huge metal pipes on the open deck.
The men eased around the corner, cocking their rifles and slowly started to sweep the area. Knowing it was only a matter of time before they were found, Huntsgirl stunned one with her staff. She had timed it so her target was out of his college's line of sight, so when they came at the sound of his body hitting the deck, she had found a new hiding place.
The teenager was quick and nimble on her feet. She managed to down another of them in a similar fashion before one man called the remaining back, swapped his rifle for a sub-machine gun and demanded in a loud and confident voice: "Whoever you are, you have till the count of three to get out of wherever you're hiding before I make you look like Swiss cheese! 1!... 2!... Yyyooowww!!!"
He dropped the weapon, clutching his arm in pain from the glowing energy-arrow that was lodged there. Using their surprise of being attacked to buy some time, Thorn blasted two more of the men before charging into their midst.
Clustering together may provide security in numbers and many eyes, but it makes heavy firearms all but useless. It was no contest, really. Huntsgirl was trained to take on opponents many times larger than herself in unarmed combat; and – unlike these dolts – she could use a staff in very tight quarters. She used her staff as pole-vault to aim a powerful kick at a unusually large grunt – breaking his jaw and knocking him out when the back of his head hit the floor. Keeping her momentum going, Thorn swung her weapon in a low arc and sent two more on their buts before stunning one and pounding the other on the head.
One man did manage to back up without falling over his comrades to get clear shot. But once he saw who attacked them, he just stared with a bewildered look on his face. Apparently, this guy could not believe that a petite young girl could send several 200lbs brutes to the floor. He didn't have much time to contemplate the matter because he was batted over the side – courtesy of Sun's tail.
With the goons knocked out and bound with the ship's spare rope, the gang continued to move towards the exit ramp.
Clarkson breathed a sigh of relief when the ramp to the pier came into view. That was short lived when shouting was heard from the direction of the hull. "The lizard's gone, Boss! And so's it's keeper!" The response was instantaneous… Every last thug rushed to the ramp, blocking the only exit that didn't involve a two-story drop and a swim.
They quickly fanned out along the rail facing the waif. One guy questioned a man in such a timid voice that Ann couldn't make it out. She did, however, hear the response; "Idiot! Of course they're still here! The cops would be on us by now if they weren't! You three," he gestured to several men closest to him, "get down there and find them. The beast's hurt, it can't go too far. And when you find the Doc, KNOCK HER OUT!! She's too much trouble, if you ask me." The three ran passed their hiding place to reach enter the ship's hold.
The light blue dragon patted Ann on the back, as if to comfort her. It was only then that Clarkson realized she was shaking. Hearing chatting noises, she looked over to the boys in the ninja get-up…and felt better. They were cowering behind Lucky's flank, much to his annoyance. Unable to hold off her curiosity, she tapped the young woman on the shoulder. "New to the job?" She whispered, nodding to the pair.
The female rolled her eyes. "If you regard two years of training in the field new. Don't ask me what Uncle was smoking when he hired them. They're more a hindrance than help." She took a breath. "Here's the plan: You take Dumb, Dumber and Dragonboy over to those crates. We'll make a diversion over there," gesturing in the opposite direction, "so you three can help him get to the ramp without being seen. No matter what you see or hear, don't stop. Understood?"
Most people would be irritated taking orders from someone that looked like they were still on their learner's permit, but Ann was smart enough to see that she knew what she was doing. Besides, pride wasn't worth squat if you were dead.
She jabbed the boys to get them moving from the safety of the shadows, but it was the shove Lucky gave them from behind that got them out of their cover. "Master's going to kill us when he finds out what happened," the skinny Caucasian boy with glasses whined. Master? Could this be the girl's uncle? Ann wondered.
"Don't worry," the chubby African-American countered. "Remember what Thorn said. She's gonna take the fall for this rescue, and it was the snobby Pom that shot him – we're in the clear, bro." Strange. Why would they get in trouble for rescuing someone? Especially when it sounds like they're partly responsible for it.
"I'd rather be chasing dragons than this," the first boy continued. Huh…?
"You nuts, bro? You're all like 'Aahhh! Dragon!' and he's all like 'Yo, Dude, you're not worth the effort to get up for, but I will 'cause yer screaming pisses me off.'" Lucky had to butt him with his head at this point to keep both of them moving. "Yeah, yeah. I'm walkin'."
"That's what I mean. Their so worried about evading Master and Thorn that we're not on their 'Beware Of' list. We're not worth making a fuss over, so we're safer than those two." Evading… Beware of… Do these guys hunt dragons? The animal lover within her wanted to stop and give them a piece of her mind, but her survival instincts told her that was a bad idea at the moment.
Intellectually, Ann knew that the Illegal Animal Trade was the third largest illicit trade in the world – after weapons and drugs, in that order. Dragons – in one form or another – were admired and feared for their strength or wisdom in almost every major culture around the world. And that was forgetting about any so called 'magical' properties. The price for a head, claw, tail or hide of one would be mind blowing. Suddenly, getting Lucky out of reach became much more urgent.
The only thing that didn't fit with the hunter scenario was why the dragons went along with this 'Thorn' if she hunted them. Ann shook her head. Too much thinking will get me killed here.
Finally reaching their destination, Clarkson positioned herself so she could see the ramp and the distraction point.
Clarkson expected to see the green bolts she had seen before, but she saw something else as well…fire. Two streams of it launched out of place where the three were, aiming for those nearest. Heart in her mouth, the doctor grabbed Lucky's arm to steady him and made a bee-line for the ramp. She didn't notice the screams, gunfire, or the fact that the boys were already gone… she didn't even see the shrapnel that slammed into her head.
Her head exploding with pain, Ann flailed for the railing. Moving too fast, her momentum carried her over, headfirst into the dark water. With her last moment of awareness, she could have sworn Lucky called her name…