Blah. I didn't just change and edit, I redid this whole chapter itself. -Takes deep breath to hide annoyance with Watty-
Enjoy.
MAJOR EDITS AND CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE.
--
"Leto?" I patted her neck gently and bent down, my eyes flicking over her scaled form in concern. "Are you alright? Do you need rest?"
Leto released a heavy breath, indicating that she indeed needed a rest. I searched for a clearing in the forest we were flying above and pointed it out to her. She eyed it, circling it from above and then flew down. She was careful to dodge trees and branches as she landed in the clearing. It had a river that was good..
My legs were like jelly when I climbed, slowly, off of the dragon's back and stood still so I wouldn't make my legs give out. I listened to the sounds of the forest, but was only greeted by the song of crickets. I turned back to Leto and began removing my backpack. "Are you alright?"
She settled down into a laying position, bending her head and breathing a flame under her belly before settling down completely. "Just exhausted," she murmured. "Will you be okay if I sleep?"
I smiled. "I'll be fine. Get some rest, you deserve it."
Leto tucked her head under her white wing and I could tell it didn't take long for her to fall into a deep slumber. I slid my backpack down and pulled one of the daggers I stole from the weaponry in TTC and decided to look around.
It didn't seem to have anything we needed to worry about so far, maybe a few annoying foxes. Otherwise, it was all squirrels and birds for the most part. I sat near Leto, but some bit away, and slid down the side of a tree and scraped the bark with the dagger's blade quietly.
I watched as a cricket made it's way up a blade of grass near by leg, making it's nightly noises. I rested my head against the tree and sighed softly, the scraping of the dagger beginning to slow as a weary heaviness began to creep upwards in my head.
The song of the crickets only grew louder, and the dagger slipped from my hand as darkness engulfed me like one would hug a friend.
--
A loud roar jolted me awake, making me shoot to my feet. My senses were now awake and on high alert, my eyes darting around. What was going on? Suddenly Leto whipped through the trees furiously and dropped a body from five feet in the forest. The body landed with a loud thud, followed by a groan. "Ow."
Eyes locked onto the body I ushered forward, knowing Leto was about to land nearby in case I needed help. I stormed up to them and looked to see who it was, wondering if it was some poor hiker who'd seen Leto.
Sadly, that was not the case at all.
Standing below me, gazing up with those annoyingly gorgeous brown eyes was Jackson. He was coughing hard, rolling onto his side. "That was completely unneeded, thanks."
Leto's nostrils flared as she glared at Jackson, her tail lashing out and hitting him. The hit sent him stumbling once more a few feet away.
"Shit!" he yelled as he landed on a hard surface. "Crap, sorry! No need to kill me for goodness sake!"
Leto edged forward again, but I stopped her by holding my arm out. Hesitantly, Leto stopped and backed off while her lip remained curled up in a soft snarl.
"Jackson," I announced coolly, raising my eyebrows at him as he weakly sat up. "What are you doing here? How did you get here in the first place?"
The brown-haired guy held his index finger up, signaling he needed a minute. He rolled over onto his hands and knees and caught his breath before staggering to his feet. "Damn."
"Answer my question," I said impatiently, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at him as I awaited his answer. Leto growled loudly, causing Jackson to throw his hands up in surrender.
"Calm down!" he wheezed, taking a step back. "I'm here because I followed you."
"Why?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes. "You're not involved in this."
"Look, I'm not here because I want to stir up issues okay?" he said, his eyes locking with mine. My throat had a lump of nervousness when he met my eyes, and for some reason I felt weak in the knees. Bad Faye.
"Then please enlighten us why you are," I growled, annoyed now. I was mainly annoyed with the way Jackson had me feeling just by looking at me in the eyes. It confused me more than anything.
"I followed you because I wanted to come with you on this quest of yours," Jackson explained quickly. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to be out here and in the skies alone, alright?"
I stared at him for a few long moments, letting my fingers curl themselves in my messy blonde hair. I began to pace, feeling two pairs of eyes watching me as I did. "Look, I'm sorry I-" Jackson started, but I cut him off by holding my hand up.
I moved my hand then to my nose, pinching it and taking a deep breath. "You," I drawled out with a groan, "are an idiot. A big one."
His face fell for a moment, and he sighed. "I'm sorry, alright? I just didn't like the idea of you going alone."
Leto snapped her jaws and growled, reminding Jackson of her presence.
Jackson shot the white dragon an annoyed, yet fearful look. "I know she has you, but what if you got separated? What if you were outnumbered or ambushed? What then?"
The two had a stare down for a long while, but I finally intervened. "Okay, say something does happen. What can you do?"
Leto snorted in agreement with my question, looking smug. "Yes," she spoke for the first time. "Do tell us."
Jackson gave me an 'are you kidding me' look and spread his hands. "Um, I'm a warlock? Magic? Powers?" He raised his eyebrows at Leto, who glared at him. "Ring a bell, Miss Dragon?"
Leto snarled and stepped forward but I stopped her. "Will you stop pissing my dragon off?" I snapped, my hand resting on Leto's chest. Her heartbeat was racing in anticipation, her body waiting for me to allow her to attack Jackson. "Seriously, she's really wanting to rip your head off."
Jackson trailed his eyes up to Leto's face, which was twisted with hate towards him. "Hmm..That look on your face really is ugly," he mused. I stared at him like he was crazy. It seemed he was trying to get his head ripped off. "It might stay there forever."
Leto flapped her wings and roared at Jackson, her tail whipping closer to him. Her ice blue eyes bellowed with flames, and if I wasn't careful she'd lose her temper completely and ignore my orders not to attack him.
"Jackson!" I snarled coldly, my hand still on Leto's chest. "I suggest you shut up before I do let her kill you."
He looked at me innocently. "Awe, you'd feed your future husband to your dragon? I'm hurt."
I told Leto to stay where she was, then stormed up to Jackson and pulled my fist back. Suddenly, it lashed forward and slammed straight into his jaw. He stumbled back, his hand immediately going to where I punched him. His face lit with shock he stared at me.
"I want you to go back," I spat. "And stay there, and not say anything to anyone. Got it?"
He blinked a few times before recovering and smirking at me, removing his hand from the spot where I punched him. It was already turning bright red, and would probably be bruised purple by tomorrow morning.
"If you send me back," he started coolly, smirking, "I'll just tell them your location and rat you out."
I clenched my jaw, my hands balling up into fists. "You wouldn't."
"Try me," he whispered, slowly walking forward and pressing his lips to the back of my ear. "You don't scare me, Faye."
I shoved him away from me and crossed my arms, giving him a cold glare. "Fine, stay, whatever," I spat, turning away. "But one more outburst like that, and you're dead."
"Noted," I heard him mutter as I walked away.
--
I slipped off my clothes when I found where the river led. It led to a beautiful waterfall pool that I'd been wishing for. I needed a bath pretty badly. After slipping off my clothing I sunk into the water and sighed in content. I wish I'd brought my soaps with me from the bag, but I only brought clothes because I figured I wouldn't find anything.
My mind wandered to Ken. A pang of guilt had shot through me when I remembered what I'd said to him and Lucy, but I scolded myself for feeling so. It wasn't my fault I was angry, it wasn't my fault they'd kept this from me.
However, deep down I knew they couldn't exactly have told me. It's not like they were going to explain that they killed dragons for a living, it sounded stupid. I think it would have been better if they somehow would have told me if they knew I .. knew about the dragon world.
If I ever saw Ken again, I'd have to explain to him why we couldn't be together. I didn't love Ken, sure, but I had feelings for him. It may have been only a while we've been together, but I've had the strongest crush on him since the first grade.
I rubbed my temples when my head began to ache, suddenly wishing I could turn my brain off and not think at all. I dropped my hands back into the water.
Too bad I hadn't even realized there was someone behind me. "You're beautiful."
I let out a scream and whipped around, my mind calling for Leto. Sensing my alarm, she told me she'd be on her way. My eyes, meanwhile, found the person who'd said those words.
Yup, it was Jackson. He stood there, gazing at me calmly. Luckily, he wasn't looking anywhere but my face, but that didn't make me any less pissed off beyond belief. Why was he even here, watching me bathe? Oh God, how long had he been here?
I glared at him and covered my chest, getting angry with him all over again. I think his goal of being here was to piss me off, because that's the only thing he's seemed to be doing right now. "What are you doing here?"
"I followed you," he replied simply, clearing his throat awkwardly as he scratched the back of his neck.
"No shit!" I snarled, my face flushed with anger. "Can't you see I'm bathing?"
"Yes, I can, thanks." Jackson's eyes still, thankfully, didn't wander downwards.
"How long were you here?" I demanded, my arms aching slightly from blocking all my .. things from view. The last thing I wanted was to give Jackson the ability to see those things.
"A few min-" he started, but I cut him off.
"A few minutes!?"
Jackson's hands shot up and he backed off slowly, swallowing. "Sorry, I was just following you. Didn't think I'd see your body." His neck began to curl with a blush, only fueling my anger more.
"Screw off!" I spat at him, clenching my fists. "Even if you didn't 'mean to see me', you still could have backed off the moment you did! But did you? No!"
Jackson seemed to be fighting with himself on what to say as he shifted his feet. "Look, I'm sorry I watched you bathe alright? You just-"
"I just what?" I narrowed my eyes into slits, challenging him to say something. When he didn't, I said, "You better never, ever, do that again or you'll be the one who's going to suffer."
He seemed to want to reply, but Leto flew in swiftly in a flash of white fury. She landed on the ground between him and I with a loud slam. She shielded me from view as I climbed out of the pool and got dressed in the fresh clothes. Her glare was stationed on Jackson, full of anger. I stepped out from behind her once I was dressed and glared at him.
I could sense Leto's thoughts and I could tell she was trying hard not to rip him to shreds. Usually, I would have let her do that to anyone who saw me bathing and then gave me such a stupid excuse. However, I couldn't kill my soon-to-be husband and not face consequences later.
Then I stormed past him, back to camp in a fit of anger. My face was flaring from the anger and I was trying hard not to scream curse words into the sky. I couldn't believe that even Jackson had the nerve to look at me while I was trying to bathe.
I angrily paced around the clearing, Leto settling down behind me. Jackson was, luckily for him, nowhere in sight. I wanted to ring his neck. As harsh and cold as that may sound, it was true. He was such a-
"I need to calm down," I muttered, mostly to myself as I ran my fingers through my wet blonde hair. "I don't want to be a murderer this young."
Leto glanced at me and hummed something, making me ask her to repeat it. She said, "Well if I killed him, it wouldn't be murder.." She nuzzled my shoulder in an attempt to calm me.
"As appealing as it sounds for me to let you eat him, I don't think the news would settle well with our families," I replied grimly, petting her nose and feeling a warmth spread through me. Leto was sending me a calm vibe, trying to cool my frosty anger.
"The difference between dragons and warlocks is that we have teeth, claws, and big size," Leto mused, her tail wagging slightly in amusement.
"You're right. But still. No eating Jackson, okay?"
Leto licked her lips playfully and twitched her nostrils. "I shall try to hold myself back. But I cannot promise him to have all his limbs if he does something that foolish again."
"Don't you worry," I told my white dragon grimly as I watched her lay down, "I won't stop you if he ever does that again."
"Hopefully he's learned his lesson, then," she hummed, gesturing for me to sit next to her. I walked over and slid down her side, resting my head back against her smooth scales. "If not, I'll gladly be his teacher."
--
Hope you enjoyed!
-Grace xx