Miss.Ecofreak: I never really got any reviews for chapter 11 but I got a new one for chapter 1 so I've decided to let that slip. Here's the 12. Chapter
CHAPTER 12
FLYING WITH THE PINK DRAGON
"This has to be the stupidest idea you've ever had"
"Come on, does it really seem that vicious?"
"Does a baby-precdator look vicious?"
Just as Buster had predicted, Rambo was not thrilled of the idea of a dragon within the ottsel-colony, although mentioned dragon was no sleeping peacefully on Balder's lap, and Buster was writing a long list of why she wasn't and would never become dangerous, since Rambo had insisted of getting it written down.
"She is part draco-bird" Buster said. "And you know draco-birds raised around ottsels never attack their adopted family".
"Yeah, but it's also part precdator! And they do kill their adopted family if given the opportunity" Rambo said.
"What's the matter with you? You were always so optimistic about everything when we were kids, what made you so pessimistic?" Buster asked.
"A pessimist is only an optimist with experience" Rambo said. (Thanks to my Garfield-diary for that quote) "Dragons are killers, I've seen it!"
"That dragon was made for killing, but you saw it never turned to attack any of the dark makers" Balder said.
"Why do you protect it? It was your foot it took!" Rambo said.
"Yes, but I don't blame Rose for what X-D03 did, it would be like blaming you for what Jingo did since we are all one species" Balder said. "Some ottsels are good, some are bad, and I believe dragons are just the same".
"Famous last words" Rambo said. "Or it will be after this".
"Don't worry, we'll keep the dragon in control during it's upbringing, if it ever gets out of control we'll just have to put it down" Buster said.
"If it doesn't get too big before that" Rambo said.
But as the years went by, Rose showed no signs of aggression towards the ottsels, but when she was two years old, she took on an adult precdator and killed it since it was attacking Balder.
Most ottsels and chinbits had gotten used to her and loved her; they said she was their biggest hope of ever defeating the dark makers.
But Rambo still wasn't sure.
Rose was already bigger than X-D03 was when Balder was attacked, and scouts had reported that the blue dragon's growth was slower than Rose's growth.
"I knew it! It's just like with the draco-birds!" Buster said. "If my calculations are correct, the two dragons will be equal in size in 6 months and a year from now Rose will have outgrown X-D!"
"How long did you say X-D was?" Balder asked.
"Around 6-7 feet long, not counting the tail" the chinbit-scout said. "The tail is only around 1 and half feet".
"And Rose is 5 feet and has a 1.7 feet long tail" Buster said. "Maybe it's time she gets some more combat training?"
Rose had earlier been trained to attack dragon-robots that the chinbits made or sometimes they managed to catch some of the dark maker's creations, most of them were members of a species they called "metalheads".
But Rose didn't find these fights actually fun, like D-X did, but she understood she had to do it for her friends.
Balder was even sure she was able to understand precursor-language, although her mouth and teeth made it impossible for her to actually speak.
"That thing has intelligence?" Rambo asked as Balder told him. "It's nothing but an overgrown draco-bird".
Rose hissed at that comment.
"I swear she must have some intelligence, she noticed you were insulting her just now" Balder said.
"Or "she" is just after the fish I just ate, and doesn't understand that even if the smell is still here I have no fish" Rambo said indifferently.
"Don't listen to him Rosy, he doesn't know you like I do" Balder said to his dragon-friend.
"Don't waste your time talking to it, moron" Rambo said.
Rose glared at Rambo.
"Ignore him. He'll soon see what you're worth" Balder said and took Rose outside.
Usually Balder wouldn't take more trips out of the tunnel than necessary to gather foot, but since Rose defeated that precdator he felt safe with her.
Rose was flapping her wings with joy and flew around above his head as they walked around the mountain-lake.
"Don't wear yourself out completely, you still have combat training later today" Balder joked.
It was pointless to say it anyway Rose could fly nonstop for two days without sleep, and even then she slept for only one hour before she was ready for more flying.
As the two got to a cliff, they could see the remains of Tunnel Town bellow.
Rose watched the crater with much interest, she had never been there before, but Balder had told her what was waiting down there and he was sure she understood.
"Do you want to see how it's like down there?" he asked.
Rose nodded; she had learned that was a way of being understood.
"Well, that'll have to wait. You might be able to fly down but for me the trip would take hours and we don't have time for that" Balder said.
Rose twittered and flew down; she laid down one of her wings on the ground, signaling to Balder to get up.
"Are you sure? You want to let me ride you?" Balder asked.
Rose nodded.
"I'm not sure about that Rose. You've never been ridden before, so I don't know if you can hold my weight".
But Rose only waved her head towards her own back again to tell Balder to get aboard, "I can handle it" she said in her own special language only Balder knew.
"Fine, I guess we can give it a try" Balder said and climbed up on the dragon's back.
It was soon clear that Balder had nothing to worry about.
Rose flew just as fine with him on her back as she did without, and flying was fun.
They took a few loops before they dived down the mountainside and down to the crater of Tunnel Town.
Balder made sure Rose kept them both hidden between the trees as they came close to Tunnel Town.
Even flying between the trees was no big deal for the young dragon, she withdrew her wings, flew sideways and dived under branches with style, making sure she and Balder didn't hit a tree or the ground once.
But as they got to a clearing, Balder signaled for her to stop.
"We'll have to walk from here, but be quiet so we're not discovered" he whispered.
Rose nodded to prove she understood, and slowly crept forward on her short feet.
Tunnel Town seemed to have grown a bit since last time Balder was there, but it still had a creepy atmosphere around it, even Rose shivered as they neared the crater.
"Well there it is my first home" Balder said. "Not much of a peaceful city is it?"
Rose threw her head backwards, to signal she wanted to get back.
"Good idea, we came, we saw, we went home" Balder said and started walking back towards the forest.
But the path home was soon blocked, as three black scorpions suddenly burst out of the ground before them, each had the greenish-yellow skull gem of a metalhead.
"Uh oh, busted" Balder said, and jumped up on Rose's back.
Rose took of and flew over the metalheads, but then even more flying metalheads arrived and flew straight at the pair.
Balder didn't remember anything more, before everything went black.