Hunting a Burning Rose
-o-
the man who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself
Friedrich Nietzsche
-o-
Her sneaker-clad feet pumped into the dull, gray floor of the school hallway as she ran towards her classroom, the bell already having rung 5 minutes ago, her lungs burning, gasps and pants coming from her rose-colored lips covered with the lightest of pink lip gloss, her tight jeans having a friction to them that had her legs itch.
Damn it all to hell!
It was just her damn luck the batteries of her alarm clock went dry during the night, and that her school was on the other side of town.
Karma was a fucking bitch!
-o-
Second: Sadistic Karma
-o-
He looked up from his school book, eyes widening some of surprise as the black-haired teen turned his head around to the classroom door, his classmates and their teacher following suit as the wooden door was ripped open revealing a panting blonde, hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"Sorry I'm late but the batteries of my clock failed tonight and I oversl-"
"Do you think I care? Detention, 3 days. Now sit down and open page 45."
Jake sweat dropped. Professor Rotwood really was a handful. That guy had some major screws lose, that was for sure. No wonder a majority of students failed his classes. The crap he thought were facts about mythical creatures were as true as a Leprechaun's gold.
Meaning null.
He'd like to see the crazy teacher go to the academy for only a day, his expression would be priceless.
Not that that would ever happen.
But he could fantasize, couldn't he?
With a sigh the blonde girl sat down in the seat in front of him, his black eyes scrutinizing her with furrowed eyebrows. She was well trained, too well for a schoolgirl that didn't participate in any clubs. If she did, he would probably know. And she didn't look like someone ambitious enough to do sports in her freetime.
Her name was Rose, if he remembered correctly. She was strange, he has decided the first week he knew her.
She was pretty enough to be popular, but she kept to herself, sitting and eating alone everyday. He didn't understand her, not one bit.
He once tried to talk to her, but had learned to not bother her the hard way.
-o-
"Isn't she lonely, so all by herself?"
"Who cares," the blonde cheerleader frowned as she stared at her toenail intently, the brush of her nail polish tightly in her right hand. "She's a creeper. So, what do you girls think of my nails?"
Jake would have loved to slap his forehead at the air-headed blonde. Why was he hanging around the cheerleaders and footballers again? Oh, right, cuz he was supposedly popular, not that he was sure how that had happened in the first place.
"Still, I'll talk to her. Maybe she's just shy."
"Do what you can't help, we'll stay here in the normal world," Brad drawled as he stared at the undefined mountain of 'food' on his plate.
As undefined as the existence of your brain, Jake thought scornfully as he made his way to the lone girl in the far corner of the cafeteria.
Rose looked up from her Economy textbook, having passed on the gray mountain of cement they called food that day, when a shadow was cast over her, eyes meeting the figure of Jake. "Yes?"
"Hey, you're Rose, right? I wondered if you wanted to come over to my friends, you looked a bit lonely."
The girl only raised a delicate eyebrow at him. "If you're trying to ridicule me with this, then I have to disappoint you, I'm not buying this." With that she returned to her book, not sparing him a second glance.
The black-haired teen frowned. "Look, I'm only trying to be nice here, no need to be so rude."
With a definite slam of her book on the table she glared her blue eyes at him. "I never asked you to come over here and be nice. Leave me the fuck alone, you boy-toy."
He glared and brought his hands down on the table, getting in her face that never wavered from her appalled expression. "What the fuck is your problem! I've seen hitmen with a nicer attitude!"
Rose stood up as well, gaining a similar stance to his. "You and your friends are my fucking problem, acting like you own the damned school! I'm sick of your superior better-than-thou attitude!"
"At least I'm not acting like a loner just to proof a damn ideal that no one gets because I let no one near me, you stupid bitch!" A resounding slap went through the suddenly quiet cafeteria.
Behind Rose Professor Rotwood had come up and was already taking a deep breath, when the blonde let out a feral snarl, her books in her arms as she grabbed her backpack, interrupting the teacher. "Detention, I know already."
Another attempt to say something was again interrupted. "One and a half week, I know!" With that she left Jake and Rotwood standing there, dumbfounded, the red imprint of her hand still sound on the other teen's cheek.
-o-
He brought his pale hand up to his cheek in remembrance, the skin still stinging from that incident whenever he remembered it.
A bitch indeed. A moody one at that.
"Miss Long, would you mind coming to the front of the class?"
Jake's attention came back up to the front of the class when Rotwood's voice sounded through the silent room.
"And why should I?"
"I'm taking a test of you, that's why. Oral, right now, in front of everyone. Maybe that will teach you to come on time."
He could hear her cursing several obscenities under her breath as she walked towards the classroom front, glaring at the assembled people.
The geriatric professor raised a little card and showed it to her. Rose raised a blonde eyebrow making Rotwood impatient. "Name it!"
"A nymph?"
"WRONG! This is a damn wood sprite, are you stupid?"
Jake shook his head. Now, don't get him wrong, that picture showed, in fact, a nymph, but they were talking about Rotwood there. That fool believed dragon claws glowed in the dark and were allergic to human behinds, while centaurs were another branch of humanity.
If dragon claws really glowed in the dark his job would be much easier, by far.
And allergic to a human's ass? Where were they? Hidden cam? This was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard in his young yet adventurous life.
And centaurs? A branch of mankind? Another wish? He would kill himself if that was true.
But, he relented, it was probably better if Rotwood taught people that junk, so no one believed in them in the long run, but still. It caused him a headache every time he thought about it.
It went like this for another 29 pictures, each time Rose had it wrong in Rotwood's deranged mindset, and each time he wanted to slap himself in the face for the teacher's stupidity.
Jake didn't know whether to pity the girl or chuckle in mirth.
Rotwood slammed his hands on the table as he stood up and glared Rose's way, what little hair he had left flying about in his rage. "You fail every damn test, do you think this is funny?"
The blonde didn't seem faced. "Very."
She had guts, he'd give her that much.
The teacher growled, baring his teeth and Jake had to suppress a chuckle at that sight. "Mr. Pendragon, you'll give Ms. Long here private lessons, since you are apparently the only person in this room listening to my lessons."
Jake's right eye twitched. What the fuck? "Why? I don't see where her lazy ass is any of my concern!"
"Whee, thanks," the blonde teen mumbled under her breath as Rotwood's undivided attention was directed towards the Asian teen. "I can't have a student in my class failing, my job is at stake as it already is, so you will teach her the material or I'll give you so much detention you will see the school more than your bedroom, understood?"
The black-haired teen slumped in his seat, face falling as he resigned to his face. "I'll do it..."
The bell rung for the end of class and everyone gathered their things and hurried out of the classroom, save for Rose who took her sweet time packing her things. She was in no hurry to get home anyways.
"Oi, hurry up, I want this teaching to be over with as quickly as possible."
Her head snapped up towards the source of sound, only to find her sky-blue eyes locked with Jake's onyx-colored. "Excuse me?"
"Okay, but only this once. Now come on."
With a huff Rose threw her backpack on her chair, turning to him with a glare. "Okay, listen here, I won't, and I mean won't, learn anything that stupid retard of a wannabe-teacher is stuffing in our pubertal brains, and I sure as hell won't learn it from you, pretty boy."
Jake's bored and impatient expression didn't waver as he stared at her. "Look, I don't care what you want, but I sure as hell won't take detention because you are too stubborn to study. Now hurry, I want this over with."
-o-
They sat in silence in the library, Jake watching Rose as she tried to get the junk Rotwood so eloquently labeled 'truth' and 'fact' in her head, all the while trying to ignore his probing stare.
With a frustrated snarl Rose leaned back in her chair, glaring daggers at the textbook.
Now, really, it could nothing for her misery, cut it some slack.
"What is it?"
The blonde growled lowly under her breath. "The fact I have to learn this stupid junk. How an you keep this in mind? I mean, vampires, only mutated bats? What the fuck?"
Jake sighed, looking out of the window. "Who are you telling. I mean, that stuff about lavender-scented dragon scales? Are you kidding me?"
The blue-eyed girl stared at him with wide eyes. "Then how the fuck are you memorizing this if you criticize this yourself?"
The Asian shrugged. "I just deem it necessary. I mean, I know he is retarded, but, hey, it's just another subject. I don't believe the crap we are told in Ethics either, but I manage. It's a question of will."
"Still... I can't will myself to even say that butt-allergy crap out loud."
Jake burst out into laughter. "That one is fucking hilarious! Or dragon claws glowing in the dark like these stars you stuck to the ceiling! That's a good one!"
"Or centaurs being a branch of humanity? Seriously, what the heck?"
They continued on like that, until the librarian told them to go home since it was nearing 8 pm.
In front of the tall building they smiled at each other. "Hey, at least this was fun, right?"
The blue-eyed girl nodded. "Yeah, can imagine worse."
Jake half-turned towards his way home, looking at her from over his shoulder. "My offer from 3 weeks ago is still open, Rose."
The girl smiled cynically, putting the teenage boy off. "I doubt I'd fit into your circle of friends, Jake, thanks though."
He frowned. "And how do you think I fit in with cheerleaders and footballers? Come on."
The blonde shrugged. "You are popular, and just fit in naturally. I'm a loner, and always will be. Don't try to change another person. I'm perfectly fine."
Jake frowned, but let the topic be. "See you."
She smiled sadly. "Maybe."
-o-
"I'm home..." Rose took her shoes off as she stepped inside her house, looking up when her mother came up with a worried expression. "What's up?"
"Where were you?"
Her blue eyes widened as her heart sunk. Shit, I completely forgot to call her... "Sorry, Rotwood clapped private lessons on me so I had to stay with a classmate until now. Sorry, I forgot to call you in the whole mess."
Susan Long sighed. "It's alright, just don't do that again. Come on, I saved you some dinner, Rose."
When they arrived in the kitchen and the blonde girl started digging into her food her mother sat down opposite of her, smiling. "So, your grandpa called, he said tomorrow you could start training."
Her ice-colored eyes brightened. "Really? I can't wait!"
"Thought so..." Susan looked at her hands on the table. "You know, Rose..."
"Hm...?" The teen looked up at her mother curiously.
"The job of a dragon is really dangerous. I want you to be careful, okay? Don't overexert yourself, honey."
Rose's eyes softened as she smiled lightly. "Don't worry, mom, I'll watch out."
The Asian woman ruffled her daughter's hair affectionately. "Good, now eat up and do your homework. I'm sure you and your friend tired yourself out with the coaching."
The blonde girl frowned. "We aren't friends."
"If you say so..."
-o-
Jake didn't bother switching the light on. He didn't want to be seen, he wanted the exact opposite. The boy didn't need the light anyhow.
With skilled feet he turned right and made his way towards the stairs that leads to the upper floor of the two-story apartment his 'uncle' owned and hosted his room.
Only two more steps and I'm at the stairs...
The lights flashed on when his left foot made contact with the stone steps, the teen paused and ducked his head as he turned around to be faced with the Huntsmaster. "Um... good evening?"
"Where were you?"
The Asian teen sweat dropped. "My... mythology teacher forced me to give a classmate coaching, and we didn't finish it until now, I'm sorry I didn't call you, but my cell went out of battery..."
"That's no excuse."
His shoulders slumped. "I know, I apologize, Huntsmaster."
"Don't do it again," with that the older man turned around and left the discouraged teen behind.
-o-
With a low growl Jake let himself fall onto his mattress, eyes closed and head buried in his pillow.
He was so fed up with that curfew and rules.
He loved his job, he literally lived for it, but he just wished he could be a normal teenager every once in a while, was that too much to ask?
Jake sighed as he rolled over on his back. He really envied Rose, or every other student at his High School, for that matter.
"To be normal for a day..." he whispered, before rolling back over and falling asleep, sighing before consciousness completely slipped his grasp.
-o-
Since Rose's last name was never revealed in the series, and Jake and her switched roles, I had to come up with a name for him, please be nice^^ I know Pendragon is a strange name, but, hey, it's the last name of King Arthur! XD
I hope you liked this, please review^^ I mean it, review! DX