Another Dragon
Chapter 21
Sam felt like a spy, she was with Spud, follwing a member of the HuntsClan. It was weird, doing this as a human rather than a dragon. She was so used to being one and using that to help her do this kind of thing that it felt kind of uncomfortable when she was just being herself.
Spud was the one doing the watching at the moment with a pair of binoculars, she just watched the other way so they would not get caught by any other members of the HuntsClan. Both Trixie and Spud were excited to be a part of the plan, helping out their magically embued friends.
They acted like they hadn't done this for a while. They never told her why they were so happy for it. Lately though Jake had kind of put them at a bit of a distance from them and it made them worried for him. He was doing it to protect them most likely.
Now that Sam was in the picture, Trixie and Spud felt a little better because there was someone watching out for him. But there was also the added problem of the fact that Jake now felt that he had to protect her as well, he was wearing his hatred for the HuntsClan on his sleeve for the whole world to see.
It clouded all of his actions and made everyone concerned for him. Trixie and Spud had tried in vain to get him to talk about Rose and the last battle that they'd had with the HuntsClan and he never said a word.
With Sam in the picture and Jake treating her like she was a damsel in distress and feeling uncomfortable when Brad asked her out on a date. It felt disjointed to her because she had only known him a couple of months and he was reacting like this.
But now that they had managed to sort out all this 'rubbish' for lack of a better word, they seemed to be communicating that much better and it helped because they all needed their minds focused on the situation at hand.
The HuntsClan member had headed down to the beach, where Sam had spotted them a few days earlier. It was becoming more and more clear that this was not just a place where they hung out but their base of operations. The HuntsClan were careful but not yet at the level they had been before now. This gave them the advantage.
"Well now that we know about this we can report back. Come on, Sam." Spud announced and both agreed to this and headed back to the Shop.
Feeling that at least they had done something rather than just poring over books and maps and other things. It was a start and they had to keep going and not let up.
"Can I ask you something?" Spud said as they walked down the familiar streets of New York.
"Depends on what you want to know?" Sam retorted, interested in what kinds of answers he needed from her.
"Why are you and Jake always having problems? You're both ultra cool mythical creatures, but you just act like you don't see eye to eye on so much." Spud told her.
"We're just kind of road testing each other. We might not get along all the time but that is just the way we are built. Or whatever, we haven't known each other that long so there are bound to be a few pot holes in the road to us being on the same wavelength." Sam asnwered back, hoping that her answer would be enough for now.
Spud was a real genius but like a normal teenager saw things in a different way to other people. It was a useful quality in him and in Trixie as well, it gave them more of an understanding into this world compared to the normal.
"Like you and Trixie, you might not get along all the time and we all fight with our friends at one point or another but deep down we all want the same thing." Sam finished, he smiled at her.
"Ok." Spud answered back and they spent the rest of the journey in silence. He seemed a little better off with the answer than he had been.
They made it back to the Shop to find Trixie and Jake already there. Now both pairs had to say what information they had found that was relevant to the HuntsClan Threat.
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It was a while later when they had written down all of what they had found out today on their fact finding missions.
They had yet to come up with any other ideas on how to deal with the HuntsClan today. But after the last battle they had with the mythical creature haters it would take them a little while to get their numbers back up.
This would hopefully give them enough time to come up with a fool proof plan of action. But for now they had done well fo the day and had earnt the rest. Even with the oncoming threat they still needed to rest and recooperate.
Trixie and Spud went off in one direction, whilst Jake and Sam went off in the other. Neither really wanted to say anything, again came the awkward silence. It was now becoming a more than regular occurrence between the two of them.
How could she talk so plainly to Spud and not talk to Jake in the same way because he was the one that 'dragoned' out with her all the time? It was different talking to Spud, he was so free within himself and he said whatever he wanted all the time.
Jake might like to act that way at school, but the second it was over he became the person who acted like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, like he alone was the only one who could carry the burden.
He wasn't the only dragon in the world and sometimes he didn't realise that he wasn't the only dragon in this city. Why did he always put this much pressure on himself?
"So what was it like working with Spud?" Jake asked, now officially having had enough of awkward silences.
"It was different, but he's awesome and see things that we might not normally pick up on." Sam answered back. She was glad for the break in tension.
"Did anything interesting happen aside from finding out about the HuntsClan?" Jake questionned, he looked at her like he was fishing for information.
"He asked me why we were having problems agreeing with each other." Sam returned, still walking down the street.
"What did you say?" Jake looked concerned about what her answer had been.
"I told him that were bound to be having a few disagreements because of the fact that we barely know enough about each other to function as a unit just yet." Sam saw the concern and hoped that her answer abated that.
"Maybe if you talked to them then they would understand a little more about this." Sam told him.
"I know but I don't want them to think that I can't handle this." Jake said to her.
"But I don't get why you always feel that you have to be on your own, you're never alone. It's not a game, Jake." Sam retorted. Again came another problem.
"But sometimes I am alone and I have to be and I have to be strong enough to deal with that, you have to let me." He answered her, just wanting it to sound strong enough so that she would leave it alone.
"I won't let you deal with this kind of thing alone, we're partners in this and we need to be strong together." Sam stopped walking suddenly. They were in the middle of the street and this was not a good place to be having this conversation.
"Come on, we need to settle this before it gets worse." Sam grabbed Jake's arm and proceeded to drag him to her house.
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They arrived at her house a few minutes later. Jake was not looking forward to having this out with her. They just kept having problems and once they cleared one another would come along.
"What is it you want me to say to you?" Sam asked him.
"I just want you to understand that sometimes there are things that you can't help me with, things that no one can. I just need to deal with them on my own." Jake told her.
"What if something happens to you? What if no one is there to back you up and you get seriously hurt or you die? I don't want that to happen to you." Sam told him. She was looking like she wanted to cry because it wasn't exactly a light subject that they'd ventured into.
Jake started to pace around the room, just a little, considering his next words carefully. Sam was afraid for him, not of him and that warmed him just a bit. She wasn't clingy or possessive, but she couldn't hold his hand all the time and watch him like some kind of glorified babysitter.
"I am not going to go down like that, I have you to help me but at the same time you're not going to be there every moment. Please understand that." Jake answered back.
"I know that, you just need to tell me to back off or something. If you don't want to deal with this then it's fine. You need to tell me when you want me to leave it alone." Sam told him. Like drawing a line in the sand or something.
He looked at her in a different light. He knew what she was capable of as a dragon and that she was a match for him because she had been doing this the same amount of time that he had. But as a human being, he didn't know what limits she could be pushed to.
She did have some patience but that was a given. It wasn't as though she broke down that much and when it came to her friends she was protective. Her history was clouded and he needed to find out more about her.
He knew that it would take time to learn more about each other but he was willing to try now because she was trying for him, it was only fair to do the same back.