The Dance of the Dragon

Sorry it took so long to get up! Couldn't figure out how to do the ending.

~Mya

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"Luuuccy, I'm hoooome!" Mya shouted, shutting the door behind her.

"Welcome home Ricky!" Said Al, her squire as she came bounding around the corner, her dark red hair flying. She was smiling but that smile soon faded when she saw her bullet holes. She sighed and shook her head.

"You've been shot."

"Of course I was shot! All those damned Daimons have guns now and they think that if they shoot us full of holes, we won't hurt them."

"Sit." Al commanded, waving to the couch. Mya sat down while she went to get the "Hole Kit" which was their nickname for the first aid supplies, since it was only using for fixing bullet holes. She took off her coat to examine if she could repair the damage. It only had two holes, so maybe it could be saved. Al returned, carries her supplies.

"Take off your shirt."

"Wow Al….so pushy! I didn't know you where into this sort of thing, but whatever you say…" She gave her an annoyed look.

"Haha, hilarious Mya. But what about the 'No touching your squire' rule?"

"Ash wouldn't punish me. He likes me too much."

"Artemis might." Al said. Artemis and Mya hated each other and Al knew it. She dabbed alcohol into one of her wounds. Her muscles tighten in surprise and pain.

"Wow, the big bad Dark-Hunter, scared to nothing, flinches at Alcohol." Mya gave a look, but Al just smiled. Al had been her squire for over 10 years since she was 17. It was a personal record for me. Most barely lasted two. The only other one that lasted longer was in 1500 BC and that one was cut short. Most got fed up with Mya's crazy habits and constant wounds. She felt Al shove the clamp into one of her wounds, searching for the bullet. She grabbed it and yanked it out. She twitched and ignored the pain.

"I've got an idea. How 'bout we get a REALLY big magnet and hold it to my bullet holes. The bullets would just come flying out. Would make your life so much easier." Another bullet was out. Two to go.

"Might hurt like hell though." Mya shrugged.

"Band-aid theory." One more.

"Band-aid theory?"

"Yeah, take all the pain at once instead of little pain over a period of time. Like ripping off a band-aid."

"Done." With one last tug, Al yanked the last one out painfully.

"Damn girl, could you be a little gentler?"

"You don't pay me to be gentle. You pay me to keep you from looking like Swiss cheese."

************

Once Al had banged her wounds, she put her under shirt back on and headed down into her basement room. The little half windows had been boarded up to prevent any sun light from coming in. Candles lined the walls. The room was only half the basement. The other half contained a very large TV, surrounded by racks of movies from over the ages. Mya kicked off her cargo pants, but leaving her bike shorts on. She could feel the tiredness come over me as she fell into bed. Mya was asleep in moments.

When she finally awoke, it was three in the afternoon. Mya groaned and rolled over onto her back. She snapped her fingers and all the candles in the room lit. She had been able to control fire and teleport since she first became a Dark-Hunter. Mya had over 4500 years to perfect them. Fire obeyed her every command. She could go anywhere she wanted. Out of all the places she'd never lived, New York was her favorite. Great nightclubs, a rich history and plenty of dark alleys to do her business. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten in a while. She grabbed her cell phone and called Al.

"Hey, send me down something to eat, could ya?"

"I'll send down the pancakes I made this morning."

"Thanks." With that she closed her phone. She grabbed her black Mac Book off the floor next to her and opened it up. Her iChat opened up to find no one was on. Mya sighed and checked her email before she heard the familiar sounds of the dumb waiter. Mya moved her computer to the side to open the door in the wall. She pulled out her pancakes dripping with syrup and bacon. She wrote a quick note to Al telling her she was the best and pushed the up button.

When Mya had her house built back around the 1920s, she had put in a dumb waiter for this very reason. So that her squire wouldn't have to come down the stairs to bring her things that she couldn't get during the day. Even after many of her renovations, it had stayed in, although it had become electronic instead of a pulley.

She checked the sun set time which was 4:59. She leaned back and started to eat. She turned on her stereo system and The Rolling Stones came pouring out. Mya smiled and ate her pancakes.

Once she was finished, she got up and danced around, singing to Shine a Light, one her favorite Rolling Stone songs. She picked out her clothes to be worn later. She headed into her bathroom and took off her clothes for a shower. She inspected her wounds in the full length mirror, happy to find that they were about half way healed. She smiled and gave a silent thanks to D'Atyle, her Dream-Hunter for doing such a good job.

She got in the shower, getting all of the blood and grime of her from last night. She got out, dried off and put on a clean strapless undershirt and her bike shorts. She glanced at her clock. 5:05. She could go out. She grabbed her regular clothes and headed up stairs. She put her clothes on the couch.

"I'm going for a run, I'll see you later!" Mya said before heading out her back door and into the woods. She sighed and closed her eyes. She simply let her body fall away. She back arched and black fur grew all over her body. Her face became more pointed and a tail grew out of base of her spine. Within moments, she was her other self. She was a panther. She leapt off the porch and into the woods.

When Mya first became a Dark-Hunter, she couldn't transform. It came later, during Artemis's war with Bast. Mya had once been a favorite of Artemis, the only female, strong as her male counterparts. Bast knew this, so in revenge, Bast cursed Mya to transform into a panther, making her no better then a Were-hunter to Artemis.

At first, she had tried to fight it, but the need became too great. Once Mya had given in, there was no going back. Transforming had become second nature and it gave her an outlet for her sometimes insane feelings. It calmed her like fighting did, though it wasn't working as well lately. Needless to say, Artemis forever hated her after that. But Mya didn't care. She had stopped caring a long time ago.

The forest floor was hard under her paws and the air was cold. She smelled a squirrel, strange for such cold weather. She stopped running and dropped into a hunting crouch. She moved silently towards it, her whole body tensed. Once she was in range, she pounced, trapping it under her paws. It squirmed under her paws and then she let it go. It darted away up a tree. Mya didn't want the meat, only the hunt. The hunt was what she loved. She ran farther in to the forest that surrounded her house. She had built her house here for a reason. Somewhat close to the city, but secluded and alone in the woods for her own comfort and plenty of woods for running. It was amazing.

Mya soon reached her favorite tree and leapt up from the ground into it's braches. She was at the top in moments. The cold winter air blew over her face, blowing her fur back. This was it. This was perfect. She wanted nothing in her life to change, although a small corner of her brain knew that was impossible. Things always changed, no matter how much you didn't want them too. For better or for worst.