A/N:Submissions for this story will be taken after this one.Also,the chapters won't be this long from now on.lol.Just wanted to establish the plot and one of a few trials with Jake and Rose.
Trixie stood looking over Spud's shoulder as he sat holding the map that would lead them to British Columbia in the Canadian Rockies where the first piece was had been predicted by an oracle.While he gave directions to Fu,the others lounged around but not without certain priorities in mind.
"What're you doing,Spudinski?"
He clutched the map up protectively."Nothing.Why do you ask Trix?"
"No reason,"she shrugged and upon him turning back,knocked on the glass.
"Spud!"Jake panicked,leaping from his seat."Close the air chamber!"
Snapping to realisation,he quickly shoved and sealed the door back firmly into place.He gave Jake an assured look before turning back to see Trixie.
"You could have just asked,you know."
"What?"she looked up at him approvingly."I think boys readin' an article on what women look for in guys is a great idea.Let's see now,it says here that the biggest turn-off in a guy is one who constantly tries to act like a player."
"You take that round,"Spud said to Jake,who sent him a withered look.
"Well,harmless flirting's all right if a guy shows commitment to his girlfriend first."Rose spoke up from her own magazine she read,smiling over at Jake.
Who in turn smiled back.
"Here we are kids,"Fu Dog announced from behind the controls."Our first stop on finding the Twenty Talisman pieces and saving the magical world."
They all took in the magnifient spread of light grass that distanced out into a river of trees and into unwordly mountains behind a misted backdrop as they made a turn and landed near a small clear creek running in little bends.
"Nice piloting,Fu."Jake commented as they unboarded.
"Thanks.I guess those flying lessons to compete with Yan-Yan payed off."
Trixie turned to him questioningly."You did say they'd show up,right?"
"Right-o."A voice called out from the tree tops and out flew two dragons.
The first one was a large blue male dragon in his twenties,while the other was around fourteen or so and dark orange.Both took a unified giant swoop and then landed before them.The male dragon beamed them all a welcome smile.
"You must be the kids the Dragon Council told about.My name is Rick and this is my Dragon student,the Canadian Dragon."He gestured at her slightly.
"I think they already figured that out,Ricardo."she laughed and turned to Jake with particular interest."Hi.I was wondering when we'd see each other again."
His look was one of puzzlement."Again?"
With two light claps that might be used for summoning,the dragon reverted to her human form and into the one person Jake never expected at this moment.
"Danica Honeycut?"
Rose turned to him."Wasn't she on the swim team in our old time?"
"Please don't ask."he said under his breath,recalling his last encounter with Danica.
Fu Dog eyed him with a grin."And this is the American Dragon,his real name is Jake Long but in the magical world he goes by the alias Beyonce' Timber-"
"Fu!"Jake said through gritted teetth."I thought I said never to speak of that."
"It's all right,"Danica giggled."This whole thing is considered DL anyways."
"We keep most missions a secret."Rick explained."Even from unknowing allies."
"But how do you tie in with my school,Danica?"
She smiled modestly."Long story short,I was undercover on Siren business."
"Speaking of troublesome creatures,the Dark Dragon's newest disciples have been scouting out the strongest magical creature to retrieve this piece.As you all know,these three dragons need recruitment in order to assemble the Talisman."
Rose nodded at the Dragon Master's point as they started walking."They also told us that the magical creatures they enslave take a day or so to find the piece."
"So we've gotta find them first."Jake added as he winded up by both girls.
"Oh,Jake.It's been just awfu!"Danica complained,obviously upset."All of this talk about destroying and possible pain is just almost more then some can bear."
"Well,"He tried telling her assuredly."That's why were out getting the pie-"his words were cut off by her resting her head on his shoulder."-ces.Um...yeah."
Jake eased her off gently and looked over at Rose,who was talking to Trixie.
"This is our magical community."Rick told them with pride.
The forest had narrowed as they went deep into the woods and expanded on out into an old-fashioned magical community not unlike Magus Bazaar.Shops bustled and were lively with different sorts magical creatures browsing about.
"Wow!"Spud cried in glee,spotting a vendor close to the entrace way."100 all natural Extra Light Canadian syrup!And look,they've never even been capped."
"So,"Jake began to Rick,sidelonging Danica uneasily."How about a tour?"
The older dragon clenched his fists and looked beyond Jake."Or a fight."
They all turned to see a tri-headed bird with long bills,giant yellow crests and dull brown feathers appear before them.It loomed high and centered it's eyes that shone a vile green down on the three dragons,three humans and one dog.
"Their hideous."Trixie commented in digust.
"Wait til' I'm through with them."Jake said readily as he morphed.
"It's rare breed of doodoo that lives in the mountains,"Rick explained.
Rose braided back her hair,having grown use to her new attire."I've got left."
"The middle's mine."Jake looked at Danica."What'd about you?"
Before his question was answered,the middle bird struck down and nearly took his arm off with it's sharp bill.Jake flew behind it's head and delivered several vollies of flame that that did nothing as the feathers at the back stood up erect.
"Aw,man."he grimanced and ebbed away to avoid being bitten again.
x.x.x.x.x
The bird on the left ignored Rose aiming off to it's side as it zeroed in on one prey of interest,who just happened to be sitting on a bench at a vacated stand scarfing down syrup from a squeezable plastic container;unware of the danger.
"Spud!"Trixie warned him.
His eyes widened and travelled up the length of the four story bird,before he grinned and shakily offered out the already half-emptied bottle for the big bird.
"The caps never been on..."He said temptingly.
It blinked once in confusion and then dove in for him.Spud narrowly avoided being devoured and turned to see lengths of board flying out every which way.
Startled by the destuction,he whipped around to face the bird as it cornered him by the edge of a small shop this time and went in for him again.Spud was surprised to feel the collar of his shift being yanked up and looked to see Rose.
She was thrown back a bit on top of the roof but managed to stay on even as a gaping hole overwhelmed the majority of the shop side;they had both made it.
"Whew,"he smiled up at her."Quick thinking,Evil Ninja She Witch."
"Trixie."Rose looked on urgently and he as well.
The bird had targeted her next and eyed the girl hungrily.Spud leapt down and rushed over her way.When she spotted him,he tossed her over two full bottles.
"Used the power of unconcealed,natural tree juices!"
Trixie caught them and shot two streams into the doodoo's keen emerald eyes.
"Bullseye,"she said smoothly,twirling the bottles like a victorious cowboy before she stuck them into her pockets."Though,that might not have been a good idea."
x.x.x.x.x.
Jake could see that the dragon Rick was having far better luck then he.For the bird appeared fireproof,nearly as fast as him and had a ferocity to attack that was not unlike the dragon he had faced one day ago.A Dark Dragon follower.
"Try going firing when his feathers aren't ruffled,"Rick called out.
"I'm trying!"Jake shouted out in irritation.Where was Danica?This was her job.
He focused on the bird each little go around they had and finally figured that it rose up it's feathers only after it attacked,for that was when he attacked back.
"There's only one who's gonna look like a doodoo."he reared back to fire the very second it closed it's bill and began to raise it's feathers."And it's not me!"
It took the hit to the side of it's face and fluttered it's feathers rapidly.Jake was about to land another one,when he found a second head slamming into him and pushing him back a ways.He struggled to keep it's beak from closing over him.
Jake,still a bit weak from his brawl with Arden yesterday,felt strings of pain go through his arms.Somewhere from below Rose called out her arrival.He could feel it's mouth easing down and his ebody claws scraping the inside of it's beak.
He strained to keep hold.How was that dragon so much stronger then me?
His thoughts left as a sizzle of lightening surged over his head and in between the eyes of the bird.Jake looked up to see Danica winking at him and both finished the much less determined foul,before it finally gave up and escaped nosily away.
It's plan fouled up.
"Some lightening you got there,girl."Jake praised her enthusastically.
"Well,it's taken me a long time to master it."she replied,flattered.
The others awaited them as they returned to the ground.
"Are you all right,Jake?"Rose approached him."The whole thing looked intense."
"It was."he said,grinning at Danica."If it wasn't for Dani I'd of been bird seed."
Rose frowned slightly."Um,Dani?"
"Not the guy's spelling of the word.The cute kind with the ' I ' at the end of it."
She turned incredulous." "Cute" ?"
At that moment Rick intervened by announcing to them all that they were invited to come stay at his mountain lodge until the next morning when they searched for the Talisman piece in the mountains.Letting the slight tension of the moment drop.
x.x.x.x.x.
Jake stood atop his deck alone as moonlight filtered down through the branches of trees leading down into a ravine.Thoughts of how weakened he had been did not leave him.He'd defeated the Dark Dragon,so why was this dragon stronger?
Why had it beat him to the point where he could barely fight others?
The fact that they were munipulating magical creatures through mind control was not sitting well with him either.When would they reveal themselves again to fight?
"Hi."
He took a few paces back as Danica drifted up in front of him and landed beside him before shifting back.With his dragon vision he saw her dark brown hair was pulled up and was still dressed in grey sweats and a violet shirt she'd worn earlier.
"Using your dragon vision isn't a fair advantage."she teased."I look like a mess."
"No,no.You're-uh,fine."Jake told her,smiling politely."Can I help you somehow?"
"I couldn't sleep,"Danica said simply and turned to look up at the moon,sighing."I remember that moon,it was the same one that came up the night my parents left."
"Left?"
"Yes,my mother gave me to the Dragon Council at age six after my father found out about us."she explained but just a tad too dramatic."He threw us out and she blamed the Council for the whole ordeal.Her old friend Rick decided to take me."
Jake touched her arm."So that why you live here with him?"
"It is,"she took Jake's hand and looked at him wistfully."But good things happen."
"Yeah."He furrowed his brow,stepping back two steps."I'm sure they do-"
Caught in the midst of retreating,Danica stepped three steps foward with intent in lingering in her breath.From the balcony above no one saw the heartsick spectator.
x.x.x.x.x.
Early the next morning found four occupants at the kitchen table;a quiet Jake who sat texting a blog of guilt on his phone,a stone-faced Rose who ran a brush through her hair without making eye contact,a nail filing Danica and a fairly stumped Trixie.
"When did you say Rick,Spud and Fu left to try locating the piece?"she inquired.
"Around six,"Danica answered and looked at an overhead clock."An hour ago."
"That settles it."Rose finally announced,fully braided before speaking."They're most likely in trouble and need bailing out."she reached for leaning staff and stood on up.
"We can't,Fu Dog took the only directions the Dragon Council gave."Jake told her.
She skipped his presence entirely and turned to the other girls."I have an extra."
As they set out in a single file line,Trixie came up beside Jake with a quizzical look.
"Don't tell me y'all are having problems."
He looked up to make sure the others were out of earshot."Something happened with me and Danica last night that she must have seen...that I couldn't stop in time."
"No sparks?"Trixie asked knowingly.
"No sparks."This time it was a statement,not a question.
The three climbed a jagged rocky rise in the land and up to the mouth of a cave.
"Let's go."Jake transformed and lit a ball of flames in his claw."They're needin' us."
Rose passed him coldly and silently,like the Huntsgirl she had never been.
x.x.x.x.x.
Spud,Rick and Fu were confined to a metal cage of which was drapped in sphnix hair that curled down the bars like vines.The giant doodoo sat with it's legs tucked.
"Something just occured to me,"It's youngest captive piped up."Wasn't the doodoo suppose to be exinct?There big,stupid flightless birds but they still shouldn't exist."
One of the three heads suddenly appeared in front of him,emitting a low growl and eyeing with an appetite apparent in it's wide emerald eyes.It craved for fresh meat.
"For the record,kiddo.Just because they don't talk,doesn't necessarily mean they're not going to understand."Rick said as he searched around for any sphnixless place.
"Chances are you won't find one,"Fu observed with a sigh."They may be big,stupid and flightless birds."he shot Spud a look when he said this."But they're meticulous."
"Never hurts to try."The dragon countered confidently.
"You won't have to,look!"
All three turned to see the giant bird contending with three opponets,while Trixie was edging the wall along the cage to free them.All unbeknownwst to the piece's location.
x.x.x.x.x.
Jake took the advice he had gotten from yesterday about only striking when the bird lowered it's feathers.Amazingly even though he was still stressed about the previous day's events,he managed to keep up at a much better pace then he did the day before.
Rose caught glimpses of Jake's fight,while her's proved to be no easy feat.The other day had been fine for her but today it was hard to stay focused.Even just to keep up.
There was a sudden shriek and after dodging a bite,turned to see that the girl that she despised most in the world was pinned to the cave's wall by the doodoo's gnarly bill.
"Danica!"Jake called out,apparently also catching the scene.
She was about ready to act when a glint of red flashed in her eyes.Carefully,she rose them under a shielded hand to see a thin chip of crimson levitating at the cave's roof in which there was a large opening.Rose groaned inwardly and raced over toward Jake.
The moment he saw her coming he knew what she wanted,red light was beginning to wash the grey stone interior.Rose gestured wildly for him to retrieve the piece.There was no hint of doubt that existed in Jake about her abilities and he zoomed to the top.
Rose saw this and went over as the bird had completely covered Danica.It's beak hard enough to crush bone and dangerously close to consuming the dragon it trapped inside.
"Hey!"she yelled at it and was satisifed when she had the attention of more then one."I don't know about you,but I'd hire an Interior Decorator for this hubble you call home."
A few backwards round-offs onto the bird behind her's neck and the two hit head-on.
Literally.
x.x.x.x.x
Jake soared up and grasped the piece triumphantly,leaving the others to deal with the doodoo's as he came out the top and down to the ground were the others awaited him.
"Got it!"
They cheered as he reverted in mid-air and then landed with a winner's grin,holding up the piece for them to see.One could have mistaken it for an ordinary chip of wine glass.
"Good job,Jake."Rose told him meaningfully.
"You too."
"Yes!"Danica squealed and threw her arms around him as he stood awkward."It was!"
One firm push and Jake caught her by the shoulders."That's enough,Danica!Look,it's obvious you like me more then just a friend.But that's all that we are Dani,only friends."
"Let's...go have some breakfest."Rick suggested after a moment of silence.
"Ooo!"Spud reacted with enthuse as the idea."Could we have Swedish fish and syrup?"
He clapped him on the back once,laughing."Sure thing."
"Ugh,"Trixie put her hands to her throat."I know I feel my gag reflexes actin' up."
After they had left,Danica carefully removed Jake's hands and moved back."I thought it was obvious you were putting the moves on me."she told him in a true state of innocence."
"Uh..."Jake dawned a befuddled look."Say what?"
"Yeah,I thought anyone with half a brain could figure that you were dropping hints since you set foot off that hover craft."she sent Rose a non-envious look."But I know defeat."
They both watched as she strolled away behind the others,leaving the couple to resolve their differences when really there had been no need to have difference in the first place.
"That's certainly not I how expected things to turn out,"Rose said after an uneasy minute.
"Oh yeah."Jake turned to her challengingly."Then exactly how did you expect everything to turn out Rose?I would never cheat on you ever,never.I believed that you knew that."
He left her without another word and she didn't attempt to stop him.
x.x.x.x.x
The Talisman chip floated in mid air beneath the glass,totally oblivious to gravity and the lengths people had gone for it.Jake glared at it from across the room on a red plush sofa.
A swish of the automated door didn't make him blink."Hi,"she accosted in a small voice.
"Hi."Jake repiled vaguely.
She came up on the opposite end of the couch."Is this seat reserved or can I sit down?"
"It's as much mine as it is yours."
Sighing,she settled herself and watched the Talisman piece hovering.Jake saw out of the corner of his eye that she had changed into civilan cloths and yet still looked out of place.
"I'm sorry!"They turned to say at once."Why are you sorry?I'm the who should be."
Rose shook her head."It's my fault,Jake.I should've believed you wouldn't have done it."
"But I didn't stop it in-"
"Please,"she interrupted him quickly."Just let me take the guilt for once so I'll feel better."
Jake turned puzzled."That shouldn't make you feel better for taking the guilt and it really wouldn't make me feel better.I mean...I should have put a stop to it as soon as it started."
"Well,maybe we should just share the blame so neither of us feels better or worse."
"Okay."he agreed slowly."I could live with that."
They concentrated on the piece again before Jake sighed."Why didn't you just tell me?"
"Because jealousy is pitiful and I didn't want to betray your trust by saything anything."she looked at him in despair."I never want to lose your trust again,Jake.I was just so scared."
He smoothed his finger tips over her cheek softly,smiling."It's never been lost."
Rose smiled back and laced her fingers through his."So how about it?"she turned to look at the curved crimson piece."Do you think we can get nineteen more of these things,Jake?"
"Eighteen,actually."Jake corrected her and showed her what was in his other hand."The D Council slipped me the first piece of it from the those three dragons before they flew off."
"Nice move,"She said impressedly.
"Well."he pulled his sleeve back and popped a muscle."You know I try,babe."
x.x.x.x.x
"Phase one,"A blue male dragon spoke in his cell phone."Complete.Expect them soon."
"Rick,who're you talking to?"Danica came into the kitchen asking,she'd just seen them off.
"No one."he told her casually."Just the plummer for that toilet that's backed upstairs."
"Hey!"Greggy complained on the other end of the line before Rick cut him off."Were not-"
A click and they were gone.
To be continued...
LP