Intermission: A Time to heal
First of all, I am sorry for not updating last weekend, I was sick and recovering over the weekend. I am better now and ready to continue. Welcome to the second intermission chapter of this series, I will be doing one every five chapters, I hope that is okay. And I will try to update on Sundays, if not, Mondays from now on.
I don't own Dragon Booster, only Iris, Prisma, Gwen, Soundwyve, Sara and her light blue nautilus-class dragon Whirlpool.
"Alright, Iris, open your eyes." Her blue eyes opened as she stared into the kind green eyes of her therapist Sara, a red haired, green-eyed young woman who had been her therapist since she was young.
Seated in her office, Iris inhaled a calm breath as Sara smiled at her. "Okay, so you've told me that you've been suffering with nightmares again?" The violet-haired teen nodded her head as Sara wrote notes down in her paper.
Sara looked up at her. "Have you been having suicidal thoughts lately? Felt any reason too?" Iris shook her head. "No, just the nightmares." She answered.
"I heard about the fire at the stables and your dad missing, I'm so sorry about that, Iris." Sara offered her condolences about the attack on the stables and Connor missing.
"Thank you, Sara. I miss dad so much and with him missing, child services would find out and take Lance away as me and Artha are only sixteen. We're teens ourselves and taking care of a ten-year-old is hard enough." Iris explained, trying to hold back tears as her emotions bubbled to the surface. Sara slid a box of tissues over to her and she blew her nose, wiping her teary eyes.
"I can tell that you're stressed out with taking care of your brothers, Iris. And the nightmares returning are possibly a sign that you're trying maybe too hard to be like a mother to them since you didn't have motherly love in your life." Sara stated as she also slid a mug of chamomile tea in front of the teen.
"Maybe, but I want them to stop since they are impacting my day to day routine."
Sara nodded her head, her red hair tied up in a bun. "Well, I would suggest that you try some breathing exercises and having some herbal tea would help you relax."
Iris nodded as she picked up her mug of tea and blew on it gently to cool it down before she took a small sip and hummed in appreciation at the taste.
Prisma's Pov
Outside, Prisma was in a stall with Sara's light blue nautilus-class dragon Whirlpool. He had the typical body and face of a nautilus-class but he had the tail of a shark with green eyes.
"So, your Iris' new dragon? I'm Whirlpool." The light blue dragon introduced himself, looking over at the hybrid from his stall beside her. He poked his head over the stall door as Prisma did the same.
"My name is Prisma. I am a hybrid of a psi and a pack-class." The tri-coloured dragon introduced herself, she was getting better at greeting new dragons.
Whirlpool gave a dragon version of a smile. "Nice to meet you, Prisma."
The hybrid inclined her head. "Nice to meet you too, Whirlpool."
The nautilus-class gazed at the building where his rider and Iris were currently talking in Sara's office. "Iris is having nightmares again?"
Prisma nodded. She looked a little uncertain about revealing that she too had been suffering with nightmares. Whirlpool seemed to sense her hesitation. "I can tell you need to get something off your chest, Prisma. I can try to help if you wish to tell me, you don't have to if you're not ready, but I would advise you to let it out rather than holding it in all the time."
The hybrid reflected on those words for a bit, she didn't know this dragon at all and he was offering for her to tell her problems. Should she give it a try?
Thinking on it, she decided to give him a chance. "Alright, I'm having nightmares myself, I too, was abused by my owner ever since I was a hatchling. They've started up again much like Iris' and I'm scared that my owner will find me and try to get me back."
Whirlpool listened intently as Prisma unburdened herself with her past, telling him everything. In the end, once she had finished, he spoke. "Thank you for telling me, Prisma. I can tell this has had a big impact on you all your life. But I can suggest letting others know about your dreams. Have you spoken to anyone?"
"The only one who knows about my nightmares apart from Iris is Beau, Iris' brother's dragon. Apart from him, no one else." The hybrid huffed, feeling a bit lighter now that she'd taken the weight off her shoulders.
Whirlpool nodded his head with a huff of air. "It can be hard letting others into your life, Iris was the same when she first came here. She was very closed off from people and never wanted to interact with anyone. You and Iris have that in common with each other."
Prisma snorted. It wasn't just the fact that both of them suffered abuse, but that they both were closed off from others in their early life, so it made sense. Her tail swayed behind her as she turned and took a drink of water from the water trough, the other one had food, but she wasn't very hungry right now.
Back inside, Iris finished her mug and set it down as Sara wrote down the ingredients for the drink. She ripped the paper from her pad and handed it to the teen. "Here, Iris. Chamomile tea can help you relax before you go to bed and even help calm you down, you can easily get it from the food market. I would suggest doing that after our session is up."
Taking the paper into her hands, Iris gave Sara a grateful smile. "Thank you, Sara."
The red-head smiled back. "Oh, and congratulations on getting your dragon." She added.
"Thanks, her name is Prisma."
"Prisma, that's a very lovely name." Sara complimented the name. Iris smiled. "Thanks, she's a hybrid between a psi and pack-class dragon."
"A hybrid, huh, wow. She must be very extraordinary." Sara said with a grin as she put her notepad down on the coffee table.
"She is, but I am also worried about her, she too, was abused by her former owner and she escaped and crashed into me and Beau when we went food shopping nearly a month ago. Artha had Beau come with me to make sure I was safe and she crashed into him. It took her a while, but she grew comfortable around us and both of us became friends. I'm worried that her owner will try to take her somehow." Iris revealed, looking worried.
Sara listened as Iris spoke about her fears of loosing Prisma as well. She could tell that her patient and friend cared a great deal about her dragon. "Have you told your brothers about your fears?"
"Only Artha knows, Lance doesn't yet. I din't want to worry him." Iris explained.
Sara hummed as she sipped her chamomile tea slowly. She glanced at the clock on the wall, it read 10:30 pm in the morning. Iris had arrived at 9:30, so she'd been here for an hour. "Okay Iris, our session is up, but I want you to remember the breathing exercises before bed and a cup of chamomile tea before you sleep to help relax your body." she quickly wrote down a a few instructions for Iris and tore the page out once again.
Iris stood up. "Thank you for seeing me, Sara." the redhead smiled and pulled the younger girl into a warm hug. She was one of the few people beside her family that Iris trusted since she was her therapist since she was young.
"I'll see you at our next session." Sara bid the teen farewell as she left the office and went up to the desk and book her next appointment. Once she had done that, she headed down the stairs and left through the front door, heading for the stables just around the side of the building where Prisma waited.
Her dragon poked her head over the stall door and grinned when she saw her rider. Iris opened the door and stroked her dragon's nose. "Hey girl, how are you?"
"I'm doing alright, Iris. How are you?" Prisma questioned, nudging her friend. Iris smiled as she rested her forehead against Prisma's nose, taking comfort in her presence.
"Come on, let's go to the small cafe just around the corner." Iris stepped inside the stall and grabbed her saddle from where it lay in the corner of the stall. Prisma lowered her head and Iris place the saddle on her head, flipping the mag-locks into place. She grabbed her helmet from the storage compartment just behind the seat and slipped it on. She mounted the saddle and Prisma headed out. "See you next time, Whirlpool." Iris called out to the light blue dragon, who huffed gently.
"Until next time, Iris. It was nice to meet you, Prisma, and thank you for telling me your problems. You'll be alright with Iris by your side." he bid them farewell as they left the building.
Once the pair left the building, they headed for a small cafe not far from the office, Iris dismounted as Prisma waited outside for her. Iris stepped inside the shop, it was small, but cosy. Walking up to the counter, she removed her helmet and tucked it under her left arm. The cashier behind the counter smiled at her. "Hey Iris. The usual?" her usual was a hot chocolate with two marshmallows and she got Lance his chocolate bar frappe and Artha his milkshake.
"Yes, thanks Layla. And can I get some of your chamomile tea packs please?" the shop sold tea packets and chamomile tea was one of them. The teen, Layla, smiled. "Coming right up." she grabbed the cups she would need before grabbing the tea and setting it on the counter, she totalled the amount. "$18.30, please?"
Grabbing out her drakkal card, she swiped it on the side of the register and it dinged, letting her know it had gone through. Layla smiled. "I'll be ready wth your order soon, Iris."
Iris turned and headed for a table to sit down a wait for her order. She'd been coming here for the last three years, often walking over since she didn't have a dragon back then after her therapist appointments which she got to via taxi dragon from the stables. She set her helmet down on the table and leaned back in the chair, lost in thought.
"Excuse me, can I sit?" Iris blinked, snapping out of her daze and turned her head to see a teen around her age standing there, with brown hair tied up in a bun with white streaks in it and green eyes. "Oh, sure. I'm just waiting for my drinks for me and my brothers." Iris said and the teen took a seat. "Me too. I'm Astra."
"Iris, nice to meet you, Astra." The two teens shook hands before resting them on the table. Astra looked around. "This is a cute little cafe." Iris noticed that she wore a choker necklace with a star pendant on it. "I like your necklace." Iris commented.
Astra smiled. "Thanks, my dad made it for me."
"He sounds nice." Iris said and Astra's face dropped suddenly. "I haven't seen him in a long time."
"Oh, I'm really sorry, I didn't know." Iris promptly apologised for running her big mouth. "It's okay, you didn't know." Astra assured her she had done nothing wrong. The violet-haired teen sighed, rubbing a hand down her face.
Layla chose that moment to return with the drinks in a cup holder. "Here you go, Iris."
The teen smiled. "Thanks, Layla." she stood up from the table and faced Astra. "I have to go now, but it was nice to meet you, Astra."
The other girl smiled. "It was nice to meet you too, Iris. Have a lovely day."
"I will." Iris smiled as she put her helmet on and grabbed the cup holder of drinks, walking out of the cafe and Prisma magged her into the saddle. "Okay, girl, let's head home, but go slow, we dont want to drop these."
Prisma snorted and started to walk down the road, completely unaware that they were being followed by a purple tracking dragon.
Arriving at the stables, Prisma magged Iris to the ground and the teen entered the house where her brothers were eating their lunch she had left for them. "Iris, you're back!" Lance grinned upon seeing her and she put the cup tray on the counter before her little brother launched himself at her for a hug. She smiled and hugged him back.
"Hey, Lance, I'm back and I got drinks." she handed him his chocolate frappe. "Drac, thanks Iris, you're the best!" Lance declared, sipping the frothy milky drink. She handed Artha his milkshake. "Thanks Iris." the black-haired teen hugged her in thanks as she took her hot chocolate outside to get Prisma cleaned and settled for the night.
She walked her dragon to her stall and set her drink down, helping the hybrid take her saddle off, then she ducked around the corner of the stall and grabbed the hose, turning it on full blast with a sponge and dragon shampoo to give her a good scrubbing.
Drenching the hybrid with the water, Iris squirted a small amount of shampoo into the sponge and began to scrub the tri-coloured dragons scales free of dust and dirt, being careful of her scars and doing someplaces very gently. Prisma grumbled with pleasure at being washed. "You like that, huh, girl?"
Prisma nodded, she loved getting baths from Iris. Developing a sly grin, the hybrid tapped Iris on her right shoulder and the teen looked behind her, thinking one of her brothers had come out, the bucket was lifted into the air by the handle as she turned back and then yelped as she got a face full of warm soapy water courtesy of her sneaky hybrid dragon, who held the bucket with her tail, grinning.
"What was that for?" Iris snapped, wiping her soapy hair from her eyes as Prisma laughed at her prank. "So that's how it's gonna be, huh? Well take this?" grabbing the hose, Iris sprayed Prisma with water and the dragon growled playfully. Soon, both girls were engaged in a water-fight, laughing and having a blast! Then more water was spilled over her and she turned to see Beau with a grin, holding another bucket in his mouth.
He already had a bucket of water in his stall left from Artha cleaning him earlier and once he heard the twogirls haing a water-fight, he couldn't help but join in the fun.
Artha and Lance, having heard the commotion, came out to see what was going on and the boys saw their sister, soaking wet with bits of soap clinging to her being lifted into the air by Prisma's tail around her ankle. "Prisma, put me down?"
The boys laughed at the sight. "Looks like you three are having fun." Artha said as Prisma dropped Iris to the ground with a thud. The teen sat up, glaring playfully at her dragon, who was smiling. Beau laughed at his sister's look. Iris stood up, her hair plastered to her face and glaring at her brothers as they laughed.
"I'm going for a shower." she marched past her brothers as the two dragons laughed at the fun they had. Artha picked up Iris's hot chocolate, which had miraculously survived being knocked over and he brought it inside as the dragons were being towel-dried by Lance. Artha came back out after putting his sister's drink inside and helped his brother dry the two dragons.
That night, everything was quiet in the stables, the Penn siblings were all in bed fast asleep. Outside, someone crept along the stalls quietly, stopping at Prisma's, they opened the door and the hybrid opened her eyes, seeing a shadowy figure standing in her stall. Sniffing the air, she froze, for standing in front of her was her former owner, who was grinning at her. "Hello monster."
Prisma snarled at him, she began to glow black and purple when a drain-whip latched onto her left shoulder and began draining her energy. She screeched in pain as her energy was being drained at an alarming rate, the man whose name was Don, shot green trapping gear, pinning the helpless dragon to the ground. With her energy being drained and pinned to the ground, Prisma was trapped. Don moved closer and put some black control headgear onto her head. He stepped back as he pressed a button on the controller he held in his hand. He had brought the gear and controller from Word Paynn, the man asking to deliver the hybrid to him. But he wasn't going to be doing that.
The hybrid gave another screech as her orange eyes turned black as the gear overtook her mind. With a grin, Don walked up to her and freed the mind-controlled dragon from the green trapping gear, then leapt onto her back. "Let's go for a walk, shall we?" Prisma raced out of the stall just as Iris and Artha ran outside, having heard her screech earlier, but arrived too late.
"PRISMA!" Iris screamed as she saw her dragon run off into the night with what looked like a man riding on her back. "NO!" She shouted as Artha held her back. "We'll get her back, Iris, I promise." he hugged his sister tightly as she shook with fear over Prisma's kidnapping.
Beau roared from his stall and Artha gently pulled back from the hug. Iris had tears rolling down her cheeks. "Iris, look at me?" She lifted her head and he gave her a smile. "I promise you we'll get her back."
"I gotta get Beau, wait here." he left her side to free his dragon and they both transformed into their booster forms. "I'm coming with you." Iris was not going to sit around while her dragon was being kidnapped, no way! Artha opened his mouth to argue, but shut it, knowing she was right. He knew their bond was close and they both were very protective of each other.
"Okay, climb on." Iris climbed onto Beau's back as the black and gold dragon reared up on his hind legs, letting out a mighty roar before he galloped out of the stables. Lance was safe inside the house as Artha had quickly called Parm to come over while he had gotten Beau out of his stall earlier.
A mind-controlled Prisma raced down the quiet streets of mid-city with her former owner sitting on her back. He was grinning like a maniac as the hybrid ran through a small alley and skidded to a halt. For in front of them was the Dragon Booster and the black and gold dragon of legend! Beau unleashed another mighty roar as the dragon booster pulled out his jakk-staff. He dropped Iris off in a alley nearby before jumping in front of the hybrid. "I suggest you release that poor dragon before you get your scales scrapped?"
Beau snarled. "Release my friend!" Don just laughed.
"She's mine, she always has been."
"NO, SHE'S NOT!" Iris declared, stepping out of the darkness with a glare to level anyone who looked at her. "ALL YOU EVER DID WAS ABUSE HER AND CALL HER NAMES! SHE WAS NEVER SAFE WITH YOU!" Iris shouted as Beau snarled again.
Don scoffed. "But I'm not the only one you need to look out for." suddenly two wraith dragons shimmered into view and one shot green trapping gear at Iris, who dodged the gear and grabbed her jakk-stick, extending it. She smacked another green trapping gear shot at her away with a swipe of her staff.
Prisma let out a roar as Beau and the dragon booster were surrounded by two more wraith dragons. Four in total including Prisma who stalked towards Iris and the teen narrowed her eyes. "I won't fight you, Prisma. I love you too much!"
The hybrid snarled and swung her tail around, Iris ducked, but she was knocked to the ground by a mag-blast from Prisma who snarled aggressively. Her jakk-stick rolled away from her as Prisma's front paw pressed down on her chest, pinning the teen to the ground.
Beau roared as the wraiths closed in on him and Artha, the black and gold dragon snarled as two of the wraiths shot green trapping gear and Artha smacked them away. He saw Iris pinned down by Prisma's paw and his eyes widened beneath the visor. She needed help, but they were surrounded! Two of them leapt at the pair and Beau smacked one of them away with his tail. Another leapt onto his back and he roared, swinging around to try and dislodge the wraith as the third leapt as his front!
Iris winced as the pressure on her chest grew stronger the more her dragon pressed down. She looked up into the black eyes of her dragon. "Prisma, if you can hear me, fight it girl. Please! You're being controlled!" she begged her dragon to listen to her.
"She can't hear you, brat." Don snickered as the hybrid lowered her head menacingly close to the girl's face. She struggled to breathe as Artha and Beau fought the wraiths, trying to reach her. She looked at Prisma and narrowed her eyes, she would not give up on her dragon so easily! "Prisma, I love you. I have ever since we met. You're meant to live surrounded by love and laughter, not pain and misery!"
The hybrid seemed to falter as Iris spoke. "Prisma, I need you in my life. I can't imagine a life without you. Fight the gear! Prisma!"
Her memories with Iris flashed through her mind, them meeting for the first time, Iris giving her space, the first time they saved Beau as a team, Iris giving Prisma a hug and the hybrid having a water-fight with her best friend. All these memories reminded the hybrid of who she was, of what she was and how much Iris cared about her. Roaring loudly, she began to shake her head wildly in an attempt to remove the gear. Don gripped her neck as Iris leapt to her feet, now free.
"She's mine!" He shouted.
"She was never yours, you're a monster who likes to subject dragons to torture and pain! She deserves the world and more!" as Iris spoke, her body began to glow a bright white colour. Prisma snarled and growled as she fought to regain control of herself, the gear struggling to keep her controlled! Her body also began to glow a bright white colour that grew brighter with every second.
"Prisma, my girl, I'm right here!" Iris declared and approached the hybrid, reaching out her hand and once it connected with the dragon's nose, the light expanded outwards, temporarily blinding those around them. The wraiths ran off due to the light as the dragon booster shielded his eyes and Beau closed his. The light died down after a few moments, showing Iris and a fully restored Prisma.
The hybrid shook the control gear off her head and smashed it beneath her paw. She saw Iris and smiled. "Prisma, you're back!" Iris grinned and wrapped her arms around the dragon. Prisma purred happily as the dragon booster shot green trapping gear at Don, knocking him off the hybrid's back and pinning him to a nearby wall.
"You can't do this!" he snarled, struggling in the trap.
The dragon booster just grinned. "We just did!" he looked over at Iris and Prisma, noticing for the first time that his sister had two streaks, one black, the other purple located on either side where her hair framed her face. He then saw that Prisma had a streak of violet running down the centre of her nose!
Sirens blared as a squad of city security raced up with their dark blue bi-pedal dragons. Among them was Captain Faier. He dismounted his dragon Cuffs and approached the dragon booster as he dismounted Beau. "Dragon Booster, what has happened here? We saw a white glow during our patrol and came to investigate." Captain Faier questioned.
"Caption Faier, this man tried to kidnap this dragon from Penn Stables. Her rider, Iris Penn went after her, she was mind-controlled by this guy who tried to kidnap her." the dragon booster explained to the captain.
The captain looked at Don, who sneered. "Well, I'll be, Donald Avalon, we've been looking for you for a while!" walking up to the trapped man, Faier motioned two of his men over and they freed Don, but slapped handcuffs on his wrists. "You're under arrest for the abuse of dragons in your care!"
The force caption looked over at Iris, who still had her arms wrapped around Prisma's neck loosely. He noticed the streaks of black and purple in her violet hair, but chose not to comment about that. "Are you alright, miss Penn?" the caption asked.
She nodded her head. "Yes, sir. I'm okay."
Faier nodded back. "And your dragon, she is well?"
He got another nod from Iris as Prisma magged her onto her back. He then saw the streak of violet running down the middle of the dragon's nose. For the first time, Faier saw the dragon up close. "She is one magnificent dragon."
Iris smiled. "She sure is!"
"That's my dragon, she stole her from me!" Don shouted, determined to get Prisma back. Iris glared at Don as Prisma snarled, her tail swaying. "Iris never stole me, she saved me from your abuse. She is my rider and best friend, she's always been there for me and I shall always be there for her!" Prisma roared loudly as Iris stared at her, stunned by the voice she'd just heard in her head.
Deciding to try something, she thought, "Did I just hear you speak in my head?"
The hybrid snorted in surprise. "You can hear my voice in your head, Iris?"
"Wow, we can talk telepathically with each other!" Iris said giddily with a smile on her face.
"Caption Faier, Iris Penn rescued Prisma when she escaped Don and crashed into her and her brother's dragon a month ago. They took her back and cared for her. Prisma belongs with Iris, they belong together." "Dragon booster said as she saw Iris smiling. Faier looked over at the teen and saw how happy she looked atop the hybrid dragon. "You're right, dragon booster."
He approached the pair. "Miss Penn?" the teen looked down at him. "Sir?"
"Congratulations on your dragon, she seems happy and healthy with you. Look after her!" he gently patted the scarred dragon's neck, she purred at him and nuzzled his hand. "I will, Caption, I promise!"
Don tried to claim that Iris stole the dragon again, but Faier could see through the lie quite easily. "Enough, Avalon! You're going way for a very long time." he mounted his saddle and nodded to Iris and Prisma. "Miss Penn, Prisma." then he turned to the dragon booster. "Dragon Booster." he and his squad left the area with Don in custody. Once they were gone, Artha was magged back into the saddle and Beau grinned at having his friend back.
"Come on, let's head back home. Mortis might know what those streaks in your hair and the one on Prisma's nose means." Artha suggested and iris told him about how she could hear Prisma's voice in her head as they rode off back to Penn Stables!
Who is the mysterious Astra, is she friend or foe? We shall have to wait and see. Read, review and favourite if you're keeping track of this story, guys. It's always welcome and if you have any questions or ideas, let me know in the reviews! Bye for now!