Running With Dragons

Chapter One

"Ro!" My older sister yells from downstairs, I slowly with little enthusiasm make my way down the straight stairway. As I walk into the kitchen I'm met with an angry Samantha, who is covered in egg. It took a lot of effort to hold back the snort that tried to escape my mouth but I kept my composure.

"Matha' what did you do?" I ask and the smile won't get off my face from the name I called her. She's always hated it. Her face contorts into pure anger.

"DO NOT CALL ME THAT." She screams her face getting redder and redder by the second.

"Then don't call me 'Ro'. It's not my name." I say, my smirk slightly falters.

"Why did you do this? Why!" She points her bonny finger at me and stamps her feet like a child. I raise an eyebrow.

"It wasn't me. But I will say Aurora did do a good job this time." I chuckle at the evil look she gives at my response. I watch with amusement as Samantha screams Aurora's name and my two sisters fight about the eggs.

Not too long later my father struts into the kitchen the content smile he had washed away as soon as he processed the situation. He glances at me and I shrug. I don't care if they rip each other's hair out, not my problem.

"SAMANTHA! GET OFF HER NOW!" My dad yells jumping into the situation and attempting to pry her off, not winning though because she was slippery and so was the floor, resulting in a loud thug and a low grunt. Samantha and Aurora stop fighting staring at our father on the floor, worry on their faces. They know what's going to happen next. I lean against the doorframe getting comfortable while the show begins to intensify.

Father stands and demands them to as well, and they comply without a word. A slow chuckle made its way out of my chest as I began to laugh at them.

Samantha's oh-so-perfect hair is wet and slimy, her light brown hair yellow with white globs. The egg yolk has ruined her white flowing shirt and black leather pants. Aurora on the other hand looks hilarious. She's still in her pajamas which are completely covered in the eggs now and the back of her head is thick from rolling on the floor. There are eggshells everywhere, the egg carton lays on the floor smushed from the roughhousing. Father glares at me making me laugh harder.

"Ronald. That's enough." My mother says walking in behind me with a strict tone. I stop laughing immediately, "Samantha go shower and change. Aurora, you're being confined as punishment for the rest of the month." She says without emotion in her eyes. My mother scares me, she scares everyone. I don't understand why she acts the way she does but, I just have to live with it, for now.

I stand and watch with dull eyes while Samantha runs off and Aurora starts cleaning the mess she had set up. My eyes drop to the floor before I look back up to my mother and father. My mother is the beta of our clan, and she didn't get there being kind and considerate.

Out of the three of us, I look the most like my mother. Samantha looks a bit of both and Aurora is growing and looking more and more like our father, although she will stop looking like him at some point, I hope. This thought makes the corner of my mouth pull up slightly thinking of her looking more like a man than a woman. 

Mom has deep brown hair, which a lot of people mistake as being black, my hair is a shade lighter though "chestnut" as Samantha calls it. Mom's eyes are a piercingly hard green, like a hard stone in a storm. Mine on the other hand are several shades lighter, an emerald in the light, as Aurora described them, she would spend hours staring at me. It's creepy and I don't appreciate it. Mom also has a jawline that could cut steel in half, she claims my future bride will love my jaw, when I look at pictures of our family together, I don't see any resemblance between father and I.

My father is the opposite of my mother. He has a muscular build which makes him seem chubby, his jawline is hidden by a thick neck and a slight double chin. He has bright blond hair that's slowly turning white, and his eyes are kind and caring, light blue like the happy sky, but they can get dark like a sea when it's storming when he's mad. He has deep smile lines and crows feet around his eyes, our leader comes to him when he is upset, and my father takes care of the young children here in the clan. He loves to make people laugh, it's a trate I hope I learn from him. I love how he can make anyone laugh. Although I don't think I will pick it up, I am twenty and no one finds me funny. They all say I'm turning into my mother. This thought scares me, I don't want to be seen as her at all. Of course, I love her, but I do not want to be her, I don't want to be seen as hard and cold, unforgiving. 

The one thing my parents have in common is that they are both very tall, both exceeding 6'5. The dragon race is the biggest of all the shifters on Earth, so it would only make sense that we stand the tallest in human form. Other races don't appreciate that fact though, getting intimidated and feeling threatened by us. 

~_~

"Ron you-" my father starts but I interrupt him with a slight glare.

"Ronald, you are aware the ceremony is next Friday, right?" He continues taking a bite of stake, "Yes Father." I respond respectfully while continuing to eat my dinner. Tomorrow will mark two hundred years without humans I dislike this day, I wish I could have met a human, they have a simple life or... they used to. I wish I could make contact with the Grand Seniors, they are the ones who were alive before the war, they have seen hell and stared death in the face. Unfortunately, though, no one has seen them for fifty years last I heard.

"RONALD!" My mother slams her fist on the dining table, gaining my attention from my thoughts, my head snaps up to stare at her.

"Yes, mother?" I was unsure of what the conversation was about that required me to provide an appropriate response. Mother sighs and rubs her angular face.

"This year you have to bring your gift for the Council and our King." She says stress is not so well hidden behind her almost lifeless eyes. I draw my eyebrows together.

"But mother, I have feasted by your side for twenty years, why must I feast on my own? Why now?" I question her, I'm not exactly angry or upset. I can do it, I am independent I just wish for answers I do not mind feasting on my own, I will be fine.

"I do not have time to argue with you about this. You will bring your offering and that is final." Her harsh tone came down as condescending and aggressive. I make eye contact with Father for a split second and he looks at me pleading me not to fight her on this. 

"Mother, please. I am fine with bringing my own, I would just like to understand why." I respond calmly to her rude outburst, her hard-set face softens a bit at my response.

"Ronald, my son." She replies running a hand through her hair, "You are twenty, I believe it is time you show the Clan you can be an active member, become a working and useful part of the Clan. Maybe become one of the main heads of the Horde?" Her words boil my blood, but I cannot have a screaming fight, or just barge away. She's right, deep down I know she's right. I do not wish to be part of the council at all. But I did need to become a functioning part of this clan at some point. 

"May I leave?" I ask pushing my food away, I barely touched my dinner, but the conversation has made me lose my appetite.

"Ronald, please. Don't do this, it's so immature." Mother spits out, she's trying to sound nice but I can feel the backlash of the venom warning me if I were to just leave.

"Mother,  I need to start the hunt. It is the first time I've gone alone after all." I gather my plate, silver where, and glass, I glance at Mother her lips are in a thin line, but she gives a slight nod for me to go.  I don't hesitate to get up and wash my dirty dishes before I go upstairs to get ready to leave.