Future Dragon: Rose Long (Season Seven)
Chapter/Episode Six: A Decision To Make
Turning around a corner in the prison as quickly as she could, Rose came to a halt as she saw Holly, Jake, Rin and Callum all walking down the hall. "Rose, what are you doing in here?" Jake asked as he and the other Councilors stopped from surprise.
"I heard you calling my name." Rose said.
"Yeah, we were just checking." Jake said. "I got quite a surprise when I woke up and found that you weren't still in bed. What?" Jake smiled. "Did you do your run and then finish up in here?"
"Actually, I haven't done my workout for today yet." Rose said.
"Well, maybe you should do that now." Holly said. "We have something that we need to take care of."
"You didn't just come in here because you were looking for me?"
"We weren't looking for you in here." Callum said.
"Then why are you here?" Rose asked. "And why did Jake call out my name?"
"We have some business to attend to." Holly said. "I assume that he just thought he'd just check to be safe."
LINE BREAK
Inside her cell, Savannah still had her head lowered, even as Holly, Jake, Rin and Callum all reached her cell, stopped and looked in.
"Hey, Dragon Rogers." Holly said, narrowing her eyes. "Wake up."
Slowly, Savannah lifted her head up, a scowl on her face. "What a pleasant surprise..." She said sarcastically.
"Can it." Jake said sternly, prompting Holly to reach out and place a hand on his shoulder.
"We just came here to tell you that you and Dragon Solorio are going on trial later today." Holly said.
"Thanks for telling me that." Savannah said sarcastically.
LINE BREAK
Outside, Rose panted as she slowly jogged along the grass.
LINE BREAK
Walking up to a table at the cafeteria, Rose found Jake eating breakfast on one side, while there was another plate of food on the other side. "Thanks for waiting for me." Rose said as she sat down.
"How was your workout?" Jake asked after he had swallowed the food in his mouth and had set down his fork.
"Fine." Rose said, keeping her eyes on Jake as she blindly reached out and grabbed her fork.
"Rose, can I ask you something?"
"It depends..." Rose said as she looked down at her food, which was a stack of four pancakes. "...Am I going to get annoyed and angry if you ask it?"
"I don't know." Jake shrugged.
"Then ask away." Rose said as she looked up at her husband. "I guess we'll find out."
"What were you doing in the jail?" Jake asked.
"Well, Jake..." Rose smiled sarcastically. "...I guess you should have just spared yourself my temper and just answered 'yes' when I asked you if your question was going to tick me off."
"Were you talking to Savannah Rogers?" Jake pressed the issue.
"What if I was?" Rose asked as she set down her fork.
"Rose, I don't want to argue with you." Jake said calmly. "I love you. I thought you loved me to."
"Don't be ridiculous." Rose rolled her eyes.
"I'm serious, Rose." Jake said. "It seems like ever since you came back, you've sided with Savannah Rogers and Cherri Solorio."
"I am on their side."
"They kidnapped you!"
"Jake, don't start with this again..."
"If you only knew." Jake pointed a finger at her. "If you only knew what Savannah Rogers did. Believe me, Rose. She was one angry young dragon."
"I know, Jake." Rose said, her eyes narrowed.
"You do?"
"Yes." Rose nodded once. "And do you want to know why I know? It's because I went to talk with Savannah. And you know what? She told me everything. She told me about how you rejected her."
"Oh, great." Jake crossed his arms. "She's just trying to garner some sympathy from you."
"No, she's not." Rose said.
"Yes, she is." Jake insisted.
"No, she's not!" Rose repeated, almost on the verge of shouting this time. "And do you want to know why, Jake? It's because she was honest with me! She told me that she was using me for her own selfish ends!"
"And still you defend her?!"
"You know what?" Rose asked. "Yes. Yes I do."
"Why?" Jake asked, completely confused.
"Do you want to know what happened when I was abducted, Jake?" Rose asked as she put her arm on the table.
"Yes, yes I would." Jake smiled. "You can tell us all at the trial."
"No, I'm going to tell you now." Rose said, narrowing her eyes again. "Just you and nobody else."
"Fine." Jake said, crossing his arms.
"Yes, they were a little violent." Rose admitted. "They knocked me unconscious, and when I woke up, I was in chains. I was your typical damsel-in-distress. But you know what? All Savannah wanted was to offer me a chance to find whoever killed my Mom and Dad. They released me."
Then, Rose threw her fork down and stood up, climbing over the bench and then walking away.
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
In her room, Holly, in her dragon form was sitting on her bed. Hissing in pain, she held her cut clawed hand over the jar she had retrieved, Holly's blood falling into the jar, filling it up.
LINE BREAK
Holly, now in her human form, walked into the cafeteria, trying to conceal the jar within her robes as she clutched her bleeding hand.
However, Holly made the mistake of walking by the table that Jake was sitting alone at. Jake, who seem to be distressed and lost in deep thought was snapped out of it when Holly walked by him.
"Whoa, Holly..." Jake said as he slowly stood up, making Holly stop in her tracks and quickly turn around.
"What?" Holly asked.
"What happened to your hand?" Jake asked after he had turned, pointing at Holly's bleeding hand.
"Don't worry about it, Jake." Holly smiled misleadingly at her friend and fellow Councilor. "I'll be fine."
"Okay, but what happened?" Jake asked, lowering his hand.
"Oh, I just cut my hand on accident..." Holly said. "...I'm just going to get a bandage."
"Need some help?"
"Absolutely not!" Holly said, still smiling.
LINE BREAK
A short time later, Holly walked into the kitchen and quickly turned around, closing the door and locking herself in.
Sighing with relief, Holly turned aback around and walked to the other end of the room, where there was a counter and a drawer.
As soon as Holly reached the counter, she reached into her robes with her uninjured hand and pulled out the jar, setting it down on the counter. Then, she took a step back and reached down, opening the drawer.
"Here we are..." Holly muttered to herself as she pulled out an old roll of bandaging cloth.
LINE BREAK
After finishing wrapping her hand in the bandaging cloth, Holly sighed with relief as she set down the bandages. Then, she quickly grabbed the jar with her blood in it and stepped away from the counter, making it to the stove, where there was already a pot, making Holly smile.
Turning on the stove with her good hand, Holly then grabbed the pot off of the stove and lifted up, allowing her to smile as she poured her blood into the pot.
Then, she set it back down on the stove, watching as her blood started to heat up.
LINE BREAK
Rose was sitting on the ledge of the island, staring out into the open, lost in thought. She was so lost in thought that she had no idea that a dragon Carter was walking toward her from behind.
"Hey." Carter said as he crossed his arms. "Don't fall over the ledge." He said as Rose turned her head to the side.
"What are you doing here?" Rose asked, finally turning her head back to normal as Carter reached the ledge, reverting to his dragon form and then sitting down. "What are you doing here?" Rose repeated, turning her head to the side again.
"What?" Carter shrugged. "Can't a dragon come to the Island of Draco, a place where all dragons meet?"
"You're smart, Carter." Rose narrowed her eyes. "But I'd like to think that I am, too. I know you're lying. What are you doing here?"
Carter sighed in defeat before he turned his head to the side to look at her. "Did you come here looking for me?" Rose asked.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Well..." Carter said. "...I guess I was just kind of worried."
"About what?"
"Well, you looked really ticked off when you learned that I was the one who told the Council who had kidnapped you." Carter said.
"I wasn't ticked off." Rose narrowed her eyes. "Well...not at you."
"You seemed ticked at me." Carter said. "Now I think you're lying."
"Well, what do you want me to say?" Rose asked. "Do you want me to say that I'm mad at you?"
LINE BREAK
In the kitchen, Holly stood by the boiling stove, looking at the pot in anticipation. Striding over to the stove, Holly looked down, only to see that the blood had not even started boiling yet.
"What the...?" Holly asked herself.
LINE BREAK
"I'd like you to tell me the truth." Carter said as both he and Rose turned their heads back to normal. "Are you mad at me?"
"I guess so..." Rose shrugged.
"I don't understand why." Carter said.
"Exactly!" Rose said as she turned her head to the side. "No one understands how I feel!"
"Well, how do you feel?" Carter asked as he turned his head to the side.
"Savannah was my friend." Rose said. "I've tried to tell Jake this so many times that I've lost count."
"He's not listening to you?"
"No, and I don't know why." Rose said. Sighing, she turned her head back to normal and dropped her head. "Everything's gone right down the crapper in these last few years."
"That bad?"
"Well, let's see..." Rose said as she slowly lifted her head up, turning it to the side so she could look at Carter. "...First, Fred Nerk's dragon chi had to get transferred into my body. Because of that, I lost my job and my body is at constant risk. Losing my job has strained my relationship with my husband."
"Strained?"
"We were separated for a year." Rose said. "And now that we're back together, it seems like all he's doing is ignoring me. He's so blinded by the Council's distrust of Savannah."
"What did Savannah do?"
"If what Savannah said is true..." Rose said as she turned her head back to normal, once again dropping it. "...And I have no doubt that she is telling the truth, then this is all a misunderstanding."
"Savannah said something?" Carter's eyes widened. "You talked to her?"
"Yeah."
"Where is she?"
"In prison." Rose said as she turned her head to the side again. "And from what I've heard, she and Cherri are going on trial soon."
"Who's Cherri?"
"My friend."
"Well, what did Savannah say?"
"You wouldn't understand." Rose narrowed her eyes.
"Did she kidnap you?"
"No." Rose said. "I was kidnapped, but I was never in any danger. But now two of my new friends are. I don't want it to be that way."
"Well..." Carter said. "...Then that leaves you with a choice, Rose. You have to options. Those options would be to either sit back and do nothing and let it happen."
"I don't want to do that." Rose said. "I want the Council to understand."
"Then it looks like you only have one option." Carter told her. "That's to do something about it."
LINE BREAK
Holly looked back down at the pot, seeing that her blood still wasn't boiling.
Now groaning because of her nerves, Holly put her arms behind her back and backed away. Then, she turned and started to pace back and forth, getting stressed and out and impatient.
However, Holly's pacing stopped as she heard a ringing coming from inside her robes.
Holly reached into her robes and pulled out her communication device. Taking a deep breath, Holly then pressed the button, omitting a holographic image of the dragon that was responsible for the distress that Holly was currently in.
"Rhys..."
BLACKOUT; COMMERCIAL BREAK
BACK TO THE STORY/SHOW
"...Rhys..." Holly repeated. "...I...What a surprise! A pleasant surprise!" Holly forced herself to smile.
"How is the Pure Dragon potion coming." Rhys asked.
"Well, I-"
"Because I'll be coming over to retrieve it tomorrow morning." Rhys said. "Just think..." He smiled. "...You will be able to bring your brother back..."
"Yeah, about that..." Holly said nervously. "...I'm going to need more time."
"What?" Rhys asked, his smile vanishing.
"I...I'm going to need more time." Holly repeated. "You see, something's-"
"You don't get more time!" Rhys told her angrily. "I gave you three days and that is what you got. It better be ready or almost ready by the time that I arrive tomorrow morning!"
"But, Rhys-"
"You have the rest of today to finish it." Rhys said, pointing at her. "And it better be completed."
Then, his holographic form vanished.
Holly sighed as she lowered both her head and her communication device.
LINE BREAK
Meanwhile, Rose found herself walking down the dark halls of the prison, looking both ways at each cell she was passing.
Finally, she reached the cell she was looking for: the one that Cherri was sitting in. Cherri was staring right at Rose, sitting in her human form, her arms shackled above her.
"Hey." Rose said as she turned to look in the cell.
"Hi, Rose." Cherri smiled slightly.
"So..." Rose tried to make small talk as she reached out and touched one of the bars.
"So..." Cherri repeated, wondering why Rose was coming to visit her.
"...I heard that you and Savannah are going on trial soon."
"Yeah." Cherri said. "The Councilors came to my cell early this morning and told me that Savannah and I are going to be tried today."
"I've been trying to tell the Council that you and Savannah are friends." Rose said, letting her hand slip away from and off of the bar.
"None of them listened to you, huh?" Cherri asked, a knowing look in both of her eyes.
"If they believed me..." Rose replied. "...Do you think you'd still be sitting in this prison cell?"
"No."
"Cherri..." Rose said, now placing both of her hands on the bars. "...I really wish there was something I could do to help you and Savannah. I mean, you two helped me. Really, you did."
"Yeah..." Cherri said, in a tone that was apprehensive to really bring up the good she and Savannah had done her.
Rose seemed to pick this up, because she smiled and said: "I went to talk to Savannah this morning."
"What'd you two talk about?"
"Savannah told me why she so desperately wanted us to find the killer of my parents."
"For you." Cherri answered, although, even if Rose had not been told the truth by Savannah, she would have been able to tell by Cherri's tone that she was half-lying.
"To get back at the Dragon Council." Rose said with a small smile.
"Wait, Savannah told you that?"
"Yep." Rose's smile widened.
"And you're not mad?"
"I don't think I am." Rose continued to smile.
"Wow." Cherri herself smiled. "You're taking that revelation well."
"Well..." Rose joked. "...Maybe if that was all Savannah cared about, then I would feel differently."
LINE BREAK
Pushing the steel door of the prison open, Rose stepped outside, only to freeze as she saw Jake and Councilor Callum walking by, both far away enough so that they were oblivious to Rose being at the prison and so that Rose could not hear them.
"Ear of the dragon." Rose commanded softly, a dragon ear replacing her regular one.
"Quite odd that Councilor Jennings was not in her quarters..." Councilor Callum said.
"Yeah." Jake replied in a very depressed tone. "I, uh, I saw her earlier this morning, maybe only about an hour or two ago."
"Where was she?" Callum asked as he turned his head to the side to look at Jake.
"She was in the cafeteria."
"Getting food?"
"No." Jake answered. "She had a cut up hand. She said she accidentally cut it." Jake explained as Callum turned his head back to normal. "Do you think she could still be in there?" He added.
"I think we could afford to look." Callum said. "After all, we need her. The trial is going to start soon."
"I honestly don't know what the point of a trial is." Jake said as he and Callum continued on, not knowing that Rose was following them from rather far behind. "We already got both Rose and Dragon Solorio to say that Dragon Solorio is guilty of abduction." However, when Rose's ear picked up this, she stopped in her tracks, her eyes widened and she gasped. "What do we need to try her for? Her fate is sealed already."
Opening her mouth, Rose reached out, preparing to call out to her husband and his fellow Dragon Councilor.
However, it soon dawned on her that they would not listen to her, and for good reason. In Cherri's case, at least.
"They won't listen to me..." Rose muttered to herself as she lowered her arm.
"Then it looks like you only have one option. That's to do something about it." Carter's words suddenly replayed in her head.
This memory made Rose narrow her eyes. "He's right." She said to herself. "No more trying to reason with Jake, Callum, Rin and Holly. I'm going to take Savannah and Cherri's fates into my hands."
Walking over to the ledge of the island, Rose closed her eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling as a bright light engulfed her, transforming her into her dragon form.
Smiling, Rose then flared her wings, flapped them and then took off into the air.
LINE BREAK
Back in the kitchen, Holly started to breathe heavily as she stared at her blood on the stove. It still wasn't doing anything.
"Councilor Jennings!" She suddenly heard the sound of Callum's voice.
"Holly!" Subsequently, she heard the sound of Jake's voice. This made Holly turned her head to the side and straighten up, her eyes widening.
"Aw crap..." Holly muttered.
BLACKOUT; END EPISODE
A/N: Man, this one was actually kind of hard to flesh out into eleven pages. I don't think I could have done it without the Cherri/Rose scene in the prison. Well, as usual, tell me what you think of this chapter/episode with a review.