#httydnextgen

After slowly drawing for WEEKS!!! I finally got this drawing done, thank god. I figure I’d give you all a proper introduction of each of these kids from the far left all the way to the right! First up we have:

Dai (daughter and Eerika and Dagur): Dai is the leader of this rag tag group of dragon riders and is a very friendly person. If you’re feeling down on your luck know that Dai is there to lift you up and make your day. She’s a very family oriented person and whenever she's not out adventuring she's meditating or doing yoga. Dai has a crush on ClashNut. Dai is the big sister you never knew you needed.

Hilda (daughter of Silas and Hiccup): Hilda is Dai’s cousin and the future chieftess of Berk and takes her role very seriously. She's a very stoic person and usually has a serious look on her face. Unlike Dai, it's very hard to gain Hailda’s trust. That doesn't mean she hates fun. Some of her favorite activities are sparing, talking about drama, and judging other people. The only person Hilda seems to sutter around is Princess Aslang.

Tyrus (son of Astrid and Heather): Tyrus is the middle man and a neutral party in a lot of arguments. Tyrus often has a bored look on his face and struggles to talk to people. He gets nervous in crowds and would prefer to be in a small group or by himself. Even when he’s having a genuinely fun time the board look will remain on his face, with the only people really being able to decipher it being close friends and family. Tyrus has a cold exterior but a heart of gold.

Princess Aslang (daughter of Snotlout and Mala): Aslang is a very prideful and uptight person. She’s a princess and demands to be treated as so. She gets flustered easily and doesn't like it when you mention her height. To call her cute is a death sentence. Aslang seems to only relax around her friends. Her captores often return her because she ends up driving them crazy with how much she wines. Despite all that she makes a great ally and a smart battle planner.

Prince ClashNut (son of Fishlegs and RuffNut): Clash is the chaotic mix between his parents. Clash inherited his fathers loves to study dragons and drive to study him, but he also inherited his mothers chaotic energy. Thus, Clash is an adventurer that often rushes ahead and almost gets himself killed. He gets easily excitable and gets easily consumed into his work, so much so that he often forgets about the world around him. It's a problem he has no intention of fixing anytime soon.

Thousands of years ago, dragons used to walk among men as one of their most trustworthy companions. However, their safety was not guaranteed and they had to flee. In present day, Juniper was only known as the dangerous orphan girl ready to attack anyone in her way, when in reality she’s just looking for a friend. Her life flips upside down when a dragon with black scales, large bat wings and eyes as blue as sky saves her in the forest. The two find common ground with each other, and together, discover the mysteries why after all these years dragons have found their way back the human world…the new world.

Unknown

An unknown facility stood in the misty woods. Each tree was the dark colour of a starless night sky, no soul and no happiness. Inside, only to screams of unknown animals that were forced to bond with terrible people. The cutting sound of a whip would force them back into submission if they went out of line again.

A man walked into a large cell area, accompanied by two heavily armed men. Each cage was as large as a studio apartment, except each one had nothing but miserable, brooding creatures that were desperate to be free. The man had black hair, lightly tanned skin, a black beard, soulless wrinkled dark eyes and wore a business suit with a black blazer. The man continued to walk down the dimly lit hall. “How is J15 doing?” he asked, sneering “Any luck?”

“I’m afraid not sir” One of the man replied “He’s still a fighter.”

Both men stood on each side of the cage, not bothering to look in, as they waved up to a couple of people behind a glass window, signalling to bring the cage forward to get a proper look at the beast. The cage zoomed forward and the man walked up to it. His face dropped and his eyes darkened even more. “He’s gone!” he screamed.

The two men on each side of the cage finally woke up from their stone-faced expression and looked in, confirming their boss’ outburst. “Idiots!” he yelled at them “Find him and find him now!”

Outside, in the woods, a creature kept running, running away from that awful place and the people inside. The loud sound of alarms went off, making its ears press flat against its head in order to block out the sound. It then took off, flapping its wings into the air. Then, as quick as it escaped, it disappeared into the misty air.

……..

 Bethesda, Washington DC

The older boy grabbed the freshman’s arm as he shoved him headfirst into the wall of the bike shed, not caring about the damaged he caused to the boy or the shed. “You think that was funny what you did to me yesterday?!” he screamed, twisting the younger boy’s arm. The yard was empty, as everyone was already in class, except for them. For he had dragged the boy behind the shed – the only place without a CCTV security camera - and kept a hand over mouth until everyone was gone, leaving him to torture the poor soul.

“W-what are you t-taking about?” the younger boy began to cry, as he struggled to get away from the stronger and scarier student. The older boy who still continued to give the youthful student pain had ivory skin, sickly green eyes, spiky dark brown hair and one earing in his left ear. He wore a red sweatshirt and looked like that he was at the age of fifteen.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” he shrieked, grinning as the freshman began to writhe underneath his grasp “You meant it! You meant to trip me up into the janitor’s bucket!”

“What!?”

“And everyone was watching! Even her…” he hissed like he had the foulest taste in his mouth “And now you’re going to pay!”

“Trent I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” the boy tried to slid away, each attempt failing “It won’t happen again!”

“Oh I know it won’t!” Trent growled “Because I’m going to break this little arm! Then I’ll break you’re kneecaps with a rock before breaking your legs with my bare hands and I’ll stamp on your feet until every little bone shatters!”

“No!” The boy bawled.

“Hey!” a new voice of a female filled the space before Trent turned around and had a fist colliding with his jaw.

……..

“This is the third time this month Mr Simmons” Principal Jones paced behind his desk. His bald head shining against the sun as his brown eyes started sadly down at the man sitting at the other side of his desk. “If Juniper keeps this up, we’re going to have to suspend her from this school.”

“I know” The man sighed. He had light-coffee shaded skin with a brittle short boxed beard growing into place, brown eyes and a large afro with thousands of curls springing into place. He looked to be in his early to mid-thirties and wasn’t half bad looking for his age. In fact, he was quite the looker. He wore a white doctor’s coat due to the fact that he was pulled from his work in the hospital in order to hear about the situation at hand. “What about Trent?”

“Trent is facing a two week suspension and will be coming in for detention on those weekends.” Principal Jones answered “However I will need Juniper to come in for detention on Monday afternoon after the weekend.”

“I know sir” said the man, rubbing his face and sighing “Juniper is going through a pretty rough time at school right now due to Trent’s behaviour.”

“I understand Rafael” Principal Jones replied calmly “Just make sure you talk to her when you get home. Violence will not be tolerated here.”

The door to the office suddenly burst open and in walked a woman, wearing a grey dress and blazer, holding Trent by the arm with her pasty face plastered with red. “This is the third time this month and you’re still letting my son get punched in the face!” she squawked.

“Mrs Hunter, your son shouldn’t even be hitting students in the first place” Principal Jones countered, his face still in its neutral position.

“Oh please, that boy is fine! That girl on the other hand could learn a manner or two.” The woman recoiled.

Rafael laughed under his breathe, only to have to said woman gawk at him in the most offended manner. “How dare you?!” She bellowed “Are you the father?!”

The muscles in Principal Jones’ face twitched. “Mrs Hunter” he muttered in a low warning tone.

“I’m just asking!” She shouted “It wouldn’t be surprised on where she gets those violent tendencies from!”

Rafael jaw dropped “Excuse me?”

Fuming, Principal Jones shot out of his seat and slammed his hands onto the table. “Mrs Hunter!” He roared.

“What is that supposed to mean?!” Rafael questioned her, using all of his might to not slam her against the wall.

“Mrs Hunter that is enough!” Principal Jones thundered with Mrs Hunter slowly turning her head, every inch of her body tense, to face him. If looks could kill, both men would be in heaven right about now. “Your son was violating against the school policy and you should be thankful that we’re not giving him a permanent suspension! Now maybe take what I said into consideration and teach your son some manners!”

Mrs Hunter’s whole face turned Crimson, as her breathing became heavier and her brows furrowed, nearly touching the bridge of her nose. “How dare you tell me how to parent!” she howled “And what about that girl?-”

“I understand you’re angry about Juniper hitting your son, but you must understand that it was for the defence of a younger student!” he bellowed, his knuckles turning white “You’re lucky that the parents of that young boy didn’t press charges!”

The woman gawked again, her grip tightening on Trent’s arm and it began to turn purple. “This is unbelievable” she snarled “My son gets a two week suspension and that girl gets nothing!”

Principal Jones noticed that if this carried on, he was certain that the office would end up in flames not too soon. He literally swore flames in that mad woman’s eyes. “Mrs Hunter, maybe its best you leave and cool off” Principal Jones replied coolly.

Mrs Hunter huffed, her grip easing up on Trent as she flipped her hair and began to walk out of the office, but not before turning to Rafael and sending him the most life threating glare that he had ever seen.  “If this happens again, you’ll be hearing from our lawyers” she hissed and stormed out.

Principal Jones had heard this, as he let out another “Mrs Hunter!” before she finally walked out, her heels thundering against the floor.

……..

Outside the office, a young girl hung her head low, making sure that no one could see her face.  She was about the same age of Trent, with long dark blonde hair, pale skin dusted with freckles, and deep sea-blue eyes that were glued to the ground. She wore a denim blue jacket over an indigo blouse that was sewn onto a long skater skirt of the same colour that reached down to her knees that was made out of a stretchy yet smooth material. And to finish off the look, she wore black leggings with black trainers. On her left bruised hand were specks of green and blue that had dried into her skin, she ran her other hand over them as she tried hard to forget that awful thing that she did today. She knew he deserved, but that didn’t get rid of that gut-wrenching feeling of guilt that built up inside her.

The door of the principal’s office flew open, before slamming with an ear-bleeding shut, and Juniper glued her eyes to the ground. She felt the harsh glare of Mrs Hunter’s eyes firing holes into the top of her head. If she had to think irrationally, she was definitely sure she would let her son kill Juniper in her sleep. As she heard the clicking of her heels leave the room, she felt something tumble into her hands. She then noticed the piece of crumpled paper in her hands, before she looked up, her eyes wide, noticing Trent menacing smirk as he left with his mother.  She opened up the small ball, reading the words that were scribbled onto it. Her eyes then began to sting as she crumpled it back up again.

She then heard Rafael speak a few final words to Principal Jones before gently closing then door and made his way over to Juniper. It wasn’t long before he discovered the piece of paper in her hands and crouched down to her level and gently placed a hand on hers. “What’s that?” he asked quietly, but loud enough to now make it a whisper. Juniper said nothing. “Juniper” his tone was more authoritative this time. Knowing that he needed an answer, she held out the crumpled paper and he carefully took it from her hands. What he read next made his heart shatter.

Orphan freak!

He stood up and walked back into the office as Juniper stared at him with the same wide-eyed expression. He exited it again and beckoned her to stand. “Come on” he said with a smile “Let’s go.” 

In the car, Juniper was silent the whole time, doing nothing put trace her hand down the car window as little rain drops stopped to fall down the glass. Rafael didn’t want to say anything in case a fight broke out between them and would both end up in an accident. Ever since Juniper joined the school in January, Trent and his goons proceeded to give her a terrible time. From putting gum in her hair, to tripping her up, spitting on her, threats of violence and telling everyone that she had a violent nature. While she was never violent and repeated the same behaviour to defend herself from Trent, Juniper did have the tendency to start a fight with Trent when he was hurting other students. Maybe it was because she would try to protect other children in her previous foster homes if they got hurt, but it still didn’t help with the rumours that the students in that school would spread.

Rafael pulled up into the driveway of their home and helped Juniper out of the car. As they made their way into the house and hung up their jackets, he suddenly heard small sniffles behind him and turned around to see Juniper in tears. “I’m sorry!” she croaked “I shouldn’t have hit him, I’m so sorry!”

“Hey it’s okay!” said Rafael, as he went over to embrace her. He led her to the couch where he let her cry more into his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay, don’t worry” he soothed.

“He was hurting someone else!” she sobbed “I tried to take your advice, try to stay out of it but I couldn’t help it, he was threatening to hurt him!”

“I know” said Rafael “It sucks to have those kinds of people in school. And to be honest, the world would be so much better if they were like that. But they do and I’m glad you stood up for that boy.”

“No you’re not” Juniper sniffed.

“Yes I am” said Rafael “I’m might be might that you hit Trent but I am so glad you weren’t a bystander.”

Juniper sniffed again and rubbed her blood shot eyes as she stared up at him. “Really?”

“Yeah” said Rafael “When I was in high school, there were these boys who wouldn’t stop bothering this girl. Each day she came into school became worse and worse until one day, she didn’t show up. We kept waiting for her to but she never came. We even began to suspect the worst. The only people who were happy about it were the people who pestered her. I wish I could’ve done something but I didn’t. Which is why I’m so glad you stand up for people who can’t stand up for themselves. You’re amazing Juniper, never let them take that away from you.”

Juniper nodded and hugged Rafael one more time before asking “Does this mean you’re not sending me back into the system.”

Rafael’s heart dropped as he stared at the young girl in front of him with disbelief. “Why would you think that?” he asked back.

Juniper sighed sadly and began to explain. “This happened in one of my previous foster homes. I kept beating up kids who were hurting other people and no one told me what I was doing was wrong so I kept doing it. Until one day, out of nowhere, they began to scream at me about how I was some priceless orphan that they could send back into the system. And they did…they sent me back.” She rubbed her eyes again. “I’m sorry; you probably didn’t need to hear that…”

Rafael then engulfed her into a big bear hug and rubbed her back slowly. “I’m not sending you back into the system just because of some little fight” he soothed “You’re here and here to stay until you say otherwise.”

Juniper chuckled and gently pulled herself out of the hug. “Thanks Raf” she smiled, before grabbing her bag and heading up the stairs. “I just have to finish some paintings before I go to support group!”

“Okay” said Rafael, as he smiled “It’s fish for dinner, is that fine?”

“Yeah that’s fine!” Juniper replied at the top of the stairs before shutting her bedroom door.

Rafael smiled before heading into the kitchen. Before he stared cooking, he took a white half of a Ying and Yang necklace from his shirt. He didn’t have the other half, but he held onto the white half, half of the piece that the tormented girl from his youth gave him. It had his initials carved into the white wood with golden writing. A tear of his own then fell down his cheek as he gripped the counter. “I’m so sorry” he whispered, before gathering himself up and began to prepare dinner for himself and his foster daughter.

……..

After she finished her dinner, Juniper headed back upstairs to finish her paintings. She sat on her stool painting on her canvas, wearing a light blue paint stained blouse with rolled up sleeves and shorts that came down to her knees covered with specks of colour. After she finished, she quickly put somewhere in her room to dry and quickly changed back into her normal clothes. Although she quickly packed the blouse and shorts into her bag as she knew that she’d be heading out to the workshop after support group. Rafael’s friend Sam always let them come every Friday night after support group to let Juniper tinker while Rafael got the chance to sit down and have coffee or a cup of tea after a long week.

Juniper loved everything that had to do with creating. Whether if it was to paint over a scratch on a cup, or building something completely new, she would always take up the chance to do it. Besides, it was kind of stress relief for her and she was really close with Sam.

“Are you ready Juniper?!” Rafael called from downstairs.

“Yes, I’m coming!” Juniper hollered back. She scampered down the stairs and walked out the door to the car.

This car ride was much better than the drive home from school. This time, Juniper was just relaxing while listening to the music on her phone. It was times like this where Rafael was thrilled that he decided to foster her, she was just really sweet and made him feel relieved that she could be a real teenager while not needing to worry about getting hurt. A lot of people from work often asked if he was going to adopt her or not. Although he always said that he would think about, his mind always swayed to say yes to those questions. He really, really wanted to adopt her.

They pulled outside the church, Rafael pulled out the car keys while Juniper began packing up her phone before exiting the car and making their way into church. Once they were inside, they went down a small flight of stairs and opened the door of the basement. A woman in her mid-twenties, a brown bob and olive eyes turned her head to their direction and shot them a sweet smile. “Hi Juniper” her voice was quiet, as if she didn’t want to intimidate the kids who came here “So glad you could join us.”

“Hi Natalie” Juniper returned her smile and turned her gaze to the four other teenagers who sat in plastic chairs in a circle. There was Gigi, Megan, Ben and Michael. Rafael put a hand on Juniper’s shoulder and she looked up at him. “I’ll pick you up in an hour, okay?” he asked, although not needing an answer.

“Okay” Juniper smiled and went to grab a chair of her own. She began to feel nervous as soon as Rafael left, but tried to ignore it as she sat in the circle.

“I know we do this every time” Natalie began “But we’re going to start off with saying our names and saying why we’re here.”

“My name is Gigi and I’m here because people would make fun of me because I brag.” The first girl mumbled. Gigi has medium length red hair, green eyes and freckles that dusted over her ivory skinned nose. She wore a plain white shirt and old denim jeans and a green jacket mad out of some type of waterproof material even when it wasn’t raining.

“You don’t brag Gigi” Natalie informed her calmly “People were jealous of you doing so many sports that they tried to make you quit by bringing down your confidence.” Gigi looked at her blankly, not believing a word she was saying and crossed her arms as she sank in her chairs. Gigi was the local tomboy at the school who was talented in the sports department, especially at swimming. Trent began to grow jealous and played mind games with her, making her believe that her confidence was her bragging that she was better than everyone else. Soon she began failing at her sports due to the lack of confidence and was eventually kicked out of the team of her favourite sport.

“My name is Megan and um…” The second girl immediately shut her mouth, scared to keep speaking. Megan has coffee dark skin with brown eyes and large hair that fell into dozens of ringlets. She was very bony as if she hardly ate a thing. She wore a white long-sleeved shirt that was covered by a pink velvet overall dress that reached to her knees. Megan hated speaking about why she came here, as she hated being reminded of what happened to her. Trent and his goons would make terrible comments about her race and took advantage of her kindness by making her do his homework for him, threatening her with violence if she didn’t do it right.

“My name is Ben and I’m here because I was made fun of ‘being too smart’.” Ben had warm beige skin, black hair and grey eyes. He was the tallest out of all of them and sat, stood and even slouched with a straight posture. As if it would kill him if he ever slouched. He wore a dark blue blouse tucked into the waist of his denim jeans, not a single crinkle in sight.  Ben was one of the smartest boys in school and even began tutoring students, even Megan – he even had a bit of a crush on her at the time - they were like two big soft teddy bears when they were near one another. Unfortunately, Trent ‘warned’ him about how this was taking away his masculinity and punished him by spreading rumours about how he only did it for the money and lied about terrible comments that Ben never truly said. Worst of all, he broke Megan’s heart and the two never spoke since.

“My name is Michael and I’m here because people wouldn’t address me with the correct pronouns.” Michael had honey coloured skin, warm brown eyes and black hair that curled at the top. He wore a red checked blouse with two buttons open at the top to reveal a white shirt and black jeans. Ever since he started high school, he hid the fact that he was female at birth. But in his mind, he had always been a boy. Eventually, word got out to Trent and he began to mis-gender and turn everyone against Michael.  That was how Juniper gave Trent his first nosebleed.

Every head turned to Juniper, who suddenly jumped as she remembered why everyone else was there in the first place. “My name is Juniper and I’m here because Trent would mock me because I’m an orphan.” She fiddled with her fingers.

“Thank you Juniper” Natalie smiled and continued.

Halfway through, Juniper continued to become more nervous. Was it the guilt of punching Trent earlier, was it coming back to eat her up? Suddenly she couldn’t keep it in any longer and cried “I punched him!”

All four teens, excluding Juniper, and Natalie turned their heads into her direction. They all had a confused looks mixed with concern on their faces, with Natalie’s having more concern. “What do you mean Juniper?” she asked, her voice like silk.

Great she thought they all think you’re crazy, well done Juniper, you’re now making your rumours become real. “I-I punched Trent again today” she stammered nervously “He was threating to beat up another kid and my instincts took over.”

Juniper opened and closed her fists. Her left one felt difficult to move. “I don’t know why I’m still like this” said Juniper “I don’t feel bothered when he insults me, but when he does it to someone else I just become so…mad.”

Natalie’s lips formed a straight line, before smiling with sad eyes. “It’s okay to defend people who can’t defend themselves” she said “But sometimes, we have to do it in a way that doesn’t affect us or the people we want to protect. And the reason you feel angry towards Trent for hurting others and not you is because you care. And that’s what makes people good. You’re okay Juniper. You’re a good person.”

Juniper returned the smile with her own sad one, taking a deep breath and leaning softly into her chair as Natalie continued with the session.

……..   

As soon as support group ended, Juniper ran out and rushed into the car, excitement bubbling inside her. “Hurry up Raf!” she called to her foster father.

Rafael chuckled and shook his head as he sat into the driver’s seat and started the car. “So I’m guessing therapy was alright?” he asked.

“It was great!” Juniper beamed.

Thank god! Rafael thought to himself. When he first told Juniper that she had been signed up for support group, she had a panic attack thinking that Rafael thought something was wrong with her. All was resolved after her first night and she came out with a fresh perspective, it was quite clear that she had never been to support group before and got the attention that she not only deserved, but definitely needed. 

After a small drive, they finally arrived at Sam’s workshop, where he greeted the teen with open arms. Apart from the teasing from school, if you told the Juniper a few months ago that she would feel at home with Rafael and the people he knew, she would tell you to go away and to stop playing games with her. But now, she was close to trusting the people that Rafael called his family and would feel obliged to do the same herself. Then she would tell herself that she was thinking ahead and had to slow down for reality to catch up with her.

Sam ran a local store that sold a bunch of animal essentials; including horse gear like saddles, reins and all that other stuff. During his spare time however, he would help Juniper with her creative mind and let her help him with making the saddles and other gadgets that she would come up with. He had short light brown hair, ivory skin and green orbs for eyes. He wore a white shirt and old jeans and trainers whenever he and Juniper would build something together. He even gave Juniper a spare key to the workshop if she wanted to work on something without him.

He sat with her at the wooden bench in his workshop while Rafael went into his built-on kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. He trusted his best friend with the young girl so he felt safe while roaming around his cupboards. However one of the problems with Sam’s house was “Ow!” Rafael cried out and pouted when he saw the tiny fleck of wood sticking out of his finger. “Stupid splinters.”

“Sorry Raf!” Sam called from the workshop while Juniper sketched out another gadget she wanted to make one day.

“What about a mug that can heat up on its own?” Juniper pondered out loud to Sam, tapping the rubber end of her pencil against her cheek as she looked up to the ceiling “Y’know, in case your drink gets cold and you could heat it back up and vice versa?”

“What about an invention that can remove splinter-OW!” Rafael called from the kitchen as he tried to prod the splinter out with a needle on the counter – Sam often got splinters of his own in his kitchen.

“Seriously though” said Juniper “You’re going to need to get your kitchen fixed up.”

“I know” Sam sighed “But I keep coming up with ideas to work with you my little protégé!” He teased her and ruffled her hair.

“Hey!” Juniper exclaimed with a grin “I’m not that short! I’m average height! It’s cause I keep hanging out with you two tall dorks.”

“Agree to disagree” said Rafael, who had successfully taken the splinter out and relaxed into a chair at the other side of the workshop “You are rather short.”

Juniper mumbled a groan “At least I can kick Trent’s butt any time I want.”

“You shouldn’t” said Rafael in a warning tone.

“I know I shouldn’t” said Juniper, a grin creeping onto her face “I’m just saying I could.”

Rafael shrugged in agreement and sipped his tea. An idea then suddenly came to mind and he spoke up “Hey Juniper?” the girl turned round to face him “I’m going up to a nature reserve tomorrow for a girl scouts camp to perform a lobotomy on a frog and you would like to come and get some inspiration for your art?”

“Will we be staying in a cabin for a full weekend?” she asked.

“Yeah” Rafael replied.

“That depends” she said coolly, until her face shone and a smile spread across her face “Will Naomi be there too?”

Rafael chuckled. Out of all the people that Rafael introduced her to; somehow Naomi was Juniper’s favourite. The woman had blonde hair that spilled over her shoulder, deep brown eyes that you could get lost in, baby pink lips and beautiful smooth Snow White skin. She wore no make-up but everyone who worked with her thought she was beautiful, and Rafael had to agree. “Yes, she will be there” he smiled.

Juniper fist pumped, nearly falling off the bench if it wasn’t for Sam catching her and she continued with her drawing.

……..

“Bye Sam!” she called before climbing into the car. The car ride was very quiet, but they were both used to that now.

Once they arrived home, Juniper packed her bags for the nature reserve and started getting ready for bed. This included a small hot shower, brushing her teeth and finally putting her long hair in a braid before putting on her pyjamas and hopping into bed. As she stared up at the moonlit ceiling, she eyes started to droop and she fell asleep with a smile on her face. Who knew a bad start to the day would lead to a peaceful night? 

……..

At the crack of dawn, Juniper was already awake and in the shower, scrubbing herself clean and brushing her teeth. She calmed down a bit while she was getting dressed into her normal clothes and remained that way while making breakfast. She watched Rafael gawk at her speed before sitting down and eating with her too.

She managed to remain patient while Rafael was getting ready, but grabbed him by the hand the minute he came downstairs with his suitcase and were already in the vehicle and heading down the road.

When they arrived, Juniper was finally calm and her natural smile remained on her face as calmness settled into her body. As they were unloading the car, they perked up when a familiar blonde was walking towards them. “Hang on” she smiled with a confused expression “Are those my two favourite people?”

“Naomi!” Juniper grinned back as Naomi walked over to her and gave her a hug “It’s so good to see you.”

“You too” said Naomi, pulling away from the hug before frowning “Are people still calling you short?”

Juniper pouted and nodded with an “Mmhmm” as Naomi giggled sweetly, like a soft song and her eyes twinkled in the sunlight.

Rafael could only look on at the two girls with bliss. Why did Naomi have to be so damn cute all the time? Was she really trying to kill him with cuteness? His thoughts were interrupted when Naomi went up to hug him. She was so frail in his arms. When she was standing on her own, she stood tall and confident, but whenever she hugged him she always gave off the impression of being fragile and breakable. Yet every day, she was always prepared to dig around the insides of a new person in surgery. “How are you doing Raf?” she asked during their hug.

“Good” he replied “You?”

“Eh, you know” she answered; he could feel her gesturing with her hands “Been there done that. Kind of been bored for the last few days but hey what can you expect from a boring person?”

“Oh you are anything but boring” he replied, not meaning to smell the faint aroma of coconut from her hair.

Juniper stood there awkwardly, but not wanting them to break on the ongoing hug. That went away a minute later and it just became only awkward for her just standing there doing nothing. She let out a cough and the two broke apart, fumbling with their words.

“S-sorry, I um…Yeah I’m just going to head back to my cabin for the evening” she stammered.

“Y-yeah” Rafael shyly agreed, rubbing the back of his head.

“Don’t want to appear like a zombie in front of the kids tomorrow!” she laughed nervously.

Rafael laughed back too in the same manner before Naomi walked away after waving goodbye. “Sorry” Juniper mumbled, not meaning for it to become more awkward. She was just trying to make them aware…maybe not aware enough. “Are you going to tell her you like her or not?” she grinned.

“What?” Rafael chuckled “Naomi’s just a really good friend.”

Oh my god Juniper thought He’s obliviously stubborn isn’t he?

“Come on” said Rafael “The car isn’t going to unload itself!”

Lord help me with these blind idiots she grumbled internally one more time before helping Rafael with the luggage.

……..

The next morning, Juniper was loaded with her drawing pad, her pencils and rubbers, her bag which contained her phone, and a camera provided by Rafael. Although when she woke up, she was mildly nervous going out into the forest on her own due to the fact of the untamed animals out there. But Rafael reassured her by saying that he had asked a ranger and was explained to him that the animals were moved to another forest – apart from birds – for guests who wanted to roam the woodland scenery.    

As soon as those fears were put to rest, she bided Rafael goodbye and ventured off into the forest.

While she was away, Rafael had a good time of his own with Naomi. Who couldn’t help but laugh giddily whenever the children cooed while they performed their lobotomy. Each doctor that was there was given a group of children; there were four groups in total, so it would be easier to view the lobotomy.

Although he was keeping an eye on his work, Rafael couldn’t help but notice the looks that the male grown-ups would give Naomi. He saw her uncomfortable shudders whenever one of the men stared down intensely at her. However, he felt a nerve twitch when he saw one of them lick his bottom lip. That simply crossed the line for him. “You doing okay there Naomi?” he asked, and all the males pulled away their gazes.

“I’m fine” she smiled, but her eyes gave him a sad yet thankful look before continuing her work.

He couldn’t help for felt terrible for her. At work in the hospital, the other members of male staff would not stop pestering her to agree for a night out. Although she would give them their just desserts, it did not stop her from maintaining a hurt look throughout the day. He wanted to do more but she always told him that she could handle it. But how much longer could she take? That was the question he always asked himself. 

……..

As Juniper continued on the path, she couldn’t help but always stop to take a deep breath. It was just so beautiful out here. The ambience of birds tweeting set the atmosphere just perfectly. She raised the camera up towards the canopy of the trees, with the bright sun glistening through and took a picture. The picture slid out of the bottom of the camera, before Juniper gently took it out and waved it to dry before putting it in her notepad.

That was when she heard a twig break. She froze on spot and her stomach twisted and pulled into knots. Gripping her camera tightly, she whipped round and nearly screamed when she saw none other than…“Trent?” she breathed, although the very thing was starting to become quite hard to do.

The boy’s lips twisted into a smirk as he leaned against the tree. “That’s me.”

All Juniper wanted to do was scream. She wanted to do nothing more than screech until her throat stung and there were people were there to help her out. But help her out with what? If she did that, she would be seen as overreacting and getting this wretched boy into trouble for no reason. “W-wh-why” why was she finding it hard to talk? And why did she suddenly start sweating? It wasn’t that hot. “Why are you here?”

“My mother took me up here” he replied “To get away from the stress of school.”

 Stress? HE’S STRESSED?! Why this ignorant little!-

“You know what that’s like” he sneered “Right orphan?”

It took all her willpower to grip her jaw tight shut than not to growl and make a fool out of herself. “Of course” she replied dryly “Whatever floats your boat.”

“You wouldn’t mind me being here” he grinned, a bit of green showing between his gums “Right orphan?”

Juniper inhaled sharply “Of course not” she said through gritted teeth. So much for making a fool out of herself. She turned round and resumed to taking pictures, trying to get rid of the fear that settled in the pit of her stomach.

What she didn’t hear was Trent removing himself from the tree, walking over to her until he stood behind her silent air flaring from his nostrils. Then with brute strength, he grabbed a hold of her wrist, making her drop everything and forced her to face him. “How dare you for doing that to me you snake” he hissed at her “Making me look like a fool by getting taken out by a stupid orphan freak!”

She tried to punch him with her other fist but he grabbed it before it collided with his skin and pushed it down. “Do you want to know what happens to people who think they can take me out?” he growled, his nails digging deeply into her skin.

“Trent stop you’re hurting me!” she yelled.

“Oh you stupid orphan” he chuckled darkly, before all emotion drained from his face “What I do to those people is much worse than having nails being dug into wrists.”

In a moment of panic, she used his knee to kick him in his sensitive area and spat right in his face before taking off. She ran on the path for a little while, before tripping and falling down a slope into a part of the forest where she wasn’t supposed to go. But she had no choice as she knew that Trent would be hot on her heels.

Fearing for the worst, she stood up and ran. She didn’t know where she was going and she didn’t care, she just had to find a place to hide or keep running until either she or Trent are forced to stop. She tried to think of a plan, maybe a trap that could fool her attacker. But she was too panicked and too busy thinking of the worst that it clouded her mind. She could feel her heart racing, her lungs burning, the blood thundering in her ears and her ankles were starting to ache. She felt like she was going to give out any minute.

A growl. That’s what made her stop in her tracks. This wasn’t a growl of a wolf or any other wild animals. No. This growl was unearthly, unnatural, and not normal in the slightest.

A great force hit her on the side of the head during her distraction and she fell to the ground. She touched where she was hit and saw the blood on her fingers. A heavy weight kept her hands and legs trapped as she desperately fought for freedom, but was given a slap to the face for those attempts. Trent then bent down until they were nose to nose and she held her breath. She growled and kept wriggling, not caring about the stinging on the right side of her cheek. The scrape of a knife was heard and her eyes widened with fear as Trent’s lips brushed her ear. “This is what happens when you try to take me out” he whispered, before giving her a deafening screech with the word “Understood!”

A cloud of black invaded her vision and the weight was taken off her. She then sat up as quick as she could, and what she saw made her heart skip a beat. In front of her, a creature had Trent pinned to the ground while he let out screams of fear to be let go. The creature was covered with black yet shiny scales, had large wings that resembled those of a bat, two cat-like ears with two smaller nubs as thin as twigs on the insides of its ears and one on each side if its head. She also could make out the blue from the corners of its eyes. Wasting no time, she picked herself from the ground and began to run again.

She continued to run with no idea where to go, until she heard an earth shattering roar that made her trip over a rock, skidding her leg against the rough surface before tumbling down another slope and down through some kind of rock tunnel until she made the edge of a puddle of water. She looked up and so no puddle, but a large pond inside some kind of large, circular ravine enclosed with rock walls.

She heard the roar again and tried to get up, only to be stopped by a sharp pain that shot through her leg. She let out a yell and rolled up her legging, only to be met with a bleeding scar. Hearing the roar again, she limped over to a large rock and hid behind it. This was a bad and dumb idea, but it was the best one she had. She heard large footsteps enter the area and warbles of an unknown animal. It was definitely the one she saw earlier. She could hear the footsteps increase in sound and felt the soft thuds coming towards her. This is it; this is where Rafael, Naomi and all those innocent girl scouts would find her dead body. She could hear sniffing from behind the rock; no doubt it was coming from the creature.

But in a moment of blind curiosity, she could feel her head turning slightly. The creature was only sniffing her; it wasn’t blasting her to pieces. What was she thinking, wanting to face the creature that probably blew Trent to smithereens and would no doubt do the same to her! But unfortunately, curiosity killed the cat and she turned round slowly. She then met face to face with the creature as it stared at her with large blue eyes and large pupils that almost dilated to the size of moons.

Juniper let out a gasp and fell onto her backside, trying breathing in and out slowly, but to no avail.  The creature then made its way towards her, its pupils slitting slightly as it stared at the girl with curiosity, its hot breath puffing in her face. Juniper squeezed her eyes shut and began to prepare herself for a quick yet painless death. But instead of what she expected, she found the creature was sniffing her face. She opened her eyes and saw the creature making its way up to sniff her hair. Why would it wait to kill her to stop and smell her hair? Maybe it was because of the shampoo and conditioner she used, she could always smell a faint aroma of caramel and vanilla floating around her head. She would also be lying is she didn’t say that, with its big blue eyes, the creature looked really adorable, yet so was lion but you don’t see anyone stopping to pet it.

Now that she had a closer look of the creature, she knew now she couldn’t keep calling it ‘the creature’. Due to its size and resemblance, Juniper had no trouble knowing that what stood in front of her…was a dragon.

The dragon then stopped sniffing her hair when it saw the fresh wound on Juniper’s leg and let out a small whine. It then made its way over to the edge of the pond before looking back at Juniper. Juniper raised an eyebrow in confusion. What was the dragon up to? The dragon then motioned its head towards the pond as a low grumble gargled in its throat. That’s when Juniper caught on; the dragon wanted her to wash her wound in the pond water. With great strength, she picked herself up and limped towards the pond as the dragon eyed her carefully. She sat herself back down again and scooped up handfuls of water and washed the blood of her leg. She didn’t want to get the pond water dirty in case it was the only place where the dragon could stay hydrated.

After fully washing the blood of, she quickly took her denim jacket off and pressed it against the wound. The dragon then motioned its head again as if to lift the jacket from her leg.  She didn’t know if it was the smart choice to take advice from a dragon, but the wound did sting…a lot.  She carefully removed her jacket and the dragon licked over her leg. Juniper gasped in surprise and recoiled, tumbling onto her back. The dragon warbled in surprise and made its way over to her. Juniper started to prepare herself again for death, until she felt the stinging slowly fade away. She sat up again and noticed the wound had stopped bleeding. The saliva must’ve had something to do with it if the pain stopped so suddenly. With a nod, she let the dragon continue.

After a few revolting licks on her leg, the dragon stopped and stared at her again. Juniper took her jacket and fastened it around her leg, tying it tight so it wouldn’t fall off. The dragon made some sort of happy noise without moving its lips and walked off, not too far from Juniper, and blew some fire onto the ground. It stomped on it for a little bit and laid down. Juniper was about to stand up to leave, until the fear of Trent settled back into her system. If she left now, there was a good chance that he might still be looking for her. That is if the dragon didn’t eat him. Wait a minute, if the dragon ate Trent alive, then why did it waste its timing helping her with her wound rather than gobbling her up right this second?

It didn’t make sense.

But Juniper didn’t want to question it any further and made what was probably the most stupid and reckless decision that she has ever made in her entire life…she was going to stay with the dragon for a while. She was about to reach for her sketchpad and camera when she realised that she had left them in the woods! Damn it! She couldn’t go back though, just in case Trent was still there. Biting her lip in a nervous state, she curled up onto the ground and closed her eyes. Maybe a nap would help clear her mind. She let out a breath and dozed up. 

……..

A little while later, she woke up and stretched her limbs. She looked over to look at the dragon…only for the scaly beast to be gone. Had she just dreamt the whole thing? She couldn’t have, her jacket was still there as well as the smell of dragon spit. Where could it have gone? She went into her bag and dug out her phone, only to be met with an armada of texts from both Naomi and Rafael.

 Where are you?!

 Are you okay?!

 Trent just appeared from the woods, screaming that you were both attacked by a dragon!

 Juniper please text me back!

Juniper gulped, thinking of the conversation she would have with the two adults. Hi Naomi, Hi Raf! Sorry I couldn’t text you back because Trent tried to attack me and a huge dragon attacked him back and helped me with a huge scar on my leg with magical spit!

She grumbled and stood up and walked to the exit of the ravine, noticing that the sharp pain on her leg had now fully disappeared. Her breath caught in her throat as she climbed out. She noticed that the pale yellow from the bright sun had faded into an orange colour with a hint of pink sky. How long was she asleep for? No wonder Naomi and Rafael were bombarding her with texts!

After finding the path again, making sure Trent was truly gone, picking up her stuff – including a broken camera – she found the exit of the forest. The police were there, as well as an ambulance, Trent with his mother squeezing him and Rafael and Naomi tightening their grips on each other’s hands. Rafael looked up and let out a cry of relief as he ran up to Juniper and gave her a bone-crushing hug. “Where have you been?” he cried “There was a search party in the forest and they said they couldn’t find you?!”

“I’m so sorry Raf!” Juniper cried back “I got lost and I hurt my leg!”

Naomi ran up and joined the hug, Juniper could feel her shaking, or was that her? “Trent says that you were attacked in the woods by a dragon!” Naomi exclaimed “Is that true?”

“Well not really attacked” said a police officer as he walked up to him “Doctor’s said that he wasn’t injured but he did look like he was in shock.”

What could Juniper say? The dragon certainly didn’t hurt Trent, and he had no injuries. Plus the dragon did help her. Did the dragon really just scare Trent in order to get him to leave Juniper alone? Juniper gulped, it was now or never.

“There was no dragon” she answered “But Trent did try to attack me in the woods with a pocket knife, he had me pinned down and I couldn’t move. Luckily I fought him off and found refuge. Unfortunately it was in a different part in the woods.”

The officer eyed her leg with the bloody jacket and held up a plastic bag containing the pocket knife. “Is this it?” he asked. Juniper nodded.

“My son would do no such thing!” Trent’s mother screeched.

“Ma’am this knife has your son’s fingerprints on it” the police officer explained “And the girl came back from the woods with an injury.”

“Actually I tripped but Trent still attacked me” Juniper mumbled. It wasn’t a complete lie but she didn’t want to fully push Trent under the bus.

“See!” His mother screamed “You have no proof!”

“Ma’am” said the officer “The knife is all we need to know that your son attacked this girl and was making up the dragon story. We’re going to need a few questions with you young man.”

“This is outrageous; my son is a good kid!” She yelled as the officer led him away “My lawyers will hear about this, did you hear me?!”

Juniper sighed, though she didn’t know why. Was it relief, fear or just stress? She didn’t know. Naomi led her over to the ambulance and sat her down before removing her jacket. There, on her leg, was the scar all fully healed.

“Woah” Naomi breathed “You got this today?”

“Weird” said Rafael, walking up to the girls “Her leg wasn’t injured yesterday, how did it heal so fast?”

Juniper bit her lip and her stomach flipped and danced around. She gave them a confused shrug while Naomi checked her over and spotted the dried cut on her head from where Trent hit her. Rafael told her that they would be going home that night, saying that her own bed would help her with what happened today. Although Juniper nodded in true agreement, a little part of her curiosity wanted to stay and search for the scaly beast that slept in the unsearched part of the woods.

The boy looked at the clock in his motel room. It was ten at night, time to go. He was a brunette with curls that sprung at the top of his head, brown eyes, pale skin and was a bit tall. However, despite his tallness, he was very lean and skinny. But he covered it with his brown leather jacket on top of his red shirt and blue jeans. He made his out of the sleazy motel and down the street. He was too young to be here, he was fifteen and here he was, standing outside some kind of shady place late at night. He drummed his fist against the metal door that stood inside of a red brick wall. A hatch opened and gruff voice spoke. “Password” it growled.

“Poison ivy” the boy replied. The hatch slid shut “I hope” he added. He thanked his lucky stars when the door opened and a large man greeted him inside. He held his breath when he smelt the smoke and alcohol and the place radiated with heat. Only pool tables covered the room with a bar at the far side of the room, serving drinks that he himself dared not to touch. The man led the younger boy through the pool tables, while people in fine clothing threw their dice and cheered in delight if they had won. He frowned when he saw a man’s hand touch a woman’s back and she shivered with discomfort in response. He hated that, when a man thinks that he could own a woman without her consent and was completely oblivious to their body language.

He was then led to a wooden door and the man opened it, pushing the boy inside and shut the door behind him. The temperature dropped and he let his body shake with the cold. Across the room was a wooden desk accompanied by a green lamp and a large bookcase stood behind the desk.  He saw the back of a suited man face the window, he turned round and smirked at the boy. “Malik” he chuckled “I’m so glad you could make it. Oh please, have a seat.”

Malik pulled out the chair at the front of the desk and sat down, slouching his back forward and rested his chin into his fist and put his elbow on his knee. The suited man with the black beard sat behind the desk in his own leather plush seat and pulled out a glass bottle filled with a golden brown liquid. It was accompanied by an empty glass and he sat it down before pouring the liquid into the glass. He picked it up and hovered it towards the teenage boy. “Drink?” he asked.  

“I’d rather not” he grimaced, trying to ignore the strong, toxic scent.

The suited man laughed. “Good choice” he handed the glass to the large man who had made his way behind Malik’s chair and received the glass, downing it in one gulp. “I suppose you want to get to the chase.”

“Precisely” Malik replied “I was informed that you knew where a bunch of kidnapped twelve-year-old boys were?”

“Yes, but I have to ask” the suited man’s gaze turned cold “Why did your associates send a boy?”

“They were too busy to handle it on their own so they needed someone else to help out” Malik explained “Does that bother you?”

“Of course not” the man said “And why did they not turn to the police.”

“Well the police kind of stink at their job these days, don’t you think?” Malik raised his eyebrow to express his point.

“I see” the man replied.

“Mr Hunter-” Malik spoke up.

“There’s no need to call me that” the suited man waved his hand to dismiss it “Call me Andre.”

“Right, I think I’ll stick with what I called you before” Malik sighed “Mr Hunter, you told me that you had the missing boys’ location, is that right?”

“Yes” the man nodded “I suppose you heard on what went down in Washington tonight?”

“Of course” Malik agreed “It was all over the news.”

“And I suppose you heard about what stopped these beasts” Mr Hunter continued.

“Someone on a dragon” his eyes widened at the memory when he saw a person riding the back of the dragon that blended into the sky.

“Yes” Mr Hunter replied “Although they did save those people, my people have gathered the information that the rider and his dragon have taken those boys.”

Malik’s breathe hitched “What?”

“It makes sense doesn’t it?” said Mr Hunter “As soon as these boys went missing, a rider and their dragon come into town and start acting like the hero so people could throw off their suspicions.”

It did make a bit of sense, but Malik couldn’t help but feel a bit betrayed. He admired how the dragon rider swooped in and didn’t hesitate to get hurt in order to save people. Now knowing the evidence that they might’ve taken the boys just tore his heart in two. “What do you want me to do?” Malik asked.

The man leaned forward in his chair “It is no doubt that the rider and their dragon will strike again soon. I want you to try and capture them and bring them to me.”

“Huh, is that it?” he winced.

“There’s a catch” the man sighed “If someone were to find you doing this, they might think that you’re trying to harm the hero. So you must take it upon you to make sure that there are no witnesses. If not, those boys will never be found.”

“You want me to kill bystanders?!” Malik nearly screeched.

“I didn’t say kill” Mr Hunter replied “But you must make sure no one can know.”

Malik sighed, he didn’t have to kill them and he could find another option. “You must trust me Malik” said Mr Hunter “If word was to get out, those boys could die!”

Malik rubbed his face with his hand. “…I’ll do it.”

Mr Hunter grinned “Thank you Malik.”

Malik got up and walked towards the door. “I wish you good luck” he heard Mr Hunter call.

As soon as he and the man shut the door, Mr Hunter chuckled darkly. 

……..

Rafael continued to press harder on the dragon’s wound and reach over for his kit, hurriedly opening it and rummaged around inside. “Damn it!” he hissed, when he picked up an empty bottle “I’ve run out.”

“Run out of what?” Juniper asked, her eyes widened with panic while keeping the dragon nip close to Dusk’s nose.

“I’ve run out of some alcohol that I need to treat this wound” he explained “I must’ve used it up during the dragon attack.”

“What are we going to do?” she whimpered. Rafael stared into her worried eyes. She really cared about this dragon, and if she died at his hands the girl would never look at him the same way ever again. “Come here and press down on the wound, I need to make a phone call.”

Juniper nodded and stuffed the dragon nip into her pocket, Dusk’s cries of pain started returning. She shakily pressed her jacket against the wound, even using the sleeves to clear away the extra blood. Rafael got up and took his phone out of his pocket, he went through his contacts until he found the person her needed to call. But before again, he looked down at Juniper one more time “Do you trust me?” he asked.

“Raf, she will die!” she cried “I can take the risk!”

Rafael nodded and dialled the contact before putting the phone to his ear and drumming his foot on the ground in anticipation. The caller finally picked up “Hello?”

“Naomi!” he cried in relief “Listen I need your help, do you still have that alcohol from the building?”

“Yeah, why?” she asked “Rafael, what’s going on?”

“Listen I can’t explain but I need you to get here before time runs out” he explained “It’s a life or death situation.”

“Okay I’m coming” Naomi didn’t hesitate to say and she hung up.

Rafael went over to the sink to wet some towels and hurried over to the dragon; he lifted up the jacket and stared cleaning the wound. It wasn’t long before he heard a knock at the door and rushed over to open it. There Naomi, her own kit in hand and a worried look on her face. “Raf, what’s going on?” she asked.

“No time” he said and gently pulled her inside, shutting the door behind her “We have to hurry.”

He put a hand on her hand and rushed her towards the open door of the garage. She nearly screamed when she saw the dragon and Juniper cleaning the wound. “Raf what the-” she tried to catch her breath “What is Juniper-?”

“Naomi” Rafael put her hands on her shoulders “Yes, Juniper is the one who saved those people but this dragon is the one who helped her. I’m shocked too but she is going to die is we don’t help her.”

Naomi’s eyes widened. The girl who admired her was the one who saved those people. She looked at the dragons, its eyes staring up at her as if she was begging for help. “Okay” she nodded and pulled out the alcohol from her kit. Juniper stood up and pulled out her dragon nip and went over to Dusk’s head, pressing the grass on her nose.

“It’s going to be okay girl” she soothed while keeping a hand on her head.

“This is going to sting dragon” Naomi told Dusk, after soaking the alcohol on some cloth and pressed it against the stab wound. The dragon hissed and growled in pain, but couldn’t move as the wound was too painful and the dragon nip forced her to be calm.

“You know what you’re doing?” Juniper asked, teary-eyed.

“Yeah, I give myself homemade stitches” Naomi explained “This’ll be a piece of cake.”

Rafael went wide-eyed “You give yourself homemade stitches!” he exclaimed.

“Yeah” Naomi breathlessly nodded.

“Wha-why-?” he spluttered.

“Raf can you please get your butt over here and help me?” she asked.

Rafael stopped spluttering and knelt down beside her, holding the cloth on the wound. Naomi pulled out a spray and sprayed it on the dragon. Dusk screeched and jolted her body. “It’s okay!” Naomi put her hand out “It’s just so you don’t felt the needle!”

“It’s okay Dusk” Juniper soothed her, pressing the dragon nip on her nostrils “They’re just trying to help.” The dragon whined but let Naomi carry on. Naomi was glad when she dug the needle into the dragon’s skin, she didn’t move. The spray was working. While Naomi continued to stitch Dusk, Rafael took the opportunity to get some answers.

“Where did you find her?” he asked the girl.

“In the woods at the nature reserve” Juniper explained “She saved me from Trent.”

“So…he was telling the truth?” He asked and Juniper nodded slowly.

“I just didn’t want her to get hurt” she said “You know what some people could do to her.” Rafael nodded slowly.

“Did she have anything to do with the scar on your leg?” Naomi asked, not looking up while doing the stitches.

“Yeah, her salvia helped heal the scar on my leg” Juniper giggled slightly, but the worry for her dragon still remained.

“I can’t believe it” Rafael breathed “You were flying an actually dragon.”

“Yup” Juniper nodded.

“How did you get her here is she was injured?” Naomi asked.

“Her wings weren’t injured so she could still fly” Juniper explained “But it took out a lot of her energy.”

As soon as Naomi finished the stiches, Rafael took out gauze from his kit and wrapped it under her stomach near the start of her wing to cover the wound. He tightened it into a knot and stood back to check her pulse. “She’s fine but she’s going to need some help” said Rafael “Go get ready for bed. It’s a school night”

Juniper only went closer to Dusk and hugged her head. “Don’t worry, we’ll watch her” Rafael smiled sadly at her.

Juniper reluctantly let go and walked out of the garage to get ready. “An actual dragon” Naomi mumbled “What are you going to do?”

“Whatever Juniper needs me to do” he told her “Even if it means not telling anyone.”

“Are you sure?” Naomi asked.

“Juniper’s right, there are people who would literally kill to have this dragon” he turned to Naomi “Naomi, you’re my best friend and have worked with me for years. I don’t want to put this kind of pressure on you, but Juniper is my daughter and she always comes first.” He put both his hands on her shoulder and squeezed them gently “Please don’t tell anyone.”

Naomi smiled sweetly “I didn’t plan to.”

Rafael smiled back and engulfed her in a hug. He heard purring come from the dragon, he glanced over to look at him and nearly fell over when he saw her slightly smile. 

……..

After Naomi went home, Rafael carefully moved Dusk into the living room. He decided that the living room would be a better environment for her to sleep in than the concrete floor of the garage. He went upstairs and peered into Juniper’s room. He saw her all tuckered out and resting underneath the covers.

After getting changed, he sank into his own bed and turned out his lamp, pressing the back of his head deep into the pillow. A horrible thought crossed his mind. Juniper could’ve died today! While rescuing those people and fighting off those other dragons, she could’ve fallen off or gotten scorched by fire. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to make those thoughts disappear, until a good one replaced them. He called Juniper his daughter.

He sighed. Although he didn’t do it yet, he was compelled to adopt her. But something always told him to wait a while, maybe it was because they would have to get used to the dragon that entered their home. He turned on his side, squeezing his eyes tighter and hoped for a goodnight’s sleep. 

……..

September - Eight Months Ago

Rafael sighed when he helped the girl get out of her hospital bed. It was time for her to go yet she still didn’t see the consequences that she got that resulted in her getting a broken leg. “You do understand why you got that broken leg right?” he asked the blonde teen.

“Yeah but my boyfriend told me to jump off the wall” she explained with a lovesick grin “And I would do anything for him.”

“Right, so if you’re boyfriend told you to take a weapon and mug every person in Washington, kidnap three children and rob a back while holding hostages, would you do it?” he asked. Naomi – who was standing behind him – pursed her lips to keep herself from laughing as the thoughts crossed the teenage girl’s mind, making her eyes nearly shoot out of her head. She quickly shook her head and grabbed onto her crutches. “Good.”

Rafael gave the girl a warm smile while her mother helped her out of the room. She bided him good day and the walked down the hallway to the elevator. “Well” Naomi chortled “Your papa bear side sure came out there.”

“I know” Rafael sighed “I just want to make sure that kids her age think twice before going into dangerous situations.”

“Well think of it this way” Naomi patted his shoulder and smirked “At least you’ll know how to deal with teenagers once you become a dad.”

He gawked at her as she strutted away. He let out a laugh as he walked down the hall. He stopped when he came across a room with a father reading his daughter a story. He was making funny voices and the child let out a golden laugh, resulting in her getting a forehead kiss. Rafael smiled and continued walking.

Apparently that’s how his day went, him smiling in awe when he saw parents with their children, whether they were five or younger, or teenagers letting out a tired smile as their parents brushed a lock of hair out of their faces, they all looked so happy.

It was while he was doing surgery with Naomi and a few other doctors when a question crossed his mind. “Naomi, do you think I’d be a good father?” he asked.

Naomi froze “You do realise that I was kidding earlier, right?”

“So is that a no?” he pondered.

“No, it’s just that-” she sighed “Don’t take what I said into getting a child right away, don’t you want to still do things?”

“Naomi, I’m thirty-three and I have my dream job” he explained “I feel like now might be a good time to have kids.”

“Okay, you do realise that this question about if you’ll be a good father just turned into you wanting a kid now right?” she asked “Plus, you’re not even married.”

Rafael smirked underneath his mask. “Naomi Brown, will you-”

“Okay, okay I was kidding!” Naomi giggled, not drawing her attention away from the patient.

Rafael laughed as well until he became serious again. “I’m serious Naomi…I really think that I might want a kid.”

Naomi’s breathed hitched, not looking at Rafael, she smiled. “Honestly” she said “I think you’d earn yourself a father of the year award.”

Rafael smiled and continued on his work. 

……..

He went through multiple websites on his laptop; he nursed a cup of coffee as he continued to roam. He decided that roaming through a few articles would help ease his decision. He continued to gather more facts under he came across an interesting article. He clicked on it.

Did you know that teenagers are often forgotten when it comes to adoption?

That stung a little. Rafael drummed his fingers in the table as his thoughts rummaged around in his mind. He did want to adopt don’t get him wrong, but he hadn’t thought about adopting a teenager. He didn’t want to just adopt one just because he felt sorry for them, or did that make him selfish that he preferred smaller kids to the rather taller ones. Then again, teenagers are basically taller five-year-olds, right? He then came across an adoption agency and looked at their article. It looked alright, and it said that kids who have been adopted from their agency have said that they really enjoyed in their new home.

He made up his mind. He wasn’t going to adopt right away but would rather foster a teen for a while and see how it went.

He dialled the number on his phone and waited until a voice picked up. “Hello” said the voice.

“Yeah hi, my name is Rafael Simmons” he spoke “I was looking at you website and I was hoping that I could have the chance to foster one of your kids.”

“Of course” said the woman on the phone “What age range do you want in particular?”

“Teenagers” he said without hesitation. There was a pause on the phone.

“Sir, I will be real with you” said the woman “While I am thrilled that you want to foster a teen, there are definitely much harder to control than a regular child. Are you positive about this?”

Rafael inhaled sharply, it was now or never. “I have never been so sure about anything in my entire life.”

“Okay then” the woman’s voice changed into a happier tone “How’s a meeting next Monday?”

“Perfect” Rafael smiled and began to discuss the times with the woman. 

……..

Here he was, Monday at twelve o’clock while sitting in front of the woman on the phone. She had strawberry blonde hair, caramel tanned skin and brown eyes. She wore black trousers, a white blouse and a grey blazer. She looked up at him, raising her brows at him after reading his papers. “So you’re a doctor at the hospital I see” said the woman “Impressive…but looks can often be deceiving.”

“Huh?” Rafael raised an eyebrow.

“Mr Simmons, if you want to take care of one of our kids we’re going to need to do a lie detector test on you” She explained “We want to make sure that the child we might give to you is going to a good home.”

Rafael nodded his head frantically. “Y-yes!” he exclaimed “I understand.”

“Good” she smiled.

A while later, he was hooked up to the machine while a man sat at his computer and the woman sat in front of his with a new sheet of paper with her questions. “Mr Simmons” she said “Why do you want to adopt?”

“I’m now in my thirties and I have the job I always wanted” he said “I thought it was time to let a child into my life.”

“Truth” the man gave him thumbs up.

“Mr Simmons is your home a risk-free environment?” the woman asked.

“Yes” Rafael nodded “Everything is always put away and I always clean the house twice a week.”

“Another truth” said the man and the woman hummed.

“Mr Simmons do you wish to harm the child we give you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh god no!” he exclaimed “I would never do such a thing; the thought barely even came to mind.”

“Truth” the man and woman sighed in relief and she continued with the questions.

As soon as the man left with the lie detector test, both Rafael and the woman sat down. “Mr Simmons, I believe we have the perfect girl for you” Rafael felt a smile form on his lips. “Though she has had a rough beginning in life, I think your home might be the place where she can properly heal. Here’s a picture.”

She slid the picture over to him, his heart skipped a beat when he saw a young teenage girl with dark blonde hair and blue eyes smile shyly at the camera. “Yes, definitely, she’s the one. When will I meet her?” he asked.

“We’ll drop her off at your house in two weeks on Tuesday” said the woman “Let’s hope you’ll have a room prepared for her.

“Or course” Rafael grinned happily. He picked up his jacket and went to the door when he turned around and asked “Do all adoption agencies use a lie detector test?”

The woman shrugged “We never asked.”

Rafael’s eyes widened and he went out the door. 

……..

“Naomi I did it!” he cried happily.

The woman nearly dropped her coffee as he spun her round in the breakroom. “Rafael, you almost made me sacrifice my coffee to the carpet god” she pouted, until her face softened “What did you do?”

“I’m going to foster a kid!” he said, nearly jumping for joy.

“Rafael that’s great!” Naomi hugged him and began to take a sip of her coffee “How old is he or she?”

“Fifteen.”

Naomi spluttered and nearly chocked on her drink. “A teenager?” she coughed.

“Is that bad?” Rafael asked.

“No, no, no!” she waved her hands “I just always pictured you trying to get a toddler to sleep at night. But I’m really glad you decided to foster a teen.”

“Thanks Naomi” he smiled. His heart thundered when she let out a giggle, strands of her golden hair falling in front of her eyes. He loved hearing her laugh; it was one of his favourite sounds in the world. Focus Rafael, no time to be complementing your best friend’s laugh.

“So when will she be here?” she asked.

“Two weeks” Rafael replied.

“Well I hope you’ll get everything ready” she then smirked “Don’t want her thinking that you live like a pig” she hid her snicker behind her cup while Rafael believed that his whole body had completely shut down by her gesture. Too cute! Must remain calm! Must remain calm!

“I’ll see you later” Naomi gave him another smile, before drinking the rest of her coffee and put her mug in the sink and left the breakroom, Rafael still frozen in place.

“Is she your girlfriend?” He broke out of his trance turned round to face once of the interns who were still in the breakroom, watching their whole conversation.

“What, no!” Rafael laughed “We’re just really good friends!”

The intern raised an eyebrow but shook his head in disbelief. What Rafael did not notice was another male doctor scowling at him. 

……..

The day was finally here, Rafael had transformed the guest bedroom into one he deemed appropriate for the teen to come.  He had a desk settled in a corner of a room, a large wardrobe for her clothes, a black bookcase with books she hoped she would take interest in; he had painted the walls a beautiful white colour and even got her a queen-sized bed with silk pillow cases and covers. He was waiting outside, drumming his foot against the concrete path as he leaned on the front door. He gasped when he saw the car pull up on the pavement near his house and the woman hopped out. She waved hello to him and he did the same back. She went over to the other side of the car and opened the passenger seat door. But to both Rafael’s and her surprise, it slammed shut again.

Rafael looked on in worry. “Just give me a second!” the woman hollered and opened the passenger seat door to talk to the girl. “Hey Juniper it’s okay.”

“Please don’t make me go” the girl hid bellow the door window as she stared up at her social worker.

“Juniper we talked about this” the woman said sweetly “He’s not going to hurt you. Trust me; I believe he’s the perfect one for you.”

Juniper continued to shake, turning her head towards the other window and looked up. She saw her future foster father and her eyes connected with eyes. He gave her simple wave and a kind smile before she let out a terrified squeak and shrunk back down. She faced her social worker. “They always seem to appear nice” she whimpered “Until they lock the door before striking you!”

“Juniper don’t worry” the woman soothed “I gave you my number just in case he does do anything. But right now, I need you to give him a chance. Can you do that for me?”

Juniper took a deep breath. She really didn’t want to do this. But at least she had her back-up plan. “Okay” she nodded, trying to force a smile on her face but failing miserably.

The woman grinned and opened the car door and allowed Juniper to jump out. Her eyes locked with her newest foster parent, who gave her a concerned smile. Why was he doing that? He was just going to be like the ones before.  He was going to act all nice while her social worker is here then immediately beat her mercilessly when she leaves. This woman might be her new social worker, but it wouldn’t stop her from being wrong. She didn’t return his smile.

Rafael’s smile faded, but it didn’t stop the joyful spark in his chest. She’s just nervous; I would be too if I were in her shoes .His breathed hitched when she continued to walk over to him and noticed rope burns around her wrists. He forced the bewilderment down his chest and forced a smile on his face, though he couldn’t stop wondering about how she got those crimson burns.  “Hi” he held out his hand once the girl and the woman came over “I’m Rafael; it’s really nice to meet you.”

Juniper recoiled at his hand and gave a startled jump, leaving Rafael to wonder what could’ve happened to her to warrant that reaction. The girl looked at the ground “It’s nice to meet you too” she cautiously mumbled.

Rafael put his hand back to his side. “Don’t feel upset Mr Simmons” said the woman “Juniper is just a bit uneasy with people right now.”

“I understand” Rafael nodded and opened the door “Would you like to come in?”

While still keeping her eyes locked on the concrete path, Juniper nodded. Don’t make eye contact. She nervously fumbled with her fingers when she rushed inside. “Would you like to see your room?” he asked her. Juniper nodded again.

She may or may not have instantly liked the room when she walked in. How could she not? The room looked like it was built for royalty. Don’t let yourself be fooled; he’ll just be like everyone else! She set her bag and suitcase down and looked around; inspiration came to her head when she saw the white walls. She knew it would hardly be likely, but maybe she could paint the walls with flowers or some other decorative embroidery to give it a bit more flair.

Rafael proceeded to give the girl and the woman a tour of his large house until the social worker announced that she had to leave. “It was nice seeing you again Rafael” she smiled “I wish you the best.”  She nearly toppled over when Juniper rushed to give her a bone-crushing hug. The woman gaped at her, but the expression fell and she put her arms around the now-shaking girl.

“Please don’t leave” the girl begged.

“I have to” the woman soothed, stroking her hair “Everything will be fine, you’ll see.” She then had to take Juniper’s wrists in order for the girl to separate herself from her so she could get back to work. She waved goodbye and shut the door behind her.

Wasting no time, she avoided eye contact with Rafael and rushed up the stairs. “Wait!” he called after her, holding out his hand. She stopped midway and his heart broke when she pressed her back into the wall. Did she really not have any faith in him at all? Who did this to her to make her have this reaction? Rafael sighed “Dinner’s at five if you want it…you can go to your room.”

Juniper wasted no time to continue running up the stairs until she disappeared past the wall. He winced when he heard the bedroom door slam. The only question on his mind was how he was going to get the frightened girl to trust him. 

……..

“Dinner’s ready!” he called and placed the girl’s dinner on a plate, he didn’t want to make himself to serious or lazy so he prepared the both of them hamburgers with some lettuce and carrots on the side. His stomach flipped when he heard no noise “Juniper?”

Nothing, no sounds, no feet walking against the floor from above just…nothing. He went up the stairs and continued down the hall to her room. He gently knocked on the door. “Juniper?” he asked through the door “Is everything okay?”

He gave her a couple of seconds to see if you would respond at her own accord, yet he didn’t hear anything. He opened the door and let out a strangled gasp when he saw that the window was open, the curtains floating in the gentle breeze that flew through and a note that was stuck to the wooden brim out the window. He ran over and picked it up.

I won’t let myself get tricked again!

His already panicked heart went into overdrive and he ran downstairs. He rummaged round in his bag and pulled out his phone, dialling three numbers. He ran a hand through his coils of hair and let out a sigh of relief when the other end of the line picked up.  “Yes hello?” he checked to see if anyone was there “Yes hi! My name is Rafael Simmons. My foster daughter just went missing, I think she ran away!

He continued to give them more of the details before mumbling an anxious ‘thank you’ and ran out the door, jacket in hand, to the police station. 

……..  

Juniper continued to run through the cold street. She didn’t care if she wasn’t giving him a fair chance, she was never given one. Besides, this was not how the original plan was supposed to go…she just wished that she was here. She stopped running when she saw a fast food restaurant still running, its bright lights sticking out like a sore thumb.

She walked through the door and sat down at one of the empty tables. She liked the woman who was serving her; she always liked waitresses, how they always smiled and their apologetic nature. She really liked the smile on this waitress, it reminded her of… “Your food’s ready” the waitress returned, placing down a burger with a side of lettuce and carrots.

“Thank you” Juniper smiled back and began to eat. 

……..

Rafael continued to wait, his foot drumming against the floor while waiting in the hallway of the police station. He perked up when he saw a familiar blonde walk through the door. “Naomi” he breathed and buried his head into her shoulder when she hugged him “So much for being a good Dad.”

“Hey” she pulled away and stared at him, both of their brown eyes connecting – though he always thought hers were more enticing - “This is not your fault! This girl must’ve gone through a lot of stuff but don’t blame yourself for that. It’s the people who frightened the poor thing you should blame.”

“I didn’t even hear her run away!” he ran a hand down his face.

“That’s because she did it before” said another familiar voice. Rafael looked past Naomi and felt his stomach sink when he saw Juniper’s social worker walk through the door.

He walked up to her and tried to explain the situation “Look, Mrs-”

“Call me Beatrice” said the woman “Look, throughout her life, Juniper always managed to escape from foster home after foster home. However, this last one was different. The man who had her was just pure evil. You had no idea the type of things that he put his foster children through. Juniper managed to escape from him and I was made into her new social worker since her last one kept putting her in bad homes.”

“Gosh!” Rafael exclaims, running a hand through his hair one more time before sinking back into his seat, he couldn’t stop the tears running down his cheeks “I just don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt a child!”

Both Naomi and Beatrice sat opposite sides of him, Naomi on his left while rubbing his shoulder and Beatrice on the right with her hands on her lap. “I don’t understand either Rafael” she tells him “But be glad that you are one out of hundreds of people who want to shelter and protect a teenager, even after the damage they’ve gone through.”

“She’s right Rafael” he hears Naomi’s melodic voice “You have no idea how selfless and kind you are, and once this girl gives you a chance she’ll realise how lucky she is to have someone as amazing as you to have as a father.”

He looks up at her. Naomi was right, that girl had never been given a chance at living a normal life and being a normal girl. And if he was going to die trying to give her that chance, he’ll go out knowing that she got one. For now, all he can to is worry.

“Rafael” he hears Beatrice’s voice and whips round so hard he nearly got whiplash. He looks up and sees a policewoman with red hair that ended at her jaw.

“Are you Rafael Simmons?” she asks. Rafael nodded. “We’ve found her location.” 

……..

After she finished her food, it’s the sound of sirens that makes Juniper slam her money on the table and head towards the back of the restaurant. She finds the emergency exit and threw herself through the doors before running for her life again. She still didn’t lose hope when a police car pulled up to her and she especially didn’t lose hope when the policeman caught and restrained her in his arms. She kicked her legs and tried to use her arms to push his hands off her, but it didn’t work.

It was then she realised when he led her to the back seat of his car…she failed. 

……..

The policeman pulled up to station, Juniper’s head hung low as she fidgeted with her fingers. He barely touched her back to lead her inside when she flinched and smacked it away. Her eyes widened when she realised what she did. “I-I’m sorry!” she cried, putting her hands to her mouth as she tried to control the sobs that came out “I didn’t mean- I’m s-sorry, I-!” She could barely finish the sentence when her knees dropped to the ground.

When people began to stare, the policeman gently took her by the arms and helped her to her feet and put his arm around her shoulder to lead her to the interrogation room. She tearfully explained why she ran away, earning both a sorrowful but disapproving look from the man in front of her. There was a knock at the door and he went over to answer it. Soon the man left and Beatrice was there to close the door behind her. She rushed to Juniper and held her close, pressing her face into her stomach. “Do you have any idea how worried I was?” she demanded “How worried he was?”

“Worried?” Juniper pulled away “He really made you believe that he was worried? Of course he did.”

“Juniper” Beatrice pulled a chair over “Did he hurt you?”

Juniper opened her mouth to speak but no answer came out and she sank into her chair. “No” she grumbled.

“Did he lay a hand on you?” Beatrice asked again.

“N-no but-!” Juniper stammered.

“Did he say anything to warrant you running away-”

“You don’t understand!” Juniper yelled “He would’ve hurt me! As soon as you’d leave, his kind personality will flick like a switch and soon the bruises will appear!” She snapped her fingers for emphasis. “He won’t be different…they’re never different.” A tear rolled down her cheek and brushed it away. She would not be weak.

Beatrice continued stop her mouth from gaping. She closed it eventually and reached out to hold Juniper’s hand. “Juniper” she mumbled softly “I know that this man is a good person, otherwise I wouldn’t have let him become your foster parent.”

“But how do you know?” Juniper sniffed, unable to stop her voice from cracking.

Beatrice grasped her hand tighter “Because I did a lie detector test on him.”

Juniper looked up at her, eyes wide. “Really?”

“Yes” Beatrice smiled “That’s why when we don’t get kids back that often, because we’ve made sure that they’ve been taken into care of good people. I don’t know if other places do it but I didn’t care. I took it upon myself to give these kids good homes, including you.”

Juniper couldn’t hold it back, she was shaking like mad, tears were rolling down her cheeks and uncontrollable cries escaped from her throat. “I just don’t want to be tricked anymore!”

Beatrice couldn’t stop her own silent tears from falling and reached over to hug Juniper, who in turn cried into the shoulder of her blazer. 

……..

Rafael had to physically restrain himself when he saw Juniper climb out of Beatrice’s car for the second time. Her cheeks were stained with dry tears and her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. After he let her in and closed the door, making sure to thank Beatrice, he turned to Juniper. What could he say, he couldn’t give her a full on rant or else how else would she trust him. “Are you okay?” he asked timidly.

“I’m fine” he heard Juniper mumble as she dropped her bag to the ground.

“You really had me worried there” he raised his voice slightly, yet kept a kind tone “I had no idea where you were and I was starting to fear for the worst. I know you’re worried but I just want you to know…you can trust me.”

Juniper turned round slowly, her eyes wide and brows furrowed with confusion. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

“What?” It was Rafael’s turn to be confused.

“Why are you being like this?” she raised her voice “Why are you being s-so kind to me?! Why aren’t you hitting me, why aren’t you saying I’m worthless, why aren’t you enjoying me being struck to the ground?!”

“Because I don’t want to do that!” Rafael exclaimed, his voice cracking with hurt “I would never do that kind of stuff to you Juniper. That’s not who I am.”

“And how am I supposed to believe that!” she yelled “How am I supposed to believe that you won’t turn on me the next minute?! How am I supposed to believe that you’ll creep upon me with threats?! How am I supposed to believe that the next thing I do wrong you’ll make me ponder on how you’re going to kill me?!” The tears wouldn’t stop falling from her blue orbs, creating a puddle as they hit the ground. Her sobs tore from her throat, a small cry of agony coming out as they scratched against her throat.

Rafael stared at her. His blood was the only thing he heard pounding in his ears. What she just told him was her whole life. Pain. No happiness, no moments of hope just…pain. He took small steps towards her, not wanting to scare her. He reached his hand out towards her.

“Don’t touch me!” Juniper slapped his hand away as she gasped for breath before continuing to cry. Her legs began to slowly give out as she collapsed onto her knees. She sat down, bringing her knees to her chest, her tears soaking her leggings.

Rafael watched as the young girl in front of him broke. She looked so scared, so lost and being in the house of a complete stranger wasn’t helping. He crouched down to her level, keeping a short distance so he wouldn't scare her. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

“No” Juniper whimpered.

“Do you want me to leave?”

…“No” she finally answered. Rafael sat down as she began to cry herself out, not once letting her be on her own. As soon as she was done, he fully sat down on the ground as she began to explain everything to him that led up to him fostering her. Rafael could only gape in horror as the reasons why the rope burns were there unravelled.

“Juniper” he spoke firmly “You’re safe now, you might not believe it but it’s true…I won’t let anything happen to you.” 

……..

Present Day

We now move onto the election of America’s next president, Travis Burns being in the lead with Andre Hunter catching up behind him. Though there have been people theorizing that Andre Hunter is holding a secret organization. The candidate rebuked the theory, claiming that people will create petty behaviour for wanting his ‘rival’ to win. In any news, last Sunday night, a hero in black leather has swooped down from the skies to save people from a burning building down. The creature they were riding however looked to be none other than a dragon! What does this mean for Washing DC, will we see this mysterious hero and creature again? We’ll see soon enough, I’m-

Rafael switched the news off and turned to the girl at the other end of the sofa. Juniper was gently stroking Dusk’s ear as the dragon let out tired pants. She was getting better but she was still weak. Thankfully it was Friday so Juniper could spend her time making sure that Dusk was getting better.

“How was school?” Rafael asked, breaking the silence.

“It was…” Juniper began raising her head slightly from the arm of the sofa before dropping it again “It was just school, though I think a lot of people noticed me hanging my head a lot. Though I’m sure Trent’s buddies were happy to report I’m not doing so well to their boss.”

Rafael bit his lip. He knew he had to tell her eventually, but knowing Juniper and Trent’s relationship, it was probably not going to sit well with the already-worried girl. “Juniper” he caught her attention and she turned to face him “I got off the phone with Principal Jones…he said that Trent’s coming back to school.”

“What!” she screamed, sitting up in a flash “B-but I thought he was serving time!”

“He was” Rafael sighed “But he was bailed out.”

“Who would want to bail out that stupid, selfish, flesh-eating muttonhead!” she shouted.

“Muttonhead?” Rafael raised his eyebrow “Haven’t heard that one before.”

“It was something that Vikings used to say and I think I fits Trent very well” Juniper pouted, crossing her arms “Besides, you don’t want me to say-”

“Ah-ah!” Rafael raised his hand to stop her “No foul language in this house please.”

Juniper laughed, but it quickly died down when she saw that Dusk was trying to stand. She let out a quiet moan of pain before sinking back to the ground. Juniper climbed off the sofa and rushed to hold her head. “Don’t Dusk” she whispered “You need to give your stitches time to heal.” An idea went off in her head “I’ll be right back.”

She rushed off to the kitchen, picking out a china bowl from own of the cupboards and rushed upstairs to Rafael’s room. She reached for the gauze in his bag and rushed back downstairs. Carefully, she unwrapped the old gauze from the stitches. Rafael could only stare at her in confusion. She had seen him wrap and undo gauze before so he wasn’t worried, but why the bowl?

“Okay girl” she said “Open up.” He nearly gagged when Dusk opened her mouth and Juniper scooped out a bunch of saliva with the cup of her hand. Juniper copied the same expression after she filled the bottom of the bowl and moved to the stitches, dipping the tips of her fingers into the slimy stuff; she worked them across the wound, making sure to coat it. She smiled when Dusk let out an approving purr and let out a shaky but relieved sigh when she saw Dusk smile.

Rafael looked at the two in wonder. For some reason this felt normal. Sure Juniper caring for a wounded dragon did sound weird, but yet she was happy. And if they were happy with this kind of normal, then he wouldn’t let anyone take that away. 

……..

That night, while everyone was asleep, Juniper crept out of her bed and quickly dressed into her normal clothes and picked up her belongings before placing them in her bag. She tiptoed out of her room, down the stairs and out the front door before locking it.

After walking for a while, she came across Sam’s workshop, unlocked the door and went in. She switched on the light on put down her notepad with her newest invention drawn on the pages.

After finding the metal she needed, she melted it above the hot stove before shaping it and placing it into the cool water to keep that shape from changing. She found some rubber and began wrapping it round a thick rod and glued it shut. She then brought the metal over and attached the two objects together.

She kept working for a few more hours, wiping sweat from her forehead and drinking water to keep herself from dehydrating. At last, she was finally finished. She gave it a few tests, and the long metal lit on fire. She had taken inspiration from Hiccup Haddock’s weapon and decided if she was going to be fighting other dragons with Dusk, she will need something too.

The fire disappeared and electricity instead, a neat little twist she added. Every type of dragon’s flame instead of one was the new effect she installed in her weapon, along with the Zippleback gas. Feeling pleased with herself, she turned off her new weapon and placed it into her bag. She cleaned everything up, shut the lights off and locked the door, walking back home…forgetting her notepad.

…….. 

The next morning, Juniper trotted down the stairs to see that Dusk was silently drinking out of a water bowl with no problem standing up. The girl beamed, the saliva was already working its magic so quickly, soon the dragon would be up and flying in no time. She walked over to the dragon and dragged her hand along the dragon’s spine. “How are we doing today girl?” she asked.

Dusk looked up from her water bowl, as she buried her face into Juniper’s stomach, water dripping from her mouth and landing on the floor. “Dusk, careful!” Juniper laughed “I don’t have any slippers on…and know I have a mess to clean.”

The dragon hung her head in shame. “It’s okay Dusk” Juniper crooned “I’m sure it won’t take long.” She paused when she heard her phone going off upstairs in her room “Be right back.”

Juniper ran up the stairs again and picked up her phone from her changer and answered the call. She looked at who was calling her, Sam. “Hello” she put the phone to her ear.

“I know you’re the dragon rider” Sam replied.

Juniper froze. Quick, say something to throw him off! “Whaaat?” she droned, faking a confused tone “Dragon rider, what dragon rider? It’s not like I have a dragon, what’s a dragon? I certainly haven’t met a dragon in my life, hehe?”

“Juniper, you don’t have to trick me” Sam told her “I’m not going to tell anyone.”

Juniper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose “How did you find out?”

“I found your notepad open on the table for some sort of weapon with a small drawing of a dragon next to it” he explained “It took me a while to put the pieces together…and to also find out that it means you went into my workshop when I left go home without my permission.”

“Oh yeah” Juniper shuffled her feet “Forgot about that part.”

“You know that I’m going to have to tell Rafael right?” Sam reminded her.

“Do you have to?” Juniper asked.

“Sorry kid” Sam sighed “Although I’m glad you saved those people, you can’t be let off the hook for lying.”

“I know” Juniper groaned “See you soon.”

“Seen you soon kid” he hung up.

Juniper face-planted on her bed and let out a longer, stressed out groan. This was going to be a long day. 

……..

“Did you really break into Sam’s workshop while I was work to make your saddle?” Rafael asked, as he and Juniper walked through the front door after picking her up from school.

“I didn’t really break in” Juniper explained “He gave me they keys in case I needed anything. But yeah, I know, it’s still wrong.” She hung her head “I’m sorry.”

Rafael smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. “Hey, think about it this way, if you didn’t make the saddle then you wouldn’t be able to make it so save those people” he told her.

Juniper snorted “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“But you still did lie to me and went into Sam’s workshop without permission” he said sternly, taking his hand off and crossed the both of them on his chest “So you’re going to have to face the consequences sooner or later.”

“Oh” Juniper gulped “Okay.”

“I’m not going to ground you since you are technically a hero” Rafael began “And you do need to spend some time flying you’re dragon to keep her healthy…have I got that part right.”

“Mmhmm” Juniper nodded.

“But I am going to take away your art supplies” said Rafael “Unless you need them for school assignments, and you can’ invent anything with Sam for a while unless it’s for the dragon.”

“What!” Juniper squeaked “Okay, yeah, that’s fair. I’m just going to have to get used to not drawing for fun for a while…yeah…I can do this…It’s not like I’m going to spend all night missing them.”

“Sorry honey” Rafael sighed as Juniper continued to look to the ground, trying to find solace in this situation but failed from hiding a disappointed face. 

……..

It was one week later as Juniper came out of school to find Naomi outside of her car waiting for Juniper instead of Rafael. “What’s going on?” Juniper asked as she walked up to the blonde.

“You’ll see” Naomi smirked and entered the driver’s seat. Raising a confused eyebrow, Juniper went around to the other side and got into the car, still unsure about why Naomi was smiling so much.

As Juniper walked through the door of her house, she gasped when she saw Dusk, without her gauze and her scar all fully healed, sitting and wagging her tail like a dog as she waited for Juniper, Rafael by her side. Naomi shut the door as quickly as possible and Dusk ran over to Juniper and tackled her to the ground. “Hey Dusk!” Juniper exclaimed happily “Your wound’s all better!”

Juniper sat up as Dusk continued to lick her and show her affection. “And in a week no less!” Juniper continued. She then held her dragon’s head in her hands when she quickly sobered and pressed her forehead against Dusk’s “You never cease to amaze me girl.”

Dusk suddenly started up again, bouncing around and nearly knocking furniture over. “Dusk, Dusk careful!” Juniper quickly stood up to stop her. Dusk halted in her actions and turned to face her “What is it girl?”

Dusk’s head then motioned to the window to the back garden. Juniper raised a brow, still not catching on. Dusk then made an annoyed expression and then went behind her rider before pushing her to the back door “Dusk!” then the realisation dawned on her “Oh, you want to go flying?”

Dusk gave her a nod and on open-mouthed smile. “Can we Raf?” Juniper asked, knowing she still needed permission from her.

“Well she is your responsibility now” Rafael chuckled “Alright, off you go.”

Juniper grinned and ran back upstairs. “What are doing?” Rafael hollered up to her.

“I need to put my gear on!” Juniper called back down “How else is Dusk going to make me turn invisible!?”

Rafael turned to Naomi to see if she had any idea on what the girl was talking about, but was only met with the same confused expression. Soon, Juniper came back downstairs, dressed into her dragon gear apart from her goggles and face scarf while carrying Dusk’s saddle. “Don’t worry, I won’t be out long” she promised them “Come on girl, let’s put this on.”

Dusk wiggled in her spot with excitement before bouncing outside. She couldn’t stop moving from excitement as Juniper struggled to get her saddle on “Dusk please, I know you’re excited but I need to find a way to ride you too.” Dusk finally relaxed, allowing Juniper to buckle up the saddle. “Finally” she then slid onto Dusk’s back, clipping herself in place before slipping on her mask and goggles “Let’s go!”

After turning transparent, Dusk leapt into the air and soared off. Naomi and Rafael watched from the back door, Naomi standing behind Rafael with her chin on his shoulder as they watched the dragon turn into a black dot. “See” she grinned, turning her head towards his “Told you you’d be a good dad.”

Rafael smirked, turning his head to face Naomi until their noses touched. Both of them blushed darkly, unintentionally lingering for a few second before Naomi pulled away. “S-sorry!” Naomi stuttered.

“N-no!” Rafael began to sweat nervously “That was my fault, are you okay?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine” Naomi rubbed the back of her neck nervously. They continued to stand there for a few more seconds, stealing a few glances at each other before looking away before Naomi spoke up “I-I should go, text me when Juniper gets back safe.”

“Yeah I will” Rafael gulped “G-good evening Naomi.”

Naomi smiled sweetly, tucking a gold strand behind her ear “Good evening to you too Raf.” She picked up her coat and went to the front door, shutting and locking it behind her. The tip of Rafael’s index finger brushed over the tip of his nose. His heart drummed loudly against his chest as butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He wanted to say that this was new to him, the blush in his cheeks, the way his heart melted when Naomi laughed, how he wanted to protect her and she protect him for the rest of their lives. But it wasn’t new, and feeling like this made him feel like he was betraying one person.

.

.

.

Ophelia. 

……..

Juniper and Dusk continued to glide over the clouds, as soon as the buildings of cities left and the ground was replaced by a forest, Juniper pushed her hood back and removed her scarf and goggles. “Okay girl” she said “There’s no one around, you can de-transform.”

As soon as the words left Juniper’s lips, Dusk’s scales turned back into it’s charcoal black colour. She let out when she spun Dusk round and round in circles and let out a laugh when they soared down backwards. Juniper pulled on the reins gently so the Dusk was flying in a straight line again. “Oh I wish she was here to see this” Juniper smiled. Dusk purred happily for her rider as hey continued to soar through the gentle breeze in the clouds.

Their fun ended when they heard a high-pitched noise soaring through the sky, just like Dusk’s. Both Juniper and Dusk halted while Dusk used her wings to keep them flapping in mid hair. Juniper turned round and saw a patch a deep red coming towards them. She squinted her eyes when she saw that the patch was red was shaped just like Dusk. Except, apart from Dusk, it had nubs trailing down it’s head, longer nubs in between it’s ear and an extra two on the sides of it’s head, it’s eyes were a glowing orange and was much larger in size than Dusk. “Hold on” Juniper’s eyes widened “Is that another?-”

Her stomach dropped when she realised that the red dragon was aiming towards her. Not Dusk, just her. “Oh no.” She squeaked when the red dragon grabbed her off Dusk’s back and held her in it’s clutches, it’s claws digging into her. “Uh hi? It’s really nice to meet you! Could maybe-?”

She yelled in fear when the dragon flung her away into nowhere. Said dragon looked back at Dusk with a happy smile on it’s features, feeling proud of it’s work. Dusk couldn’t say otherwise. Her pupils were slit and her blue eyes were widened with horror. She snarled at her red look-alike and swooped down to catch Juniper, leaving the other dragon to look at her with confusion.

Dusk swooped down below Juniper for the girl to land on her back. The girl shook her head, feeling slightly dazed before scoffing “Aren’t men typical?” At least she thought it was a boy, it’s physical appearance matched Hiccup Haddock’s male Night Fury in his book.

Dusk warbled in agreement as they continued to fly. The dragon, which was a few feet behind, suddenly realised the relationship between the dragon and the girl and let guilt swallow him up. Timidly, he flew up beside them with a nervous grin on his features. Dusk took one look at the male Fury, snorted at him and looked ahead, not wanting to hear what he had to say. Or in this cause, roar.

The male Fury warbled sadly until an idea went off in his head. He swooped down low and flew on his back underneath Dusk, looking up at her with a goofy smile. The Night Fury rolled her eyes as she continued to fly ahead.

Feeling unaccomplished with that task, the red Fury flew above Dusk and shot out a ball of fire, flew through it while doing a spin. When he looked down to see her reaction, he noticed that she wasn’t paying attention.

“Well Dusk” Juniper grinned “I think someone has a crush on you.”

She laughed when she heard her dragon grumble in shame. The male dragon then realised that no matter how many tricks, it wouldn’t be enough for her to forgive him. He then flew down by her side, before looking up at her with an apologetic look to show her how truly sorry he was. Feeling conflicted between forgiving him or ignoring him, she looked up to Juniper for her opinion.

“Hey, this one’s on you girl” Juniper told her “I’ve never had experience with boys before.”

Dusk groaned. She stared down at the trees hundreds of feet below her, pondering for an answer. She then looked back at the male Fury, who still held that apologetic look in his eyes. Dusk closed her eyes, hoping her next move would be correct. Opening them, she let out a warble. By what Juniper was seeing, the red Fury had been forgiven as he began to shake happily and do numerous of happy tricks.

“Glad to see your forgiving side girl” Juniper stroked her head, erupting a happy purr from her dragon. She gasped when she saw that the red dragon’s face was next to hers, as if her was studying her.  Carefully, she placed her hand out in front of her and looked away. After a few daunting seconds, she felt something in her palm. She turned round and saw that the male Fury‘s snout in her palm. She chuckled lightly and gave him a small pat “I’m not so bad after all, huh?”

He then flew down beside Dusk on her right hand side, the Night Fury giving him her signature smile. “What kind of Fury are you exactly?” Juniper asked.

The male Fury cracked it’s neck and flew upwards again, shooting out a normal plasma blast towards the sky, before letting out a normal fire blast that was normally caused by a dragon in fairy tales, another blast that consisted of sparks, then looked down to Juniper and opened his mouth to show lava on his tongue instead. “So you can shoot out different types of fire?” Juniper’s eyes widened. The red Fury nodded in agreement before taking his place next to Dusk again. “I guess that makes you a…Flame Fury?”

The Flame Fury warbled happily, nodding to watch she just said. Juniper’s face split into an open-mouth grin. “I can’t believe this!” she laughed “I’ve discovered a new type of Fury!”

The Flame Fury smiled, warming up to Dusk’s human friend. The Flame Fury’s pupils suddenly slit in fear before shoving the two of them away with his side. “Hey!” Juniper exclaimed. Her breath hitched when a net came flying through the air and caught the Flame Fury in it’s ropes, sending him toppling to the forest below.

“He knocked us out the way we didn’t get hit” Juniper breathed, before tugging on Dusk’s reins “Come on Dusk, let’s go get him.”

Dusk obliged and dove towards the ground for the forest. They landed softly on the ground, Juniper dismounting Dusk and unbuckling herself from her dragon. Silently, she tiptoed up to a log and hid behind it, Dusk following her trail. She looked up and saw the dragon, about fifty feet away all caught up in a net in circle of trees. A boy with curly brown hair and a brown leather jacket then entered the scene, making its way towards the Flame Fury.

After marvelling the giant beast, the boy took a knife out of his jacket and held it above his head, ready to slay the dragon.

Juniper froze in horror.