The sky stretched on endlessly. Amidst the blue, a sleek black shape soared through it. Every once in a while, the shape would touch the air creating a platform to propel itself. Though it had been taught it was merely manipulating the magic in the air, a smarter soul had informed him that it was instead manipulating the moisture in the air. Raindrops helped make the process exponentially easier.
The sleek held a thick-looking beard upon its face, and it was clear this sleekness was a he, and his name was Jarek.
Jarek did another flip in the air before he descended upon the ground.
"Excellent landing there Skippy!"
Jarek turned to see a fellow blue shape, and upon inspection, these were not mere shapes, but dragons. And the dragon who addressed him was none other than Sisudatu.
Smiling, Jarek slowly advanced toward Sisu, "Well hello there beautiful," He greeted.
Sisu smiled back, her pretty face illuminated by it, "Oh so I'm beautiful now? Well thank you handsome," She finished with a giggle.
Face leaning in close to her's, Jarek replied, "What can I say? I'm a guy who knows what he wants."
"Oh don't I know it," Sisu said just as she and Jarek leaned in.
And then Jarek woke up.
Eyes snapping open, Jarek felt heavy breaths escape. He could have sworn he was sweaty, but that may have simply been from how hot he was. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room as he lay awake for a few moments.
"Another dream," He muttered.
This wasn't the first time, and he had a fear it wouldn't be the last.
As he settled down again, he uttered two things, "May have to lay off Pranee's cakes before bed."
And before long, Jarek was asleep once more.
XXX
The day rose high in Dragontown Kumandra. Its inhabitants milled about, going through their day as usual. I had been that way since their town was built. Their long years of being stone had cost them precious time, time they felt the need to use. And that meant establishing their abodes. If anything it brought them closer to humanity. And speaking of which, one such resident was closer than one would think.
"Hey, old man Junghi!"
The elderly dragon glowered as his name was called, "Would you knock off the "old man" rot!?"
"Hey I just call em like I see em!" came a reply with a laugh.
Junghi let out a disgruntled noise, waving his claw off in dismissal.
But that did nothing to deter the source of a voice. And said the voice was a black-colored dragon.
"Eh yeah yeah," Junghi said waving the dragon off in a dismissive fashion.
The dragon chuckled whilst shaking his head. Old man Junghi was already established as a grump, but it was charming in a way. The dragon continued when suddenly he heard…
"Jarek!"
The black dragon Jarek turned and was immediately struck by three sleek shapes, one orange, the other red, and the last yellow.
"Tanu, Balu, Yeelu," The dragon greeted with a grunt, "Still surprising me.
"Man you're still slow!" Tanu said
"Yeah Jarek you need to work on your reflexes," Balu concurred.
The black dragon, Jarek dusted himself off as he got to his feet, "Well it's hard when three little dragons pounce on you."
"Excuses," Yeelu said with a wave of their claw.
"So you doing something?"
"You going to see Sisu?"
"Yeah yeah?"
Jarek gently pushed the little dragons out of his face
"Come on Jarek tell us!"
"Yeah pretty please!"
"Please, please, please!"
"Now kids I don't show and tell, besides I'm just going for a little walk, that's all," Jarek said.
The three dragons let out collective whines but overall knew this was all they were getting from Jarek.
With nothing more to deter him, Jarek continued on his way. Eventually, he made it to a hill, and sure enough, a blue dragoness was waiting for him.
"What took you so long Skippy?" Sisu asked.
Jarek shrugged, "Tanu, Balu, and Yeelu, among other things."
"Those three have to be your biggest fans," Sisu laughed.
"What can I say? I have that effect on people," Jarek likewise laughed, "Or dragons."
Sisu got herself comfortable and simply said, "Show me your moves."
Not needing an explanation, Jarek did a leap into the air, using the moisture around him to create platforms, propelling himself high. He soared through, turning and twisting, occasionally creating a platform to advance himself. He twisted, he turned, he flipped, he did so many acrobatic maneuvers one would wonder if he was part of a circus. Then as he soared at his highest, he vanished. It wasn't because he grew so high he couldn't be seen, he vanished into thin air.
Soon an impact sounded out, and then Jarek reappeared.
"Mixing in your magic with your flight, very impressive, A-minus," Sisu replied.
"Just an A-minus?" Jarek asked.
"Would have been more impressive if we had seen the landing, but an A is an A," Sisu clarified.
"All right you got me there," Jarek agreed.
Walking over to her student, Sisu put a claw upon his shoulder, "Well Skippy, I think It's safe to say you have officially graduated."
"Really now?" Jarek replied with a beaming smile.
"Yep, you've mastered all I've been trying to teach you," Sisu spoke proudly.
Jarek couldn't believe those worse. It had been about six months since he became a dragon, and within that time he had been through some serious schooling. He had transitioned between Dragontown, Heart, and Talon. The former was to continue his lessons, the middle "community service to make up for his theft, and the latter to visit his remaining human family. His "community service" was done, he kept in contact with his family, all that was left was his dragon lessons. And according to his teacher, he was done.
"You know what Ms. Datu, I do believe you're right," Jarek said rubbing his chest with his claw.
"I think we are beyond the "Ms." suffix, you can just call me "Sisu"," Sisu stated.
"All right...Sisu," Jarek replied.
With nothing more to say, the two dragons descended back to Dragontown, all the while construction began on a special event.
A/N: The chapter is a little short, but I think it's a good opener.
