Shade and Dusk: Guardians of Analysia

(5) How to Take Care Your Dragon

     “Wait what?” Shade said, panicking, “Who will be taken?!”

     “Why, the future is a very mysterious thing, young child,” she said. She laughed, but it turned into a cough.

     “Yeeeeeah, okay,” said Shade, “Well, I should get going. Good luck, with, um whatever. Bye.”

     She ran to her house.

     Once she was in her room, she started reading the dragon book by Johnson Kare. This guy new everything there is to know about dragons.

     “’Dragons are a type of mythical creature, with its powerful wings and sometimes serpent-like body, they can be the size of houses. They have claws and teeth that can rip apart almost anything. The fire that they breathe can start forest fires. Knights started the tradition of hunting down these magnificent beasts for glory. Because of this, they hide in the most remote locations, impossible for humans to find them.’”

     That interested Shade. So if dragons hide from humans, then why was Dusk in a populated forest?

     “Their diet is hard to decide, but they do prefer milk and meat. Strangely though, the younger dragons do enjoy the occasional cake.’”

     Shade laughed at that line. At least now she knows how to celebrate Dusk’s birthday, if sheever finds out what day his birthday is at least.

     “’Though once you tame a dragon, you must keep it happy and have plenty of exercise. For when they go unhappy, they might run away, burn down your home, or simply tear you to shreds. Personally I prefer keeping a dog for that remark, but dragons can make great companions when raised carefully. They enjoy flying, long distance running, and never be afraid to be creative and make some toys for the beasts to experiment with.’”

     Be creative huh? thought Shade. Hmmm…

     Back at school, Shade and Celeste were in woodshop as they made their projects. The room was basically what you’d see in a workshop class: tools and different types of wood where on the metal shelves on the walls. The sounds of saws and other stuff kept going around as people worked. Mrs. Collide looked around as the students worked with their safety goggles on. She saw what Shade was working on and grinned, “A shield?”

     “More like a giant Frisbee, but yeah,” said Shade.

     “What would you need one of those for?” asked Celeste as she made her bird house, “Don’t you have a ton of those in your shed?”

     “It’s a secret,” said Shade, grinning.

     “It’s looking great so far though,” said Mrs. Collide. Man, Shade loves this teacher. Mrs. Collide has dark skin, with curly black hair tide in a bun. She wore a collared white shirt with a black jacket and dark blue pants. She looked in her late thirties, with a pencil behind her ear, the way professors and scientists sometimes carry their pencils. Her eyes are a dark brown.

     “Thanks,” Shade said. It was a simple star covering the whole Frisbee with claw markings in the middle. The bell rang as the school day was over. She just managed to finish up the wooden shield like Frisbee. She put it in her bag and they went outside.

     “How was workshop?” asked Ray.

     “I basically failed on my bird house,” said Celeste. Shade laughed, “Come on, it’s awesome.”

     “I’m pretty sure the roof isn’t supposed to be on the side, and the stick part isn’t supposed to be on the top.”

     Ray laughed, “So what do you guys wanna do?”

     “Wanna go to the lake?” asked Celeste.

     “Nah,” answered Ray, “we went there a few days ago.”

     “Well, I need to get home,” said Shade, “See you.”

     Before they could protest, she went off towards her house. She opened the door and went inside.

     “Hey Shade,” said mom, “How was―”

     “Good, see you,” said Shade. Her mom frowned as she went to the back of the house and went outside. She then entered the woods with her giant wooden Frisbee.

     “Hey Dusk! Where are you? I have a toy for you to play with and some steak!”

     She heard the struggle roaring sound, as if Dusk was in danger.

     “Dusk!” she cried, and started to run. If Dusk was in serious pain again, there was no way she could―

     She tripped over a branch and went tumbling down hill. When she went through some bushes she saw Dusk in an open part of the forest: tangled by some vines.

     “Seriously?” she said.

     “Rawwwwwwr!” he said, and kept tangling himself into more vines. “Calm down I’ll get you out,” she said. She put down her bag and found a sharp thin stone, like a blade. She went over to Dusk, who tried to move back.

     “Oh hold your horses―er, dragons,” she said. Dusk calmed down long enough for her to cut the vines off him. He came down with a thud and looked curiously at her bag, “Rawr?” he asked, cocking his head.

     “It’s a present,” she said, and got out her Frisbee, “Thought it could be a good game for you to play and get some exercise.”

     Dusk sniffed the disk like a curious dog and jumped up and down.

     “Whoa there,” she said, “So you wanna try it?”

     Dusk nodded.

     So for the past hour they played Frisbee, Shade tossing it to Dusk as he caught it with his mouth, and Dusk tossing it back to her. By the end of the hour, the Frisbee was bent up and slobbery. Shade and Dusk breathed hard as they lay on the ground, Shade leaning on Dusk’s side.

     “Fun, right?”

     Dusk made a low roar as he grinned. Shade yawned, exhausted. The dragon looked at her in concern. Shade made a confident smile, “I’m alright. Just tired.”

     He lifted his wings, as if telling her to take a nap.

     “Hey I’m fine,” she lied, “Thanks though.”

     Dusk made a rawr in protest, telling her to sleep. Shade sighed, “Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to take a little nap.” As soon as she said that, her eyelids started to close. His mighty black wings soon covered her like a tent as she went to a dreamless sleep.