Artist To Warrior

Chapter I

        Tyler glanced around as he shuffled into the gates of hell, or as other people called it, school. People pushed and shoved to get to lockers, called their enemies names, and handed each other small bags of green lumps. His school was a nightmare come to life and the only way to escape was to survive the day.
        Being a junior was hard work. Teachers expected great grades and lots of focus, but Tyler did not have the luck of holding those two traits. The boy usually got through his classes by doodling on the assignments and sneaking snacks into his mouth.
        Tyler looked up at the clock above his head as he walked through the halls to make sure he had enough time to get to his locker. His bus always came in late so he usually had to rush for his locker. He slowly approached the tall piece of metal that held all his books and began to insert his combo."Damnit-" He whispered to himself when he missed a number.
        "Hey, Ty." A familiar voice cooed. Tyler looked over his shoulder and smiled. Behind him was his best friend, Cooper.
        "Hey man!" The two greeted each other with a fist bump. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back in class..?"
        "I had a few minutes so I stopped by. Unlike you, I actually come to school on time." Cooper scoffed in a joking way.
        Tyler rolled his eyes."Shut up. Not my fault the bus lady can't drive." He reached into his locker and grabbed his books for his first class. Before he closed his locker, he noticed a new book inside."What?" He whispered to himself before pulling it out. It was a black sketchbook with his name on it."I don't remember putting this in there...whatever." He set it on the pile of books in his arms and kicked his locker closed."I'll cya, Cooper. I wanna get to class early today."
        "Alright man," he chuckled, "cya in a few hours." Tyler continued to walk down the hall and towards his homeroom. He couldn't stop thinking about how the sketchbook got in his locker, he never bought a sketchbook before. The thought slipped his mind before he made his way into his homeroom class and sat down in an empty seat. He pulled the sketchbook out from the pile of books and flipped through the pages. He sighed and put it away before pulling out some homework he should have finished the night before.
        The rest of the school day was dragging on as he waited for the final bell to ring. While he waited, he decided to examine the sketchbook one last time. Tyler began to flip through the pages once more, but slower. The book practically flew open to the last page. He raised an eyebrow when he saw what was on it.
        'Dear Tyler, this sketchbook has been passed on from owner to owner. It is not an ordinary book, and you will soon learn that. Be careful with what you draw. This sketchbook is a big responsibility, but I trust you with it.'
        Tyler couldn't help but chuckle. What kind of joke was this? The bell rang and he gathered all his things. He made his way out the door and back to his locker, still chuckling at the note that he had read. He opened his locker, shoving and gathering stuff. He made sure to slip the odd sketchbook into his backpack and closes his locker, walking out of the school.
        Once he made it back home, he quickly greeted his mom before running up to his room. He closed his door and threw his stuff down. His eyes landed on the opened sketchbook, giving a huff of defeat. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pencil he had forgotten about and began to draw in the odd book.

        After drawing a little dragon, he colored it in with some markers he had lying around and looked at the drawing with a proud smile. He closed the sketchbook and rolled onto his back before pulling his phone from his pocket. His thumbs fiddled away as he commented on a post.
        From behind him came a sound that almost sounded fake. It was the sound of wings flapping and heavy breathing."Okay, this isn't funny dad-" he grunted and turned around. To his surprise, it was not his dad he was faced with. Only inches away from him was a dragon the size of a dog. It was blue, scaly, scary, but a beautiful sight."W-What the-" He backed up in disbelief.
"Greetings! My name is Moco Doko, but you can call me Munchie!" The dragon gave a cheeky grin. Tyler gulped, thousands of questions running through his head.
"Why are you here? How are you here?" He snapped in a panicked voice. He could see the dragon laugh a bit.
"Well, I'm guessing I need to explain what they didn't. That sketchbook is yours now that you touched it, which means you have the power!" He smiled, assuming the human knew what the power was.
"Power...? What do you mean by power? This isn't a fantasy video game, Munchie!" His nose scrunched. He felt weird calling some random dragon by such a weird name. He just hoped that this was all some crazy dream he was having.
The dragon shook his head."They really didn't tell you anything, did they? Well, I guess I will have to inform you but don't freak out! I don't want to scare a kid and have that on my conscious." He giggled before flying above Tyler's head."Basically, as long as you are the last one who touched it, you are granted the power to make whatever you draw come to life."
Tyler looked at Munchie."Anything I want? I could draw a...dinosaur and it will come to life?"
"Well, there are limits. After a while, your drawing will disappear. I won't though since I'm your first drawing! I will be your trusty companion." Tyler rubbed the back of his neck with a confused expression. He stood up and flopped onto his bed with a sigh.
"This is insane. I was a normal kid just a few hours ago!" He said in an annoyed voice. Of all people, this had to happen to him. He declared in his head that he officially had the worst luck in the world. "So I'm stuck with you..?" He asked the dragon before it gave him a nod of confirmation. The boy let out another annoyed sigh and closed his eyes."Why are you even here? You said something about being my companion."
Munchie smiled and nodded as he landed on the bed."Yup! Now that you have this power, people will try to take it for themselves. It's my job to inform you what to do and when things will happen."
Tyler gulped."So you mean," he started, "that there are going to be people attacking me?" The dragon nodded again and Tyler groaned."This is crazy, Munchie! Why me of all people?"
"I don't know, Tyler. The last person who had the power must have seen the potential in you." Munchie said with a shrug. Tyler sighed and stood up, walking over to his closet and putting pajamas on. He looked at the dragon before climbing into his bed.
"So are you gonna watch me or somethin'?" Tyler mumbled in a cocky voice before pulling his blanket over his head. The boy had no idea what sorts of wonderful adventures but insane villains would be ahead of him. He just hoped that this would all be over when he woke up again. That this was all a dream. Something in him told him that this was real. It wasn't a dream. It was something he would have to live with until he passed on the gift as well.