Hunting a Burning Rose

-o-

heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves
Carol Lynn Pearson

-o-

"Um... why don't you just share it?"

"WHAT!" The outraged, unison screams of the pixies were all the answer she needed to know she had somehow stepped on their feet.

This was going to be a long night.

-o-

Fourth: Pleased to meet you... not

-o-

"So... what would happen if the pixies got that apple?"

The Huntsmaster, albeit sounding pleased about the curiosity of his apprentice, seemed to be annoyed by the conversation all the same. "Their powers would probably increase by tenfold, which isn't much, I'll remind you."

"And the dragons?"

"Depends on the individual. The magical apple could cause any kind of effect on them, from slight increase of physical power or fire strength up to psychic abilities. It all depends on the dragon."

Jake knew he was threading on dangerous territory already, but in the end his curiosity got the better of him still. "And... if one of us were to eat it?"

"That would be irrelevant. Any magical support would lead to execution, apprentice."

Well, so much for that, really.

-o-

"Okay... well then we'll just-"

Rose was interrupted by a green blast of lightning striking the ground only mere inches left to her, throwing her back. She only caught herself by transforming, or else her back would've met with the nearest chunk of stone. "What the hell!"

Her head snapped back as a silver, dagger-like blade attempted to cut her throat clean open, a masked, lilac-clad figure jumping at her.

-o-

This part of the Central Park was dark when they arrived, the only light coming from the small, two inch pixies and the golden apple in the American Dragon's hand. Jake could distinctly make out light-colored hair – not exactly a rare sight in New York, mind you – and the silhouette of a teenaged girl around his age, give or take a few years. In the background he could barely make out the shapes of two others, outside of the illuminating shine of the magical apple.

They aren't important, he thought, for his goal was to skin the American Dragon alive – and her alone... and get his hands on that stupid apple, he mentally added as his master glared at him, seemingly having read his overexcited thoughts.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," were his last words before the young hunter pulled down his mask, hands gripping his weapon so tight his knuckles turned white, and he jumped, the silver blade sending a blast of green energy towards the unsuspecting creatures.

Blazing gold mist blinded him for the quarter of a second, long enough to keep him from looking at the dragon's face, but not long enough to stop his slash at her now scaled throat.

Her glowing blue eyes were wide in shock, though her body was tense, ready to cut him clean open with her sharp claws that seemed to be of pure gold. Her long snout opened, and his muscles already readied themselves to jump out of the way of a fire fountain, when a female voice, slightly off from the long teeth, came from her throat.

And it would take him a month to get over his shock.

"What the fuck is your problem?"

Really, who was that? A newby? Jake frowned, not that it was visible under his mask, and his stance relaxed somewhat. "Are you serious?"

"Serious about what? The question why you are attacking me out of the blue? Why, yes, I am!"

The hunter's face fell, and with a sigh he shook his head. "I hate newbies," he muttered under his breath. He looked back up at her, his eyes hardening again, grip on the blade tightening further. "You can ask your friends in hell, dragon."

With that he jumped at her again. Rose, caught off guard, only just managed to fly upwards, though a little too late. His jagged blade cut her thigh, crimson blood splashing about as she cried in pain. Still in the air, Rose was holding her bleeding leg, teeth gritted together, suppressing another cry of pain. Her blue eyes traveled earthwards, towards the lilac-clad hunter, who had taken off his mask far enough to expose his lips, and ran his tongue along the blade, tasting her blood on the cold metal, his black eyes staring into hers, a shiver running down her spine upon the hideous display.

He grinned, feeling the exhilarating thrill of the hunt again, the irony liquid running down his throat, his heart thumping in his ears as adrenaline ran through his veins like poison.

This was gonna be fun.

-o-

Lao Shi stared at the Huntsmaster with eyes that held neither fear nor anxiousness – be it for his own wellbeing or his granddaughter's – but were nothing short of, in lack for a better word, bored.

Not bored because of the hunters, no, they were a nuisance but not enough to bore the geriatric dragon.

Bored because of Fu Dog's babbling.

Was he never going to shut up?

"-and just you wait! The old man here is going to beat you up like you've never been beaten up before, you big o-" Lao Shi sighed.

This night was going to be longer than expected.

-o-

All the air left Jake's lungs when a long, golden tail hit him square in the chest, throwing him halfway across the large clearing where his back had the doubtful pleasure of meeting a tree. He wheezed, coughing for air. Fuck, that hurt!

The corners of his vision blurred and before he was able to catch his bearings did a scaled claw grab the front of his garb, and skyblue eyes bore into his deep black ones. "What the fuck is your goddamn problem, you freak?"

At the last bit the young hunter narrowed his eyes and hissed deathly. "I'm not the one who turned into a giant lizard, you monster," he spat. And the hatred and abhorrence were oozing from his voice, startling the golden dragon holding him by the shirt.

"You think I'm a monster? Why? You don't even know me!" The lilac-clad killer laughed humorlessly. "I know more than enough, monster."

Rose was stunned by all the repulsion in his voice and without her notice did her scaled grip on the thin fabric slack. To Jake, however, the opening wasn't lost. In one swift move did he kick her in the gut, pushing her away and freeing himself. He landed on his feet, quickly grabbing for his weapon and slashing at the startled girl-turned-dragon, cutting open her left arm. As the silver blade described an arch in the cool night air, drops of crimson blood descended to the moist grass below, glowing in the pale moonlight.

The sight of fresh blood igniting his killing intent he leaped anew, this time cutting through the flesh of her right ribcage, whirling with the momentum of his weapon and delivering a bone-crushing kick to her left shoulder.

Close combat had always been his forte.

The golden dragon lay bleeding on her back, fangs gritted in pain as the young killer closed in on her, determined to finish her off, if it hadn't been for the ring of blazing hot fire engulfing him. With a short glance towards his master, he knew he was in the same predicament.

The Chinese dragon landed in front of the American one with blazing fury in his black eyes, and Jake dwelled for just a moment, not even a heartbeat long, on the thought how alike they seemed to his own, shaking it off when the blue dragon grabbed the Shar Pei under one arm, the golden dragon under the other, and flew off towards the skyline of New York City, the fire still burning around the two hunters, only quenched when the sun was dawning at the horizon.

So much for finishing his homework.

The younger man started walking towards the discarded hoverboard, his dark gaze fixing on the low glimmer of the apple that had been the object of the argument the creatures had before, and knowing his uncle was still raging a little ways off, quickly grabbed it up and hid it inside his robes, not fully grasping his reason for hiding it in the first place, and waited for the Huntsmaster to calm down and give the go to return home.

If only he had know what a life-altering decision he had made by taking the apple with him, he would have thrown it as far away as humanly possible.

-o-

The blonde teenager hissed in agony as her grandfather viewed the long gashes on her body with a worried crease between his eyebrows, while Fu Dog searched his untidy stock of magical something for a leftover of pixie dust.

Fighting tears Rose looked up at her mentor, scowling. "Zufu... who where those people?"

For a moment only was Lao Shi stunned to hear the language of his youth, if only in her address to him, but soon regained his composure as he walked over to his close companion, pushing him aside and grabbing for a small glass filled with golden powder, returning to her side. "They call themselves the Huntsclan. They believe they were chosen from birth to hunt and exterminate mythical creatures, especially us dragons, as we are their protectors."

The young girl frowned deeper, tilting her head. "Chosen from birth? How?"

The gray Shar Pei now spoke up, tone unusually grave and sincere. "No one knows how they choose their members, but it must be something very evident, as they sometimes even kidnap babies from hospitals, as far as we know."

The blonde dragon gasped, eyes wide, at his implications. "You mean-"

"Yes. They are everywhere. They are normal humans, with jobs and families. We have no means to distinguish them from the general mass, but," at that her grandfather grinned. "Neither can they tell the difference between a dragon in human shape and a normal human. That, Rose, is the only security we have."

"But..." she whispered, her gaze downcast as she remembered the blazing contempt in the eyes of the hunter who could not have been much older than herself. "Why? Why do they hate us so much that they are willing to kill us?"

Lao Shi did not answer immediately, contemplating his reply carefully. Finally, he said. "Rose, no one kills a spider because they hate it."

When she stared at him in confusion he shook his head sadly, taking her hand in his and squeezing it softly.

"No, one kills a spider because they fear it."

-o-

"You fought well tonight, Jake."

The teen in question didn't know whether he was more surprised by his uncle's calm voice or his use of his given name, and instead settled for both. His black eyes locked with the dark ones of the Huntsmaster, who'd removed his helmet, his bald head covered in the scarlet dragon birthmark, the sign of a hunter from birth. "Thank you. It is a shame they escaped, though. I can't be happy over an incomplete victory."

The older man nodded slowly, a grim smile grazing his rugged features. "I like your self-criticism, Jake, it is a healthy trait for our people. Don't worry, they won't escape us for long."

His cold eyes fell on the grandfather clock on the opposite wall, then back to his adolescent apprentice. "Go sleep, you shall be allowed to stay home for today and rest." Seeing the surprise of the teen his grin darkened. "You fought well tonight, view this as your reward."

Jake, knowing his master's grace would be short-lived, hurriedly bowed and ran towards his room, locking the door behind him.

After all, he wanted to be undisturbed as he contemplated his small bounty.

-o-

Rose fully expected to eat lunch alone that day, as Jake had missed during the first two periods, and she had no reason to expect the other two to eat with her. She was stunned to find her usual table occupied by Trixie and Spud, setting her tablet down opposite of them. The afroamerican girl frowned. "Where's Jake?"

The blonde shrugged. "Haven't seen him all morning, no clue what's up. He didn't seem ill yesterday."

"My deepest apologies, I wasn't aware I had to text you every hour and inform you of my health." His sarcastic remark had her jerk around, his frown evident, but so was the mirth in his dark eyes as he sat down to her left, stealing one of her fries as he had just arrived, not bothering to buy himself food. Rose frowned likewise, kicking his shin under the table and having him bend forward, forehead on the tabletop. "What the fuck was that for!"

"Thieves shall be punished" was her only reply as she scooted away, resuming her meal. Trixie raised an eyebrow. Lovers' quarrel much?

The blue-eyed girl just smiled to herself as Jake nursed his aching limb, glaring daggers at her.

"Dude, what was wrong?"

Spud's monotonous voice averted his attention and he slowly straightened up. "I got a high fever last night, and only got better a couple hours ago." It was a flat-out lie, but none of them seemed to notice, shrugged, and continued their meal, warding off Jakes's occasional attempts at stealing their food.

Pouting he resigned to an empty stomach, leaning back in his seat slightly and looking at Rose. "What's next?"

"PE" she answered without sparing him a glance, and Trixie groaned. "Right! Today starts swimming season! Dammit, I hate that!"

The Asian raised an eyebrow. "You're in our group?"

"We both are, but you haven't really been paying attention to Spud and me, no surprise you are oblivious as a wall."

He had at least the decency to blush.

-o-

Dark brown eyes stared in disdain at the mirror, viewing the deep blue swimsuit she was wearing.

She really hated swimming season.

Her gaze caught Rose's figure on the opposite side of the locker room, her long locks falling down the side of her neck as she applied her sunscreen on her left shoulder, and Trixie's eyes widened at the scarlet dragon mark winding down her upper arm. Turning around she walked towards the girl, grabbing her wrist as she took a closer look at the birthmark. "What the hell is this? That's freaky."

Rose blushed as she craned her neck to look at her birthmark, embarrassed. "I dunno, I've always had it. Is it really that creepy?"

"Not creepy, just freaky as hell. I've never seen one like that... except maybe on Jake."

The dragon paused, staring at the other girl questioningly. "Really? Jake has a dragon birthmark on his shoulder?"

The dark-skinned teen shook her head, smiling slightly as she let go of her pale wrist. "No, on his right wrist, I'm not surprised you've never seen it, he wears long sleeves even during summer." Seeing Rose frown Trixie blinked puzzled. "Something wrong?"

Startled out of her reverie the blonde shook her head slightly, smiling faintly. "No, everything's fine."

The whistle of the PE teacher saved the young dragon from further questions.

-o-

Jake stared at the golden apple in his backpack, torn between throwing it away and his curiosity, feeling the inclination to eat it. Biting his lip his hand hovered mere centimeters away from the magical fruit.

And, gulping, he quickly grabbed it and took a few bites out of it, startled at the warm tingle immediately spreading throughout his body. Hearing the whistle of the teacher he quickly swallowed the last bites of the apple, throwing the waste away and running out, stomach already churning with guilt.

He followed Spud, both joining Trixie and Rose at the end of the pool. The girls were smiling and whispering, stopping when the two boys joined, and Trixie gave the blonde a meaningful stare as she nudged her. Rose blushed, turning to Jake.

"C... can I see your right wrist?"

The teen's blood ran cold, but he did his best not to show it as he slowly raised his palm for the girl to view, who frowned. "Weird."

"Gee, thanks a lot."

The dragon just shook her head and pointed at her left shoulder, and his breath caught in his throat as he saw an identical birthmark to his own. Regaining his composure with slight difficulty he forced a smirk on his face.

"Well, that's really weird."

The four of them were saved from further strained conversation as the whistle sounded again, and they were forced to move into lines of five at the end of the pool.

Neither the hunter nor the dragon were able to shake off the image of the other's mark.

-o-

I am so fucking sorry for this delay of 2 years! I have no creative excuses except me being busy with school and haunted by writer's block.

I hope those of you still interested in this story will review.