Here's the second chapter for you! It's a work in progress so...enjoy! :)
A month had passed since the incident and Lucy was bored out of her mind. Her private tutor spoke drearily in front of her, pointing to the blackboard behind him with a thin, wooden stick. She stifled a small giggle as she saw the stout man's arms waving around in the air, a poor attempt to gain her attention, the hickory wood smacking the back of his bald head and knocking down his tin of stationary in the process. It was an absurd sight to behold. A short, middle aged man bending over his stubby legs to reach his quills but failing. He looked like an young vulcan trying to scale Mount Oltana with its legs tied up and on fire.
Utterly and completely hilarious.
Kicking the table in frustration only made the situation worse for him, but even more amusing for her. She barely managed to keep in her laughter when he tripped down the steep stone stairs in his most recent attempt to pick up the quills which had fallen under the table. His tight pants ripped when he fell and Lucy would've felt a small wave of pity for him, had he not been a horrible man to begin with. Not to mention extremely patriarchal, as he'd spouted multiple snide comments about females and education.
Red-faced and sweaty, he stumbled out of the room muttering curses to himself. When the room was satisfyingly quiet, the blonde smiled to herself. She'd driven away a total of six useless tutors in the timeframe of a week. Not to mention that the only thing they did was drone on about things she already knew.
With this tutor gone, Lucy crept through the empty corridors and slipped through the huge wooden double doors and into the warm afternoon sunlight. She hurried through the sandstone clearing, carefully making sure that she wasn't seen.
Lucy relaxed when she was hidden in the shadows, allowing herself a moment to feel gleeful. Trees soon surrounded her and Lucy searched around for any signs of the dragon. It'd been a whole month since she saw the wondrous beast and she'd be regretful had she not at least gone back to see if it were merely a trick if the light.
The golden haired girl treaded quietly through the town and snatching a cloak on her way to hide her face. She received odd looks from many of the townspeople but she hurried past them when their gaze lingered for too long.
The first thing Lucy did after she finally reached the outskirts of the forest, was lean nonchalantly against the trunk of a tree pretending to be enjoying the cool shade on the sweltering day. When the blonde was sure no one was watching, she slipped into the forest and leaving her cloak behind in a rumpled garnet mess.
Strangely enough, as she ventured deeper into the thick forest, the dappled light from through the leaves got brighter. Lucy continued to stumble along the uneven forest floor, but just as she stepped forward, her foot caught onto a loose root. So down she tumbled, fallen leaves knotting into her hair and springy twigs scratching her soft face. The girl landed with a thump, dirt embedding itself into her clothes and cuts peppering her face and limbs. She looked up through half closed eyes and licked her dry lips.
At first, all she saw was a blinding white but that soon subsided to a vibrant yellow. Lucy staggered and grasped onto the rough bark of a tree. As she caught her breath and rolled out the kinks caused by the fall, she couldn't help but notice how different the ground was. As surprising as that was.
The soil didn't seem touched in the slightest. It was soft and rich and smelt fresh even from a distance. Little green saplings were dotted along the dirt and delicate yet fragrant blue flowers that grew near clumps of grass seemed to glow with a strikingly beautiful indigo hue.
Whilst observing her new surroundings, she allowed her legs lead her along a path that sparkled softly. A seemingly impossible scene. Sunlight was filtered through the dense shelter of the trees, but the streams of light that did get through made the dirt shine. The minerals in the ground were more plentiful, and appeared to be visibly larger. She could just see the faint gleam of copper and bronze within the earth. I've never seen anything like this before, she thought.
It wasn't until she reached a vast gold prairie did she realise why. Flowers of every colour burst into her vision, hills of emerald rolled into the distance, valleys were filled with the crystal water that glittered innocently and there were colossal mountains that shielded the terrain from the outer world. It was absolutely glorious and sitting right in the middle of it was by far the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. It was the dragon. It is the home of the legendary beast!
She approached it quietly but ensuring that it could sense her. As intelligent onyx eyes bore into her skull, she gave a small smile. Her own eyes scanned the dragon, her interest at its peak. But the look it gave her made her stop in her tracks. A wave of pity washed over her and she approached it more cautiously.
"Oh you poor thing. What's wrong?" She cooed once more. The slanted stare it gave her was one of bewilderment. Lucy dared to gaze into its eyes, and she was shocked to see that it was an expression she knew it all too well. It was the same one that she saw in herself when she looked in the mirror after she woke up, reaching for her mother, only to realise she wasn't there.
Gulping, she shuffled towards the beast and she sat down next to it. It flinched and took a few steps to place space between them. She frowned but understood. The blonde knew that she wasn't what it knew to be normal.
There the two sat in companionable silence. Watching as the day slowly faded and the beginnings of an evening sky bled through the sapphire day. Tinges of lilac that'd begun to soak through was soon set alight with curtains of butter and honey. Little Lucy yawned and let out a sigh as she watched the serene view. The dragon beside remained silent still, but it too yawned tiredly.
"You're very pretty. Did you know that?" She murmured quietly as it turned its head toward her. "I'm sure that you're a girl. You're too beautiful. Girl dragons are always prettiest." The dragon stared at her, looking almost incredulous but she shook it off. The blonde stood and stretched her legs, bits of dirt and grass clinging to her now sticky skin. She let the cool air dry her sweaty legs.
She was about to head home when a realisation hit her like a ton of bricks. It was the fact that her father was likely to be waiting for her return. Lucy winced at the familiar twinge of trepidation in her gut, and the shiver of fear that flowed through her veins at the thought. Thinking hard, she went to ask the dragon. Only to find that it had fallen asleep.
"It couldn't hurt to lay down on the grass…" Lucy reasoned to herself. "Just for a little while. Just to recollect my thoughts." The grass welcomed her into its soft, jade blades. The smell of pines and fresh soil seeped into her nose. She took another whiff of the refreshing ground before closing her eyes for moment. The sound of faraway trees rustling in the gentle breeze and the trickling of a nearby brook became her lullaby.
Her eyelids grew heavy and it wasn't long before she fell into the dark depths of sleep.
That's the second chapter!