This may be the last chapter. I had another chapter lined up, but now I'm not sure if I should bother posting it. Maybe I will, but first I'll have to finish writing it before I decide anything. This one also comes in a close second with chapter two as my second favorite. Enjoy reading!
Chapter Three - Strength of the Dragon
"So all I'm supposed to do is transform into a dragon.." Said Jake, looking around in the box on the floor in front of him. He pulled out one of the objects from it and glared at it, half thinking of setting it on fire. Fu Dog and Gramdpa nodded.
"And play with these toys that are meant for little kids?" He asked slowly, making sure he had all this correct. He held up plastic blow up beach ball. Inside the box were several other toys, including a fire truck, a small rubber bouncy ball, and stuffed cow doll.
"Precisely." Said Lao Shi. "Now that you have your assisgement, I'll be in the back if you need anything."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Said Jake quickly. "How is playing with toys in my dragon form at all educational?"
Lao Shi sighed. He knew Jake wouldn't be happy with his very first day of training. Fu Dog, seeing a long lecture quickly coming on, decided to leave on some held-off errands. He didn't want to have to listen to them argue. "Now Jake, the body of a dragon is vastly different from a human body." He began. "Shorter legs, claws, a tail, increased strength and greater sharpness of your six senses. Not to mention the shape of a dragon's body is entirely different from a human's. These are all things you need to be completely use to before we start any serious training." Explained Grandpa Long. Jake still looked unimpressed though. "Otherwise we'll run into some serious problems. What if you tried to help some magical creature and ended up hurting them instead because you used to much strength?"
Jake dropped the toy back into the box. "Fine, I get it. But how is playing with baby toys gonna help me again?" He asked.
His grandfather just sighed and walked over the to the shelf. He pulled off two dark blue velvet boxes tied shut with thin, gold ropes. Jake eyed them curiously as his grandfather untied the rope on one and pulled off the lid. Inside was what looked like a ball made of glass. Lao Shi handed the ball to Jake and transformed into his dragon form. "What do you think of that?" He asked.
Jake studied it, holding it carefully because of how fragile it appeared. But the glass ball wasn't as delicate as it looked. It was kind of heavy and even when Jake tried with all his might to crush it in his hands, he couldn't break it. It must have been made entirely of glass. "It's pretty sturdy." He said, handing it back to his grandfather. He held it in one claw and with using little more strength then he would use crushing an empty soda can, he crushed it. The ball shattered, breaking off into hundreds of sharp little pieces all over the floor. Opening his claw and showing Jake, all that the young dragon found was two largish, jagged pieces of the core. "Cool." He said, feeling very impressed.
"As a human, that ball is impossible to break on your own. But the strength of a dragon is tremendous and can crush it easily." Lao Shi turned back into his human form and opening the other box, pulling out another ball. But this one was different from the other. It had a little red glass ball rolling around inside it. Handing it to Jake, he realized that it was much lighter then the other too. This one was as delicate as it looked. "That is expensive crystal glass ball. It would be a bit difficult to break for a human but for a dragon, the lightest touch could crush it."
"So what I am supposed to do with it?" Asked Jake.
A sly smile spread across his grandfather's face and he took the glass ball back. "If you can keep ahold of this ball and have it still intact by the end of one hour, we'll skip the basics of your training and move on to the more advanced lessons."
Jake smiled. "Alright!" He said, transforming. "This will be a piece of cake."
Lao Shi just smiled. "Let's begin then, shall we?" He tossed the ball lightly over to Jake. Or over him actually. The ball flew above his head in an arch and started to come down. Jake jumped and slide across the floor, catching the ball in his claws. He stood up, looking victorious. "Ha! See? Still intact." But the smile hadn't left Lao Shi's face. He pointed at the glass ball.
"What?" Jake took a closer look. At first, he didn't see anything different, but then he realized that the glass had hundreds of thin cracks all over it. As a human, he wouldn't have noticed that cracks being as tiny as they were. "Okay, fine." He said, repeatedly tossing the ball into the air and catching it. "It has a few cracks but it's still in one piece so it's still fair game."
"Yes, but I don't think so for much longer. But the way, there's a penalty if you fail."
Wait. What penalty?" Asked Jake, confused. His grandfather only turned and left, disappearing into the backroom. Jake shrugged, tossing the ball even higher. "Whatever. There's no way I'm gonna drop this." He tossed it up one more time, but when he caught it he enclosed his claw around it. The glass ball shattered, showering the floor in tiny glass particles. The little red glass ball that had been inside it fell to the floor, also breaking.
His grandfather returned, carrying another box. Seeing the overly happy look on his grandpa's face, Jake suddenly felt very worried. "Umm...gramps?"
"Yes, Jake?"
"What's in that box?" He asked. He was feeling very meek for some reason, despite still being in his dragon form. Lao Shi grinned even bigger. "Oh this? It's your penalty."
When Fu returned from running his errands an hour later, he walked into the shop feeling pretty good. He had settled a debt with an old friend and gotten all his errands done in record time, meaning there would be plenty of time for him to lounge around later. "Hey gramps!" He called, pushing open the store door and heading straight for the backroom. "I got everything we need for that new potio—Wha-what happened to you, Jake!?"
Lao Shi sat at the table, reading the paper and looking very calm and collected. But what had shocked Fu was the sight of Jake. He laid on the floor, in his dragon form and surrounded by baby toys, most of which were riddled with puncture marks from him gripping it too tightly or shredded completely by accident. He had expected that, it was that fact that Jake was wearing a yellow baby bonnet with white lace trim on his head that made him laugh. All four of his legs and the end of his tail had little lace cuffs too. After getting over his moment of shock, Fu started giggling. "Woah...Jake. I-I didn't know...that..." He tried to hold it in, but he couldn't. He fell to the floor, laughing so hard that after a minute he had trouble breathing. But even then he couldn't stop laughing.
"Shut up, Fu." Growled Jake, using his tail to hit the toy fire truck at him. Even with a fire truck to the head and what would be in any other situation a highly frightening, murderous glare, Fu couldn't stop. Jake looked adorable!
He didn't stop howling with laughter till Lao Shi dumped a bucket of water on him. Still chuckling a bit, Fu turned to Lao Shi. "So what did the kid do?" He asked.
Lao Shi, trying to appear completely serious, replied, "I'm simply enforcing some discipline and respect for my teaching methods."
"So in other words, Jake like the idea of playing with toys to see how different things were in a dragon's body?" Guessed Fu, surpassing another fit of laughter. "I suppose I can sympathize with that, but why is he still doing this? I figured you two would have been done by now."
"I can stop now?" Questioned Jake, a look of relief spreading across his face. Lao Shi shook his head and with a barely visible grin, said, "I'm afraid not, Jake. You still have another hour to go."
"Aw, man!" Whinned Jake, banging his head against the floor. Fu Dog, and even Lao Shi, couldn't help laughing some more.