Forever's Not Enough
A/N: I'm back my kitties! I, Riebelle-chan, do solemnly apologize for the mega late update. Though I didn't promise to update last October. Hear me out, 'kay? What were all the reasons for this very late update? First of all, we just moved to a new house and I get to clean the whole second floor. YEY ("_ _). And after that there were birthday parties and town fiestas. Then Halloween, and it's a family tradition to stay in the cemetery from morning to evening. Then I was about to update when my friends kinda invited me to an outing. I couldn't resist their puppy eyes. Anyways, here's the update.
I'm sorry because this story is getting nowhere. Though, I hoped you're enjoying it so far.
By the way, this is a Christmas Special, so not really part of the story but it's a Christmas gift to you guys and to compensate. The story is in Sting's POV because he's dreaming (^_^)/ Merry Christmas!
Christmas Special - The Dragon and the Sword
Sting's POV
"Rogue, can't we just go outside and train ourselves? I mean it's so boring and I don't like the smell of old books!" I complained loudly. My voice echoed since the library was empty except for me and Rogue. Frosch and Lector had gone fishing, Lucy was continuing her novel, the other servants were busy and there were no jobs for me; thus leaving Rogue and I in the library. No, we're actually imprisoned in this place. If you're wondering why,...
I heard Rogue sigh. "Sting, it's your fault why you're stuck here, let me remind you" he said glancing at me, "You nearly wrecked the whole mansion. You can simply light a lantern with a match but you chose to show off your skills. And by doing that, you accidentally went overboard and destroyed the whole third floor. And then I just happened to be there when it happened, making Lucy think both of us did it. I could clearly get away with it but you dragged me into the mess by lying about who thought of the idea. To Lucy's anger, we're locked inside the library so we may think of about what you've done. But honestly, I should be a bit thankful since I get to read in the library" he told me, sounding a bit irritated.
Well, he actually explained why we're stuck here. "Why just a bit? You love the library and reading" I answered.
He rolled his eyes. "Well it would be better without you whining every minute and complaining about boredom. Here, read this. I'm sure you'll get interested" he said, throwing a book at me.
"Ouch!" I grumbled as it hit my head in pain. I quickly got the book and read the title.
"Zzz" I heard a snore and it came from Rogue. He was already asleep in a span of 10 seconds?! Well whatever, I can't just wake him up! If you disturb his sleep he would just go on a rampage. Like a girl on her period. Pfft... I checked the book's title,
A Christmas Tale: The Dragon and the Sword
I gave Rogue a questioning look but he just shrugged. "It's a short story but it's quite interesting. And it has pictures" Rogue said. He knew I hate books without even one single picture. It just meant that the book's boring.
"Pfft, whatever. Guess I'll give it a try" I said setting it down the table. The cover was quite interesting. It had a picture of a boy in elf clothing but has no elf ears holding a glowing sword. There was a sleeping dragon beside him. A small cottage in the background, with a large christmas tree beside it and there was Santa Claus. There's a big star on the sky just above the cottage and the rest of the stars in the background were smaller. I caught a whiff of the book's smell. It smelled like pine cones and...peppermint? Well whatever, the book is obviously a story about Christmas.
Before I knew it, I fell asleep while actually reading the book...
I woke up in the middle of the night. I wasn't in the library anymore. Rogue wasn't even here anymore. I looked around the place. It was decorated with Christmas lights and such. I got up and noticed that I wasn't wearing my usual clothes. I'm wearing...an elf costume? But I didn't mind, it looked cool on me anyways. But I've seen this clothing before, I just can't remember when. I saw a table with a glass of milk and cookies then I heard rustling behind the Christmas tree.
An tall old man appeared, with white hair and a long white beard. He was wearing red clothing and a hat. His cheeks were pinkish and he didn't look happy upon seeing me. Who is this guy? "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas Sting!" he suddenly chirped and walked up to me. He gave me a tight hug but I quickly pulled away.
"Woah...Who are you?" I asked. I've also seen this man before and I know of his name, I just can't remember.
He laughed. "Why, I'm Santa Claus, of course! You've been a good kid, Sting. And for that I should reward you a present" he said nicely. I smiled, he wasn't a bad guy. And I heard of Santa Claus, too, but not that much. But then, his cheerful face suddenly became bitter.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
He frowned and tapped my shoulders. "Unfortunately, I couldn't give you anything today. I came here to apologize" he said grimly. I let him continue. "It's already Christmas Eve and I haven't delivered a single present. I'm here to apologize and seek for your help" he said sadly.
"Why? What's the problem?" I asked in concern.
He pointed outside. "There's a monster trying to eat all the presents I made. Whenever I set my load of gifts, they disappear and the reindeers would report to me a large monster. I didn't see it yet and I hope I could ask for your help to defeat this monster before midnight, or else, the good kids won't get any presents this year. All of their excitement will be gone and I feel guilty for not doing anything to stop this monster. Please help me, Sting" he pleaded, taking off his hat.
I smirked and gave him a thumbs up. "Sure, no problem Santa! But...I would be receiving a gift, too, right?" I teased.
Santa laughed and winked at me. "Of course. Did you forget that you actually sent me a letter of your desired gift? Maybe you did, but let's not waste time. We have to go and save Christmas!" he said.
We rode his sleigh to go to Flakes Forest, one that I didn't hear of yet. The stories about him are true indeed. He was not bringing a large sack full of gifts but he had me and his reindeers. I even saw a red nosed reindeer. I guessed it was Rudolph. The strangest thing about these reindeers are that one is reddish, wearing a blue vest. One of them is green and wearing a...frog costume. I'm not even sure which place I'm at, but it's a really weird place. I looked at Santa who looked back at me and gave me his toothy grin.
But it's not a good ride. I nearly puked from the sky. And Santa looked at me in disgust. "You need fresh air once in a while, Sting!"
"Here take it, it's the Sword of Light. When you feel weak, just look at the stars, they'll remind you of someone and then the sword will strengthen you and you will be victorious in any battle" he said rather confidently, handing me a sword. I loved the handle, it's pure white with a white dragon and a star-shaped diamond in the middle. It reminds me of...I really forgot again.
The sleigh tilted to a landing direction and the reindeers landed on the cold white snow. I guess we've reached our destination, Flakes Forest. It was already getting late and we're kinda running out of time. Santa parked the sleigh behind a large tree so that it would be safe. The reindeers blended with the color of night perfectly. Except for Rudolph, whose nose is shining brightly red in the darkness, just like a signal light. I shrugged it off, trying my best not to laugh and followed Santa in the forest.
It was a forest full of pine trees and I liked the scent of pine cone with a blend of peppermint. I recognize this smell before, but I just can't remember. I maybe getting old. I just can't remember lots of things. We walked in the forest and it was getting darker and darker. Colder and colder, too. I shivered and I can feel that my knees are a bit shaky now as we walk further.
At last, Santa stopped in front of an enormous cave with a large opening. It felt hotter here than any place in the forest. And there were like loud snoring sounds coming from inside the forest. It's a familiar snore, but I just can't remember things. I smacked my head. What the hell is happening here?
Santa pointed to the left of the cave. There were scattered gift wrappers and they were torn to pieces. I guess this was the home of monster he was talking about. "We have to defeat it. When we step a foot in So it's best we wait for it to wake up than let this beast go on a rampage. It's a very strong opponent. And we have to be quiet or else he'll wake up" he said quietly.
"How'd you know?"
He scratched his beard. "Said my reindeer. You know? The green one in a pink frog costume? He met the monster before and followed it here" he explained. I just nodded.
"Oh...How'd you know I'm strong and mighty?" I asked in a confident tone.
"Said my other reindeer. You know? The reddish one in a blue vest? He wants to be friends with you" he replied in a low voice.
Somehow, all his information is making me think of familiar things but I just can't put a finger on it. With all my thinking, I accidentally dropped my sword and it made a loud sound that echoed through inside the cave. I glanced at Santa, who was sweat dropping and looking all nervous. The ground suddenly rumbled and there was loud roar. A roar of a...dragon. I got down, got my sword and gripped it hard. I went in my fighting stance and pointed my sword to the opening of the cave.
"It's here!" Santa announced, which was obvious because you can hear its loud footsteps from inside. And within a few seconds, a large black dragon appeared. It has red eyes but his other eye was not visible. The half of his face was silhouetted that it makes it difficult for you to figure out what kind of creature it is. But it was obviously a dragon since it has wings and everything.
This dragon reminded me of someone and as always, I can't freaking remember. The dragon eyed on me and it looked stoic. It doesn't look furious or anything, but it's emotionless and quiet. Setting that aside, it attacked by swinging its large claws below my feet. I quickly jumped off and looked around. Santa was nowhere to be seen. The dragon snarled a little and now it used its tail to sweep the ground. I swiftly avoided it but I jumped on its tail.
That made him angry. Growling a little, It swung its tail around but I gripped hardly. It seemed to be half amused and half furious because of me. The dragon moved his jaw forward to the tail, about to make me his dinner, but didn't. It just pushed me off its tail and I dropped to the ground, hard.
"Dammit! That hurt!" I shouted. It didn't seem to care.
The dragon blew fire to my direction. I got up on my feet and ran, but my shir caught some flames! And...IT'S HOT! I rolled on the floor, but to make it seem worse, the fire grew more. I ripped my shirt off and threw it at the dragon, who looked like it was trying hard not to laugh at me. Though my flaming shirt did no damage, the dragon kinda got distracted. Using it as my advantage, I got my sword and jumped, wounding its back.
It howled in pain and I just had to cover my damn ears. Its red eyes glared at me. And before I knew it, I was tossed into the air by its tail. Good thing the spikes on its tail end didn't damage me, but I crash landed into some boulder.
"ARGGH!" I screamed in total pain and anger.
The boulder cracked and I fell down on my back, which sort of paralyzed me. I didn't realize, I was already crying but my sword is still on my hand. The dragon looked confused, but it was racing to my direction. I gripped my sword tight and remembered what Santa said,
"When you feel weak, just look at the stars, they'll remind you of someone and then the sword will strengthen you and you will be victorious in any battle"
I know I won't have any time left but I took a peep to the stars and it really did remind me of someone. It's someone white beautiful golden hair and chocolate brown eyes. She's a girl...A very mesmerizing girl. I...don't know her name but I want to know. I tried to guess a name.
"Lu...cy?!"
Just then, my sword glowed and the dragon stopped its charging. I looked at my sword, then the dragon, the the sword. It's star-shaped gem changed colors and it made my arm move by itself and attacked the dragon. For a second there, I thought I missed but it actually did a lot of damage.
Everything happened so fast and I could see the dragon looked a bit frightened. Silence occupied the whole place. The dragon snarled and stomped its feet. It didn't want to fight. This dragon is...weird. "Look, I don't know about you, but you are one insane dragon!" I yelled. From the looks of it, the dragon just shrugged and then sighed. And...it started to speak! What the hell?!
"I don't want to fight you," it started speaking, "I just want to sleep in peace, that's all" it said.
That didn't stop me. "But why the heck did you have to destroy all those presents?!" I asked.
"I'm cold. I need wood to light fire. And it turned out all the toys Santa made are all wooden"
I scratched my head. "You're a fire breathing dragon!"
"I might go overboard. Apologies, I should've been wise"
Just then, Santa came out of nowhere. Maybe from the bushes or just behind the rocks. "Mr. Dragon! You could have wished for match sticks this Christmas and not go through all that trouble. See, you're hurt because of such foolishness!" Santa scolded.
"Don't call me Mr. Dragon"
"Um...Shadow?"
"My name is Rogue"
Rogue. Sounds familiar...
Santa sighed. "Well, then, Rogue. Even if you've been a naughty dragon this year because of what you have done, I could always forgive. It's unfair if I give someone a gift written in the naughty list. So I've decided.."
"..Hm?"
In the end, Rogue ended up helping Santa Claus make gifts for the children. So it's like I've wasted my strength in fighting this dragon when it didn't really want to fight. I whined about it the whole time we rode the sleigh back to Santa's house but he just laughed at me and patted my back. "Well, Sting. At least the sword I gave you got a little handy, didn't it?" he asked me with a grin.
I nodded. "I saw a beautiful girl just before the sword glowed. I wonder about her" I said curiously, with a faint blush on my cheeks.
Santa chuckled. "Oh Sting it's time for you to wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"
"...Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP, STING!"
"Huh?"
Rogue's face appeared before me as I opened my eyes. He looked quite angry. "Sting, it's dinner time. You looked like you're having a good dream" he said, staring at me.
"But...Santa...He...The dragon...Rogue destroyed...the children..to save Christmas!" I uttered, slamming my hands down on the table. He smacked my head in confusion.
"Maybe it's a bad idea to let you read a book. You're saying non-sense, Sting. I wonder what has gotten into your brain" he commented and picked up the book I was reading. "Based from what you said, you read the book before you fell asleep. But I have no idea why you shouted 'Lucy' while you're sleeping"
I panicked but he just chuckled. "I think you need some fresh air once in a while, Sting"
Now where have I heard that before?
Ending Notes: Merry Christmas once again, kitties. Please take time to read this.
After Bitten and Forever's Not Enough, I may not be able to write anymore. Sorry (T^T)
I'll announce the reason soon.