The Choosing Part 1
Hello everyone and welcome to my Dragon Booster story. I love Dragon Booster and decided to try this story. I hope you all enjoy it.
I do not own Dragon Booster, only my oc.
My character
Name: Iris Heartwing-Penn
Family: Ruby Heartwing (Bio mother, alive.) Unknown father (Deceased) Fira Penn (Adopted mother, deceased) Conner Penn (Adopted father, alive) Artha Penn (Adopted brother, alive) Lance Penn (Adopted brother, alive)
Eye colour: Icy blue.
Hair colour: Long waist length, violet hair, tied up in a ponytail.
Height: 5 ft 4
Skin colour: slightly pale
Home: Penn Stables
Age: 16 years old, a few months older than Artha, but still the same age.
Personality: Iris is a kind and caring 16-year-old teen. She loves her family dearly, always looking out for her younger brother Lance and helping out around the house and the stables. She is very shy around new people and hates it when her brother is bullied by Moordryd Paynn. She has anxiety issues and came to have flashbacks of her biological mother abusing her which would then cause her to have a panic attack.
Dragon: Has no dragon yet.
Backstory: Iris was born to Ruby Heartwing and an unknown father. Her mother was abusive towards Iris until she was taken by Child Family Services at age 7 when they found out about the abuse she was suffering from a teacher at the school Iris attended who noticed a bruise on Iris's cheek and questioned her about it. Iris was sent to a local orphanage where she remained for a year until Conner Penn, a local dragon breeder and owner of Penn Stables, came to visit and foster the 8-year-old Iris while her mother was sent to Dragon City precinct for her crimes. She met his two sons Artha, also 8 and Lance 2 years old. Their mother Fira Penn had passed away from cancer two years after Lance was born, leaving Conner to raise his sons alone while dragon breeding. Iris, despite hiding behind her shell, grew to trust and love Artha and the two-year-old Lance and bonded well with them and Conner, who adopted her a few months later and she officially became Iris Heartwing-Penn. She loves dragons but has no dragon yet and dreams of racing, but is too shy about trying out for the All-city races.
This is her story.
16-year-old Iris hummed as she swept the dirt from the ground at Penn stables one day, cleaning the place up since her father had told her that he had organized for some elite class racers to come by the stables to meet his new dragon Beaucephalis, or just Beau for short, her father's new black and gold dragon who he hopes is the new dragon of legend.
"Iris?" She lifted her head as her name was called and saw her father approaching. "Yes, Dad?" She asked as he arrived.
"Could you go and get Beau ready for the racers?" Conner asked his daughter, who smiled softly. "Sure, Dad."
"Thank you, sweetheart." Conner thanked, reaching out to hug his daughter. She hugged back and once they separated, she carried the broom towards where Beau's stable was, passing her brother Artha, who had his arms crossed and looked upset. She halted. "What's got your tail in a twist?"
Artha huffed. "Beau destroyed my vid-game. So I called him a dumb dragon."
"Artha, why would you call him that? He likely didn't mean to wreak your vid-game?" Iris questioned her brother. She knew that he wanted to start designing new vid-games with his best friend Parmon Sean instead of racing real dragons. Her father had been trying to persuade her brother to try out for the racing academy, where you were trained to be elite class racers and develop skills to become the best racer you could be.
"He's been following me around all day!" Artha complained, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Well, maybe he's doing that because he likes you," Iris suggested. She would have loved to have a dragon follow her around, but she had no dragon yet and hoped to have one in the future. Artha just huffed and Iris left him be, heading for Beau's stable where she found the black and gold dragon inside, looking angry and upset.
"Hey, Beau." She greeted the dragon and he turned around, smiling when he saw it was Iris and not Artha. He was still angry that Artha called him a dumb dragon before. "Dad sent me here to get you clean and geared up for the elite-class racers coming by later." She picked up a brush from the shelf near the door and started to brush Beau's scales free of dirt and dust. Beau enjoyed the brushing and he cared about Iris just as much as he cared about the rest of his litter-mates. He was born the same day Artha was born and Conner suspected that Beau would choose Artha to be the legendary Dragon Booster, a hero who was meant to stop another dragon-human war.
Once he was brushed, Iris bathed him, scrubbing him down with soap before she got to work mucking out his stall and making it nice and clean. Then she went to the gear room and grabbed some level 6 white aero gear, 5 level blue balance and level 5 red thruster gear. Beau jagged it on easily and she stepped back, hands on her hips, admiring her word. Beau looked clean and ready to go.
"Alright boy, your all set." She announced and Beau nuzzled her to thank her for helping before they left the stall and headed over to where Beau would be revealed behind a wall. She came to stand a few feet away from her father as he addressed the line of racers.
"Thank you all for coming. You are the best street and elite-class racers in Dragon City, and I want you all to meet my new dragon." Connor gestured to a gate and it opened to reveal Beau with different types of gear magged to his body. "I believe he will be the most powerful dragon on the planet."
"What is that, Connor? Level 6 white aero gear, 5 blue balance, 5 red speed burst?" One racer questioned the gear on Beau.
"He can fully magnetize and use all gear types and levels," Connor told the racer.
"A dragon that uses all gear colours? No dragon does that!" the rider scoffed at the thought. "See for yourself," Connor said and nodded to Beau, who glowed a golden colour and two pieces of gear two of the racers held were taken from their arms and connected to Beau's body, shocking the racers. Iris saw her father confront one of the racers, a boy around her age with white hair and grey eyes, who tried to hide behind another racer. "Your Word Paynn's son, Moordryd!"
"What are you gonna do about it, old man?" Moordryd asked insolently and iris narrowed her icy blue eyes at the teen. Connor noticed a mark on his jacket. "The mark of the Dragon Eye crew, huh? My stables are off-limits to down-city crewmembers. Go home Moordryd." the teen scoffed at him as he walked away. "Tell your father, my old friend, Word, I said... 'hello'."
"Oh, I'll give him your message." Moordryd sneered and Beau growled warningly at the teen.
Iris felt her gut churn anxiously and Beau seemed to know that she needed comfort, he stepped up to her and nuzzled her gently. She smiled and patted his neck in thanks. She saw her dad excuse himself and call Artha over to him. While they were talking, Iris remained by Beau's side, taking comfort from the black and gold dragon. he knew all about her anxiety and panic attacks since he had witnessed a few of them in the past.
They waited a few minutes before Connor walked back over with Artha, who had a gold amulet with a raised star on it around his neck. Soon it was time for the riders to mount Beau and the first rider climbed some stairs to Beau's head where a blue and red saddle was attached to the back of his head. He takes a seat in the saddle. "'Mags all gear'... right? Let's take him for a spin around the..." he didn't get to finish his words before Beau magged him out of the saddle and high into the air.
"Mags all gear..." Artha commented as he, Lance, Iris, Conner and the other racers watched the first rider fly through the air with Beau's mag stream. "But not the rider," Lance said as Beau magged the rider right into the Penn Stables sign, and then he fell to the ground. The other riders cringe as Beau chuckles, Iris tries to retain her giggles, but it isn't easy when there is a dragon who has so much character and a sense of humour as Beau.
"It looks like Beau won't choose anybody..." Connor said dejectedly before the sound of pounding footsteps could be heard as a red bi-pedal dragon raced towards the stables and skidded to a halt, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. Iris coughed on the dust, waving it away with her hands and shot a death glare at the female rider who dismounted the red dragon and sauntered forward with an air of confidence.
"Okay, the rest of you can all go home." the female rider spoke as she walked towards them. One of the elite riders groaned. "Oh great, Kitt Wonn. She thinks she's the best dragon racer anywhere," he whispered to another racer. "I beat most of you last week in the fire cave, didn't I?" she walked past the riders as Iris watched her, still annoyed by the entrance she made. She approached the stairs and climbed them. "Now, pay attention!" she straddled Beau's back. "She's on!" one of the racers gasped.
Kitt smirked. "That's how it's done!" famous last words as Beau magged her off his back and sent her flying towards Artha, she crashed into the teen and they both fell to the ground. Iris burst out laughing, that had to be the greatest thing she had seen all day. Beau chuckled at his aim. Kitt pushed herself away from Artha as he watched her with a love-struck look on his face. "Anyone else?" Connor asked the rest of the racers, who all shook their heads, not wanting to be tossed off.
"What about your son, Conner? the stable boy?" Kitt suggested. "Yeah, the stable boy?" Lance chimed in, elbowing Artha's side gently. Artha looked at his brother with a slightly annoyed look on his face. "You know the 'stable boy thing' is beginning to scrap my scales."
"What about Iris? She can try?" Lance then suggested, causing Iris' eyes to go wide and she shrunk back, she didn't like having so many eyes on her and just wanted to hide. "No thanks, I'm good."
Conner, seeing his daughter withdraw into herself, came to her rescue. "Here Artha, you'll need my old racing jacket." He held out his old white and blue racing jacket he used to wear when he was young. "You do race in your vid-game really well."
"Exactly, it's just a game!" Artha exclaimed gently to his father.
Conner gently laid his hands on Artha's shoulders. "Artha, listen to me. The dragon is just like the great power within you. Relax! Open your mind and your heart and release that power-release the dragon." Iris raised an eyebrow at the words but said nothing.
Kitt held a racing helmet in her hands. "Come on, stable boy. Let's see what you got?" She threw it at him and he caught it clumsily, giving her a small smile before it dropped as he looked at Beau, who glared at him with a growl, still angry with him for what he said to him earlier.
"Okay, boy. You know I didn't mean to call you a dumb dragon before, right? I was just kidding." Artha spoke to Beau while putting the helmet on. Beau just growled at him and turned away. Iris watched anxiously as Artha began to climb the steps up to Beau's back slowly. Conner raised an eyebrow curiously wanting to know what would happen next.
"Nice dragon, good dragon." Artha was muttering to himself as he raised his leg over Beau's back to sit down. Beau then spotted Lance eating a draconi-yum bar and the smell enticed the dragon to move forward, unbalancing Artha who fell off and onto the floor. Lance started laughing along with the rest of the racers. Iris quickly ran to help her brother up from the ground. he threw the helmet off and tossed the jacket back to his father. "This is exactly why I don't like real dragons!" He yelled, storming off in embarrassment. Iris watched him leave, feeling sorry and angry at Lance for laughing at his brother's misfortune.
Later that evening, the Penn siblings were inside the house, lounging about. Conner had gone off somewhere and his three children were in the living area, Lance was on his vid-game while Iris was reading one of her favourite books on the couch and Artha was fiddling with the gold star amulet around his neck when a noise from outside made him look out the window.
"What is it?" Lance asked as Iris put a bookmark on the page she was reading and closed it, resting it on the coffee table as she stood up and walked over to the window. Her instincts told her something was not right.
"Wait here, Lance. Artha and I will check it out." She told her brother as she and Artha left the house and stepped outside. They saw three people near Beau's stall and got a glimpse of the symbol on one of the jackets, a black dragon eye symbol. They had to be with the teen who Conner sent away earlier.
Artha narrowed his eyes as he and Iris started to make their way towards them when a loud explosion from behind them sent the two to the ground. Artha's blue eyes widened in shock as he saw part of the stables go up in flames. Iris gasped in horror. Dad and Lance were still inside! "Dad! Lance!" She got up to go back in, but Artha stopped her. "Iris don't! Stay here!"
"But..?" She started to question him. "Please, I can't lose you too! Stay here and out of sight, please?" Artha begged he didn't want both of them going in there and only one of them coming out. She was conflicted, she wanted to help but knew Artha was right. so she nodded. "Bring them back safe."
"I will," Artha promised, hugging her briefly before he dashed into the house.
Iris hid away just in case any more of those people were around.
The door to Beau's stall was opened by Moordryd, no longer wearing his helmet and Beau roared, charging towards the teen. "Green trapping gear! Now!" Moordryd commanded his second-in-command crew member Cain, who shot green trapping gear at Beau's chest, the chords of the green trapping gear latched onto the corners of the stall and floor. Beau made a snap for Moordryd but fell short due to the gear. He glowed a golden colour. "Look out. Mag burst!" Cain warned.
"Black control gear! Now!" Moordryd commanded both Cain and another member of his crew, they threw black control gear at Beau's front legs, and they activated and forced the black and gold dragon to the ground, defenceless!
Artha shoved the door to the sitting room open, wreckage was everywhere from the explosion and black smoke was beginning to fill the room. "Lance! Dad! Where are you?" He called and saw movement from behind a couch as Lance peeked over it with terror written all over his face. "Lance!" Artha was relieved to see his brother was alive and made his way over. "Are you okay?" he gave his brother a weak nod to let him know he was unharmed. "Where's dad?" He asked, not seeing his father anywhere.
"I couldn't find him," Lance said despairingly. "Where's Iris?" Lance asked, looking around for his big sister. "She's outside, safe. Come on! Let's get out of here!" The brothers turned to head for the door when more wreckage fell, blocking the door and trapping the two of them in the room. "We're trapped!"
Beau was on the ground, trapped with the black control gear holding him down as he was tied to Moordryd's dragon. Then his gold eyes widened when he heard cries for help. Artha and Lance were in trouble! Beau roared and started to fight against the gear, slowly rising against it and straining the gear to its limits. "Impossible! He's breaking free! Stop him, I want that dragon!" Moordryd shouted to his crew as Beau finally broke free of the gear and roared in Moordryd's face. "Hang on! Another mag burst!" Beau mag-burst the teens away from him roughly and charged for the burning house to get Lance and Artha.
In the house, Artha found an air duct and opened it. "Through here. It'll lead you outside and to Iris." He said, holding Lance up to the vent. "But, it's too small for you," Lance said to his brother. "Go!" That was all Artha said and Lance started crawling through the vent, leaving Artha alone in the burning house. He looked down sadly and then picked up the star amulet, staring at it.
There was a loud crashing sound and he covered his face as bits of debris flew everywhere, when the dust settled, he saw Beau had come crashing through the wall. "Beau!" Artha cried in relief and he turned his head, spotting the teen coming towards him. "Am I glad to see you," Artha said in relief as he lowered himself to his belly for Artha to climb onto his back. He swung his leg over his stomach and hauled himself onto Beau's back and he rose to his feet. Then he went still before a look of concentration appeared on his face. "What's happening?" Artha asked before a golden light began to surround them a star bone mark appeared on Beau's forehead and he began to glow brightly as Artha shielded his eyes from the bright light, hearing his father's voice in his head. The one Beau chooses will be the Dragon Booster!
Outside, the light caused the Dragon Eye crew to cover their eyes. Once the glow faded, Beau leapt through the wall out of sight of the crew with Artha on his back. The boy whooped with joy as Beau landed and he ran to where Lance and Iris were standing, skidding to a halt beside them. "Beau chose...you?" Lance questioned in confusion. "Well, yeah." Artha stuttered in shock over Beau choosing him when voices made the dragon swing his head around to see shadows coming for them. "Let's go!" Iris urged and climbed up behind Artha, she pulled Lance up behind her and Beau ran off.
"Where are we going?" Artha questioned and Beau skidded to a stop by the edge of the stable. He used his tail as a rope and the three humans slid down onto a ledge that led to a long drop. Lance yelped at seeing how high they were and Iris grasped his hand tightly in her own, her heart racing a mile a minute.
Beau heard Moordryd yell to his crew that he'd found the black and gold dragon and Beau snarled when he saw the teen peek around the corner on his psi-class dragon Decepshun. Beau roared and charged forward, skidding to a stop. Beau looked up and saw Connor's sign was about to fall and he swung his tail at the wall, smashing into it with enough force that sent the sign crashing to the ground, creating a sort of barrier between him and the leader of the Dragon Eye crew. Moordryd wasn't letting that stop him and he smashed through the sign, looking around for Beau, only to see the tip of his tail go over the edge of the building. "What?!"
The three humans were back on Beau's back and they looked around, seeing nowhere to go. "There's no way out," Iris said, they were trapped on the ledge. "What about that building?" Lance said, pointing to a building in the distance. Iris narrowed her eyes. it was way too far.
"It's too far to jump," Artha said, and then everyone screamed as Beau took off running along the ledge towards the end. "We'll never make it!" Lance cried and then Artha remembered the words his father had told him earlier that day. the dragon is just like the great power within you. Just relax and release the dragon. Artha closed his eyes and cleared his mind, concentrating. Beau picked up speed and a white vortex formed around him and his stride grew faster and faster as he approached the edge. Then he leapt off the ledge as the humans screamed in terror. Beau made it to the roof of the building and went skidding across it, unable to stop.
Beau slammed into a sign, throwing the three humans off his back. Artha and Iris landed on the ground. "We made it!" Artha said happily. "Speak for yourself." Poor Lance had fallen head-first into a garbage can with only his legs sticking out. Iris climbed to her feet and helped her brother out of the garbage can, wiping him clean of the dirty food and trash.
Moordryd and his friend Cain arrived at the ledge and stopped at the end, seeing Beau on the roof. "He's getting away, come on!" Moordryd wasn't one to back down when it came to stealing dragons and he wanted Beau for himself, but Cain held him back with a hand on his shoulder. "Our dragons won't jump that far."
Moordryd glared at the black and gold dragon getting away from his grasp. He would have that dragon, one way or another.
Beau, Iris, Artha and Lance were resting in a small alleyway in Down-City when the sound of something approaching them caused Beau to growl before the something was a dragon and rider, specifically Parmon and his green bull-class dragon Cyrano. "It's okay, Beau, easy. It's just Parm and Cyrano." Artha calmed the dragon down by patting his head as Cyrano magged his rider to the ground. "I got your call. What are you all doing in Squire's End? This is Down City crew territory. Dragon City Security doesn't even come down here!" Parm told them with fear in his tone.
"Someone tried to steal Beau and this is where he stopped running," Artha explained and Parm watched as Lance stroked Beau's nose gently while Iris sat beside the dragon, at a loss.
"Hey, did you see our father? He's not answering my calls." Artha asked his friend if Conner had been found, he was worried about his dad.
"I checked the stables after you all left. All I found was this." Parm held up a white racing jacket that was slightly singed on one shoulder. Artha sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I saw the symbol of the crew that attacked the stables. A black dragon eye. They're responsible for what happened."
"Down City crew have spies all over the city! If they want your dragon, they can track you down. They can pay people to talk! They can..." Parm began to list what people could do who were after Beau when Lance interrupted him. "I'm hungry!" He complained. Iris patted his shoulder comfortingly.
"And what about food? Do you realise how much a dragon like Beau needs to eat?" Parm questioned, annoyed that Lance had interrupted him when Artha spoke up.
"Parm? I'm going to street race!"
It wasn't just Parm who looked at Artha in shock, both Iris and Parm stared at him. "What!" They exclaimed in sync.
"The best defence is a good offence! We need money, we need to eat, and down-city crews race in the all-city races! I'm going after them!" Artha declared.
"Artha, no. You don't know how to race on a track. You could be hurt!" Iris was concerned for her brother, she wanted to street race, but couldn't work up the courage to audition due to her shyness and not having a dragon of her own.
"She's right, you cannot! They'll identify Beau and certainly make another attempt to steal him." Parm added with concern of his own for Artha.
Artha glanced at Beau, he realised that they were right, Beau was the black and gold dragon and could easily be seen by the crew that tried to take him tonight. "Well, then Beau will have to wait here. I'll race another dragon."
Behind him, Beau's eyes widened when Artha suggested he ride a different dragon in the races and shook his head negatively, he was Artha's dragon and would not allow the teen to choose any other dragon than him. Concentrating on his energy, Beau focused his power and there was a bright flash of light that blinded the teens slightly before it died down, revealing him as not a black and gold dragon, but a red and blue dragon instead.
"Do you see that? He changed colour!" Lance exclaimed in awe and wonder. Iris's mouth dropped open in shock, she had no idea Beau could change the colour of his draconium.
"I see it, I just don't believe it. Artha, what does this mean?" Parm questioned his friend.
"It means he can race Beau," Lance said with a smile on his face. Artha looked down at the amulet in his hand. "It means I can do a lot more than that."
Iris, despite her concern for Artha, stepped up to him. "Just promise me that you will be careful out there, Artha?" She asked, resting her hand on his shoulder. Artha looked into his sister's worried blue eyes and laid his hand over hers. "Don't worry Iris, I'll be fine. I promise." He drew her into a tight hug that Lance joined and Beau nuzzled the three siblings, he would be there to help protect not just Artha on the track but Lance and Iris off the track as much as possible.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and like my character Iris. Don't worry, she will have her dragon soon, just not yet.