Chapter 6: Time to Step Up

As I said before in a previous story, I am so sorry I haven't updated this story in a while. Really, I have no specific reason why I never updated this story…I have ideas; maybe I just couldn't get it down. But I'm ready, so let's go!! :)

"Really?? But Flying seems fun!!" Ashleigha sat up and started running around on the rug. She was holding out her arms, pretending to fly. Soon her brother joined her, copying her moves. But it wasn't long, because the little tikes were dizzy; both feel on the ground holding their head.

Paula laughed, "Yes, it is once you get the hang of it. But once I did, it was my favorite thing to do. But flying was the last of my basic dragon abilities to learn, so it seemed like I was ready to be the American Dragon. Well, almost..." Paula turned to the next page of her journal…

Paula Long kept a constant speed as she soared through the sky. She loved the feel of air brushing past her scales. Flying used to terrify the young soul; but now that she has mastered her senses, it's exhiliarating!

Suddenly she halted in mid air. She turned her head back and forth, listening, smelling. Then, she made a straight dive down for the sidewalk. But before she went crashing onto the concrete, she dragoned down and landed softly on her feet. She grabbed the doorknob of the training warehouse, and trotted inside.

There, sitting on a bench, was her grandfather. He got up, gave out a smile, and walked towards her. "So grandpa, what's on the schedule today??" She could hear his footsteps as he walked forward.

She felt the touch of his hand on her arm. At that instant, she went into dragon form. "A little flying," she did a flip and soared around the building, "Or maybe fire," She sent out a blast of flames from her mouth, "Maybe some kicking fighting action or…"

"Actually…I was thinking we try a combination of the three," He exclaimed.

"All three!?" Paula stopped her fight moves, and slightly moved her head down. For the past two weeks it usually dealt with one move at a time; she has never tried doing them all at once. But her confidence has really boosted since yesterday, so she could give it a shot. "Okay…let's do it!"

Jake dragoned up, and entered into the middle of the warehouse. Paula dropped on her feet too. "You ready," He held up his arms, facing in her direction.

This was all confusing to Paula… "Ready for what?"

"For battle."

Her face was tense, "Against you?" Her grandfather didn't give an answer. "Gramps, I'm still learning, and you're a lot stronger than me…I don't know if I-"

"Just focus Paula." Jake remained in his position. Paula's face was still a bit easy, but she felt somewhat better at his remark. However, she wasn't afraid of getting hurt by her grandfather, she was afraid of hurting him.

Still, this was a challenge, and she couldn't back out of it now, especially since the attitude she came into the warehouse with. "Okay." She smiled, but it quickly turned into a frown.

She flowed up into the air, and kept a slight hover. Jake fisted his hands, and prepared to fly. "Ready…now!" He flipped his body around and flew away from his grand-daughter. Paula heard the wind past through his wings, and knew he was fleeing. She jumped into the air chased after him.

Jake kept a slight distance between Paula and him. Paula flew above him, and pointed her ears downward to hear much clearer. Once she could visualize exactly how far he was from her, she blasted a fireball down at him. Jake made a quick turn to the left, to avoid her shot.

When Paula heard the fireball crash down onto the concrete floor, she knew she missed. At that same moment, she dove down, and bent down her wings more to zoom in faster. Quickly, the space between them was diminishing…

Just then, Jake turned his back around, and stared behind him at Paula. He then sent a fiery inferno, right in her direction. It was too quick her for her to respond in time, and the fire went right toward her. Luckily, her arms that she kept in front of her blocked most of the pain, but the fact that she actually was hit made her nervous. She lost speed, and tried to recover.

It was time to go for the kill; Jake flipped his tail over, and flew right to Paula. It was difficult for her to even sense her grandfather coming toward him, since he was quieter than a mouse. He then twisted his body around, and shifted his tail to whack Paula in the back.

Just then, something happened to Paula. Her ears were twitching, and as they were twitching, a very faint sound was coming through. She knew then, someone was near her. She reached out her arm, and grabbed Jake's tail just before it made contact. Shocked that she actually blocked him, Jake just hovered through, stunned. Paula then lassoed her grandfather's tail, and shoved him down onto the concrete floor.

Once you heard his body smash onto the ground, Paula flew down and followed him. She then held down his underscales with her left hand, and held her right hand in a fist. After, she paused. She felt bad that she probably injured the old man. The adrenalin was getting to her.

Jake watched as she had him pinned. He stared at her face, and watched the tension it in slowly decreased. He already knew she has beaten him, but by her face, he knew this round was over. He pushed himself and her up into the air. He hovered still in the air, and stared right at her. "You did pretty well, my pupil."

Hearing her grandfather talk let her know this was over. She put down her arms, and lowered onto the ground. She gave out a slight smile, of confidence.

"You're just about ready to go on your first solo mission." When he finished his sentence, Paula froze. Since the beginning of her training, just about 2 weeks ago, Jake has been taking Paula on very small Dragon Missions. Usually it was helping a pixie or another small creature. Or if it was serious issues, Paula just stood and watch. Never has she really been on a serious battle, how can he say she's ready to go solo already!?

However, doubt her doubts; Paula was somewhat happy to hear that. Maybe she was ready. "Really?" She asked, just to make sure he wasn't lying to her.

"Really." He reassured her. "Maybe soon, but we still got a lot of skills to go over and improve." Paula shook her head yes. "But for now…that's it for dragon training."

Once again, she shook her head and bowed and her grandfather. "Take's Gramps, I'll see you tomorrow." She flew into the air and headed for the exit.

"Don't forget to practice on your sensing!" Jake yelled just as she left. He still couldn't help but wonder if his grand-daughter could pull off the impossible, and be an American Dragon.

Once again, I'm truely sorry for the long wait for this story. I am going to do my hardest, to finally give this story an ending!! But of course, we still got a long way to go before the ending comes!!