(A/N: I must admit, I'm not a particularly big fan of "modern AU" stories, especially with franchises that take place in advanced societies that existed long ago ("Star Wars" for example). However, I do think it's only fair that I give it a chance and see where it goes. If all goes well with the first couple of chapters, then maybe I'll continue.
So, with that said, I really hope it turns out well and that everyone enjoys it. Please don't judge me if it's not really the best, but like I said this isn't exactly my cup of tea.)
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A young teenage girl got down from the back of an orange and aquamarine Deadly Nadder. The rider of the dragon wasn't her, but her older cousin, whom she lived with since her parents are never home and her older brother left to join the military.
She reached up to give her cousin a hug, "See you after school."
He and his dragon ascended, hovering above the ground for a moment as he waved goodbye to her, "See you later."
She watched as they took off with a small smile. She then turned towards her school and frowned with a sigh.
She walked through the front gate and went to the courtyard to wait for classes to start. Her head was down the entire time and her hands tightly gripped the straps of her backpack.
She sat down in front of a tree with scrubs that flanked it on either side. She set her backpack next to her and took out a plastic bag with crackers inside.
She started to munch on them and heard a rustling sound come from one of the shrubs. She turned towards where the sound came from and watched as a green Terrible Terror came out.
The tiny dragon eyed the snack in her hand and let out a rhythmic purring sound. She set a cracker down on the concrete space next to her.
He was reluctant to come out and retreated slightly back into the shrub. She patted the space as if to tell him that it was safe to come out.
He eventually came out and took the cracker into his mouth, eating it. She took out another and set it in front of him, which he ate too.
She then took out another and placed it in her palm, extending her hand out to him. He was wary about trusting her hand and approached very slowly. He sniffed her palm before eating the cracker out of her hand. He licked it clean, sparing no crumb or salt grain, she laughed as he did so.
When he was done, she slowly lifted her hand and held it above him. He went stiff when she did, but quickly relaxed. She lowered her hand and gently rested it on top of his head. He relaxed into her touch and closed his eyes.
She removed her hand from his head and started to scratch underneath his chin. He raised his chin to allow her better access and thumped his foot on the concrete.
Suddenly, an obnoxious voice remarked, "Hey, check it out, Little Miss Dragonless finally has a dragon of her own!"
That voice was from a teenage boy who was roughly her age. He was her former friend Alex and he was with a group of students who liked to belittle her for being one of the few who doesn't have her own dragon yet.
They also liked to make fun of her because of her name and heritage. Her name was Syrena Redfin, she was the great-grandchild of a medicine man of the Ute tribe. Although it was quite rare for them to mock her because of this, she still hated it and her blood would always boil like water in a pot.
The Terrible Terror went on the offensive to defend his new friend. She placed a hand on his back to keep him calm. The last she needed was a "they said, she said" on her hands.
"Yeah, right! A little thing like that may as well be an ordinary lizard," another male gibed.
That other male was the perspective leader of this group. His name was Gage, an arrogant jerk who only considers himself to be the leader because of his Monstrous Nightmare, Garnac.
"Go away!" she yelled at them.
The Terrible Terror growled at them and narrowed his eyes. He started to whip his tail around, much like that of an irritated cat.
A girl laughed at him, "Oh, look, looks like he wants to act all big and tough and protect a no one like her."
She was Gage's alleged girlfriend, Natalie. A spoiled child from a prominent family with a Razorwhip named Anachro.
The small dragon growled at them again, his whole body shaking with rage. If one more person said another hurtful thing to her, a burn mark would be the least of their worries.
Then, another voice intervened before anything else could happen. "Okay, that's enough."
It came from a petite woman with a thick Columbian accent. She was one of the Spanish teachers who was also a former counselor. She knew who she was because she had been her student for two years.
Some of the people in the group knew who she was too and knew just how fierce she can be for a woman of her stature. They left without protest, much to her relief.
"Gracias Señora Peña," she smiled.
"De nada," she replied. She then saw the Terrible Terror next to her and gave her a pointed look, "No dragons on campus, señorita Syrena."
She looked at the little dragon, she still had her hand on his back, and looked back up at her, "He's not mine, he's a wild dragon."
She smiled and nodded her head, "Okay." She then asked her, "¿Cómo está?"
"Estoy bien," she answered. She then looked in the direction of the group that had nothing better to do other than to mock her, "Realmente no me gustan ellos."
She frowned sympathetically, "I know, just hang in there a little longer."
"¡¿Cuánto tiempo más?!" she practically snapped, causing the little green dragon to flinch.
"No lo sé," she responded, she then started to walk away, but not before adding, "solo sé fuerte."
She looked at her phone and saw that classes were about to start. Which meant that she had to say goodbye to her new friend.
She picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder, she was not going to leave it where anyone could easily vandalize or steal it. She then picked up the Terrible Terror and walked out of the main gate.
She set him down ten feet away from the entrance and went back to the campus. He tried to stop her by tugging on her pant leg with his mouth.
She gently shoved him away with the back of her hand, "No, no, you have to stay here. You belong out here."
Reluctantly, he backed off from her and flew away. She watched until she lost sight of him before returning to the campus just as the first bell rang for classes to begin.
The end of the day couldn't come faster for her, it had been a rough day for her again, as always. She spent most of her time - when she wasn't paying attention to her teachers - trying to avoid the group and its members as much as possible.
Something like that was nearly impossible because she has at least a couple of members in each of her classes and they harass her non-stop. Fortunately, she has the pleasure of being a "teacher's pet" because of her behavior and grades and she has her teachers on her side, but even that's not enough sometimes.
She rushed out of her last class and made a beeline for the front gate. She took out her phone and sent a text message to her cousin to see where he was and if he was his way to come get her.
She practically ran out the gate, pushing away nearly everyone in her way. She looked behind her and saw the group, including Gage and Natalie, mounting their dragons.
Gage's dragon, Garnac, was a green and purple Monstrous Nightmare, who was actually quite friendly, but she still wouldn't push her luck. Natalie's dragon, Anachro, looked like an ordinary Razorwhip, although she was a bit shorter and thinner.
He looked at her with a look in his eye that said that he was looking to do so damage to something... or someone. He looked like he wanted to use her for target practice.
Her heart dropped and her face went cold with fear. She needed her cousin to get there lightning fast!
'Where are you, Xavier?!' she mentally cried.
She unconsciously did the "sign of the cross" gesture when she saw the last of them mount their dragons. If Xavier didn't arrive in the next five seconds she would need more than her faith in Him to protect her.
She took out her phone again and sent him another frantic text, "Now would be a good time to show up!"
She got her response when she heard the familiar sound of a Deadly Nadder. She looked up with a content grin when she saw a familiar dragon and her cousin on her back.
"You called?" he asked as his dragon set foot on the ground.
The group left on their dragons when he showed up. A bunch of kids on dragons getting involved in an uneven confrontation with two people with a single dragon wouldn't exactly look good if an officer came in to break it up.
She wasn't sure if spending nearly all four years of high school defending herself and doing her best to avoid them made her a little paranoid or if they were actually planning to attack her with their dragons. All she did know was that she was glad Xavier showed up when he did.
"Are you okay?" he asked as he grabbed her hand to help her up onto his dragon's saddle.
"Yeah, I am, thanks to you two," she replied when she sat down. The Deadly Nadder let out a grateful growl and she laughed at that. "Yes, especially you, Spike."
He chuckled as they ascended, "You're just feeding her ego." She wrapped her arms around his waist once they were off the ground.
"She gets it from you," she remarked playfully just as they took off for home.
They arrived at the home they shared in less than five minutes. They landed in the driveway and the two cousins got down. Xavier tapped Spike on the thigh and she walked into the dragon coupe next to the house.
They went into the house and she went straight to the kitchen counter to do her homework. He went straight to the sofa to watch television.
"What do you wanna watch?" he asked as he turned it on.
"I don't care, I have work to do," she answered, taking out her computer from her backpack.
He put it on a random channel and she logged into her computer to get started on her homework. She figured that it shouldn't take her to complete her work, but she's been wrong before and has been stuck trying to get it all done in one night before and not finishing it until nine o'clock at night.
While she was working, time got away from her once again. She never noticed him get up from the sofa to start cooking dinner for them and Spike. It wasn't until he set a burrito right in front of her that she finally noticed.
"Dinner," he told her as he started to make his own. She smiled and laughed.
She picked it up and began to eat it, "Thanks."
"Hey, can you give Spike her chicken when it's done?" he asked as he bit into his food.
"Yeah, sure," she answered with a slight nod.
She finished her dinner and completed the remainder of her homework shortly after. By that time, the chicken was done and ready to be given to a hungry dragon.
She took it out and let it cool for a couple of minutes before taking it outside. Spike picked up the scent of roasted meat as soon as she came out and perked up immediately.
She went into the coupe and she ate the chicken off the plate as soon as she saw her. She laughed and placed a hand on her horn as she ate it.
She scratched her under her chin when she was done and she was reminded of the Terrible Terror she befriended at school. She had to let him go because of the school's rules regarding dragons on campus.
Although, if they knew she had a dragon, would they leave her alone even if they never see it? She was very doubtful.
She was certainly old enough to have a dragon of her own. If you want a dragon you have to be at least sixteen, or have consent from a parent or guardian to have one before that age. She was seventeen and was quite mature, much more so than most people she knows.
Still, if she finally got a dragon, what difference would it really make at this point? She had a feeling that quite a few people would still make fun of her for getting a dragon so 'late' in her life.
"Hey, what's wrong?" her cousin suddenly asked.
She snapped out of her state and looked at him, she never heard him come outside. "Nothing, just…" she looked back at Spike.
"You want one of your own, don't you?" he inquired as he came up to his dragon.
She was a little taken back and looked a little nervous, "I, uh, no," she sighed. "Yes, I do."
"Well, I think it's time for you to take a course at the Academy, then," he smiled.
She blinked, "Really? Do you think I can?"
"You have good grades and you're a good person," he pointed out, still smiling.
She thought about it for a moment before she smiled brightly, "Let's do it then!"
"We'll leave first thing tomorrow morning," he declared.
She then looked away from him and looked down at the ground, "I- I don't think that's a good idea. I have school tomorrow and I don't want to miss anything important."
"I get that, but in order to get a dragon you have to do a test and they only allow you to do it on Thursdays and Fridays," he explained.
"And today is Thursday," she uttered, a little fearful.
"Which means we can only go tomorrow or wait until next week and I'm going to be busy all next week because there's going to be inventory at my job next Thursday and it could carry on into Friday," he told her pointedly.
"I know," she groaned, she was going through a slew of emotions by that point. She felt nervous, a little frustrated, and overwhelmed all at once. She was eventually able to calm herself down and gave him a small smile, "I suppose I can miss one day of school."
"It's settled then, we'll leave right after breakfast," he smiled.
She went up to him and embraced him, "Thanks, Xavier, you're the best!"
He returned it by giving her a bear hug, "It's the least I can do for my favorite cousin!"
He picked her up and spun her around a little, causing her to laugh. After a few seconds, he set her back down onto the ground and the two separated.
"Well, we better get inside and let Spike get some rest," he told her. He then looked at his dragon, "Ain't that right, girl?" She let out a playful snarl and they laughed.
"Okay," she replied through her laughter. She went up to Spike and her hand on her snout, she closed her eyes and exhaled through her nostrils. "Goodnight, girl."
She hoped that the Deadly Nadder would be able to sleep easily because she knew that she certainly wouldn't. Whenever she gets excited or nervous the night before a big event it's near impossible for her to fall asleep.
She grinned to herself as she followed Xavier into the house, 'I can't wait until tomorrow!'
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(A/N: So, how is it? What do you think? I would really like to hear some feedback on this. As I said this isn't my territory, so I hope I did a good job.
I apologize for the cover image being a little cut off in some areas. I'll try to find a better image and replace it, but it might take awhile. If I can't find anything I'm sure I can find some time to do a quick drawing.
Now, I just want to clarify something, just because there are dragons in this modern era that doesn't mean that modern inventions such as cars and airplanes don't exist. A dragon can't possibly carry thirty people, luggage, and who knows what else hundreds of miles. So, if the words "car", "plane", etcetera appear in a paragraph, take into consideration the limitations of most dragons.)