/:\ 7th dragon - Fight for salvation/:\

[/:\ Code - Alice /:\]

Life in a..well, how exactly would someone describe the world that Alice found herself living in.
War torn? Post apocalyptic? Worst case scenario for the world?
Regardless, it was a world Alice had to deal with regardless of how horrible it was.
In fact, Alice's life could also be called a 'series of unfortunate events'.
From being kicked out from her home due to a scarcity in food, to being seen as a monster by the general populace due to her shapeshifting powers.
Alice was always very in tune with nature. Often frolicking through the forests and she could even hear the quiet whispers of the trees.
Alice could also shapeshift into animals (though she would be horribly drained after using this power), she never understood how she got this power but the one thing she did understand was it practically made her a monster in the eyes of other humans.
After all, it's easy to associate powers you don't understand with monsters and dragons...That and maybe the clothes she wore. Mostly a faded blue polo shirt and navy jeans, each covered with stains and stickers so anytime she actually wandered into town these looks ended up affirming the 'monster girl in the woods' idea everyone had about her.
It wasn't all bad though, she was finding life in the forest easy. Easily adapting to hunting and finding shelter. It also made hiding from the monsters easier so she wasn't exactly mad at her situation.
Though life in the forest wasn't always comforting.

Alice found herself staring down at a bundle of sickeningly bright, sharp, flowers. Dragonsbane or Bloom being the flower's more common name.
"How ugly.." She hissed, stepping on the flower causing it to release a bright red pollen. "The rate that these things spread and take over never ceases to disgust me.."
Alice rolled her light silver eyes while dragging her tan hand through her deep black matted hair (she didn't exactly have much access to hair care products), starting to walk away.
"Danger...Danger..."
Whispers from the trees entered Alice's mind, causing her to naturally look around.
"Danger? Where is the danger? What is the danger?!" Alice called out, hoping the trees weren't too disorientated to answer her.
"Danger fast...Danger coming...Danger big...Very dangerous.." The trees answered.
Right after the last word was uttered from the tree, a loud and visceral roar echoed not too far away. The ground seemed to quake as loud footsteps began to draw closer.
"Crud!" Alice cried out, begging to run in the opposite direction from the creature.
She zoomed through the forest, weaving and bobbing through the trees as whatever creature that had been making those noises was hot on her tail. Though luck was on her side as she noticed a grouping of trees. Taking the opportunity she quickly climbed up the tree, holding onto the thick branches as she tried to hide in the large, bundled leaves of the trees.
Alice caught her breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible as the footsteps came to a head and stopped somewhere below her.
Finally Alice managed to get a good look at the beast that had been following her. Though the sight that she was met with honestly made her wish she hadn't even looked at all as her heart plummeted into her stomach.
It was a large dragon with a deep yellow shell and bull shaped horns. It had thick legs that looked similar to those of elephants and to round this horrible creature out it had a (hilariously) small round head that seemed to be covered with thick scales.
It seemed to raise its head, looking around for you, its nose wiggled noticeably.
'It realized I'm no longer running?!' Alice thought angrily, sneaking deeper into the leaves. 'I guess it isn't as dumb as I thought...'
But Alice still couldn't figure out why on earth a dragon was in the forest. They are usually only found around cities and towns (or around other strong dragons apparently).
The tree suddenly shook, causing Alice to involuntarily scream, wrapping her arms on the base of the tree as she twisted her head to see what was happening.
It seemed like the dragon figured out where Alice was hiding as it began ramming into the tree you were hiding in.
"Oh god..Am I going to die?!" Alice cried, burying her head into the tree's bark, her head filling up with the cries of the trees.
She could attempt to use her shapeshifting powers to fight this monster when the tree fell but Alice had always heard that dragons were horrible foes, perfect monsters that took lots of training to even consider trying to fight one..
So naturally, Alice prepared for the worst...
"Groahhhh.."
The dragon yowled as though attacked, as the tree finally stopped shaking.
"...Danger gone...New presence..?"
New presence?
Alice blinked, letting go of the tree. Was the dragon gone? Or was it just lying in wait?
"The dragon has been dealt with.." A gruff voice echoed from below. "Come on down. It's safe."
What the hell? Who was this?
"....Come on. I have something to ask you."
Alice hesitated. After all, who even was this? As far as she knew, nobody went into the forest (Alice hadn't even seen a human for at least six months).
"Fine. Have it your way..."
A snap echoed through the forest.
While Alice contemplated what the snap was for the terrain around her wavered in and out of focus as a large pop reverberated through her ears.
Before Alice even had a moment to react to the insanity that was unfolding, she was suddenly on the forest floor.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Alice screamed, really disoriented and confused.
"Quiet." The gruff voice said behind Alice. "You're okay."
Alice twisted her head, jumping back as though she had just seen a hungry tiger.
Though to be honest the person that you saw wasn't half as scary as a hungry tiger.
It seemed to be an older fella, they were wearing a deep blue cloak with the under garb being white with gold lines running across the fabric. They held a wood carved cane in one black gloved hand and their other hand must have been hidden out of sight.
Though the thing that weirded you out the most was the odd mask they wore on their face. It seemed to have six holes, three on each side approximately where the eyes would be located, and odd lines running up the front of it. Not only that but their neck and even face was obscured by this thick black veil that was attached to the skin. All she could see was some thin, mahogany, hair running down their neck and resting on their shoulders.
Alice didn't know how to feel about this...
"W-ha..What was that? What did you do?!" Alice questioned the individual, still thinking of running but what had happened earlier stopped her from acting on this urge.
"A simple teleportation spell." They quickly glossed over the explanation as though it was an everyday occurrence. "Anyways, I've brought you down here for a reason.."
"A reason?" Alice echoed, still contemplating the fact that this person was capable of teleporting people.
"Yes. I've been watching you and I'm very impressed with your fighting skills. You're just what I need.."
"You've been what?!" Alice shot her head up though the person quickly ignored her.
"My name is Iod, and I need your help hunting dragons..."
Alice gave Iod a bewildered stare like a deer in the headlights.
"I'll personally train you to be a renowned dragon hunter. So, will you join me?"

[1286 Words]