Staying the Same

It felt weird having Paul follow me everywhere today. I allowed it, because he had pulled strings to get Bill his house, and will probably be pulling a lot more now that I am even weirder than I when I started this gig. I usually do my own thing, do some training with my dragons...yeah, but usually I play with them. I spend time alone with my thoughts. I wander around learning different things about my property. I felt like I needed to prove how strong I was. I needed him to see that no one could mess with me. When the DDP inevitably wanted to do tests on me, they would know that I was in charge. They were used to either dealing with a dragon's strengths, or regular humans. I wonder how they will deal with a powerful creature, with human rights. I made sure he also got to see how human I still am. I asked his teenage daughter to go clothes shopping, I made everybody their meals for the day, and I was debating whether I should show him how cozy my cave actually is (Everyone, but Will, seems to think it is some damp dark rocky cave.).

Paul needed to see that I wasn't all monster, or completely human. The fact that Mabel made her admiration of me quite evident helped too. I wonder what this man was thinking about me, I hoped I got my messages through.

THE NEXT MORNING:

I got out of my cave, and waited for Mabel and Peculiar to come to practice. She and Mrs.Horn had come back late that night with a wide array of shirts and dresses for me, despite the fact I had asked for useful clothes, but Mabel seemed to be happy, and that is what I wanted Paul to see.

"Switch it is time for practice meet me at the usual place." I said to Switch, who quickly came from where ever she was. Shortly after Switch showed up, so did Mabel and Peculiar. "I hope you don't mind that I brought an audience." Mabel said, as her father approached from behind her. "Just this once Mabel, I don't want anyone getting distracted. This isn't PE this is us training Peculiar self defense. Something a disabled dragon will need." I explained firmly yet softly. She nodded her head in response.

Okay like usual let's start with running. We ran up and down the rivers edge jumping over rocks, mud traps, and any other obstacles. Switch was the fastest, then me, Peculiar, and finally Mabel who was way behind us, but still trying. On the run back to our original starting point after about twenty minutes of running up river. Mabel got on Switch's back and gave up on running with us on the next part. Mabel hopped off of Switch (whom had still won the race back despite stopping to pick up Mabel) I put a saddle of sorts over Switch's back. It was a blanket with two strong deep leather pockets. I had the pockets filled with bricks. Paul looked concerned, but I wasn't going to stop training to explain to him. "Mouse explain to your dad what I am actually doing with this next bit of training. "Alright Peculiar, thirty second head start. Peculiar started running. After thirty seconds, Switch and I began the chase. She didn't run at full speed, because we knew Peculiar could never compete against Switch in a race (no one could). Then I began throwing bricks at her with my extreme strength.

------Third Person Omnipresent *Paul and Mabel*

"What in Hell's name is she doing?! She is going to hurt your dragon!" Paul yelled.

"Dad there is a purpose for this. Peculiar will be a very large dragon, who can't fly away, which makes her an easy target for hunters, or other dragons. So we have been training her reflexes and ability to dodge." Mabel explained.

"but how is Peculiar supposed to dodge things coming from behind?" Paul asked still very concerned.

"Dragons have much stronger senses than we do. They are practicing to heighten Peculiar's senses, so that she can hear and feel the wind speed of an increasing projectile." She continued her explaining.

"Why bricks though. Couldn't she be throwing something softer?" he asked.

"We started off using nerf guns and plastic balls, but Peculiar didn't seem to take those seriously, and became more cocky when she got faster. We tried slightly heavier things, but Peculiar never really cared as long as she knew she wasn't in danger. So we had to resort to harsher methods. It hurts to see when Peculiar gets hit, but Ivy knows to throw it soft enough that we just deal with bruising. She is doing fairly well from ducking from behind and ahead, but it is harder for her to evade the bricks coming from the side, because that requires her to jump or slink down while running at full speed. We have also been training her to escape and avoid traps, and have been working on her fishing skills." Mabel said.

"You girls are smart. I wouldn't have thought to train for so many things, or even anything really." Paul admitted.

"It wasn't my idea." Mabel said, "If it was just me, Peculiar would simply have been pampered and spoiled. I never would have thought someone might try to hurt her." Mabel said.

"Dragons are a rare thing for normal people to see, if the opportunity were to arise that someone could kill her, buy her, or study and/or experiment on her; it would happen. It makes sense that she is learning to evade attackers." Paul said as he began to understand the severity of this training. Mabel nodded her head; she now knew how brutal the world could be. It is a lesson you need to know when you need to protect someone though. "If she were any other dragon she wouldn't need to know this because she could work with the DDP." Mabel said. Paul looked confused at her statement.

"Gull Wings need other Gull Wings to survive. Without Blithesome and Reticent Peculiar would probably already be dead." She informed him, then sighed and looked back to him with sad eyes. "and I will be staying here with everyone. I need Peculiar, and she needs me and Ivy's Gull Wings. I made this decision on my own, then consulted Ivy and Bill to see if I was making the right choice. It was unanimous. I can do online schooling with Jasper until I graduate, and you and mom can visit anytime." she said to her dad. Paul looked sad, he knew she would stay here for awhile, but he didn't think it would be permanent. He knew now for sure he would get a cabin built for her, and it would have two rooms for when he and his wife would visit. Whatever was best for his girl.

-Ivy POV

I was about to return to Mabel and Paul, but I could feel that they were having a very emotional conversation. I decided it would be best to continue the lessons without Mabel, until she was done with her father.

"Okay Peculiar time for hunting." Both of us got into the river. "Peculiar, today I want to work on your patience and ability to stay still. You should pick this up quickly, because even most cats and deer learn this as infants." I told the dragon. She nodded. I knew it would take awhile for her to learn this however. She wasn't quite as playful as Blithesome, but she never stayed still for more than two minutes. I could swear Mabel gave her coffee each morning.

"Okay Peculiar, this type of fishing is mostly for when you are hurt, or too tired to fight the rapids. You will stay in the shallows, and spread your wings on the waters surface. This method will take longer, but if you stay still; fish will believe that you are a roch or floating log to hide under. A good hiding spot is where sucker fish like to cling to." I said seriously, making sure to add her favorite fish at the end. I got two large leaves from the forest near the river, and sat completely still in the water with my arms and leaves mimicking Wings. Peculiar followed my lead and crouched in the shallows spreading her wings out. I spoke to her mentally, and you must remain silent or you will scare the fish away."

Five minutes went by and she was doing better than I anticipated. I could see a fish swimming towards her "Prepare yourself a fish is coming to you." I told her mentally, but she got excited and shuffled her feet and purred last minute. It ended up scaring the fish to me. I dove my head under water and grabbed the fish with my teeth (my arms were occupied trying to mimic wings.). "Peculiar, you must stay perfectly still, until you can easily grab the fish. They scare away easily. Valorous is an expert at this; maybe he should join in our lessons next time. We tried this method several times, but the longer we tried the more antsy she got. I sighed "Fine lesson over go have fun being a dragon." I said out loud.

"Wait the lesson is over? Why didn't you come get me?" Mabel asked.

"Mouse, I could sense how emotional and tense your conversation was. I was not going to break that up for a daily practice. I tried my best not to eavesdrop, but you know how strong my hearing is, and I am still working on how to focus it." I said. "I am sorry that you feel that you need to stay here, but I am kind of glad you are staying. I kind of see you as an apprentice. We both should be Mrs.Horn's apprentices, but she is useless."

That made Mabel giggle a bit, and I was happy to put her at ease.

I turned to speak to her father. "Paul you and your wife are welcome here anytime, just give me a heads up so my dragons don't hurt you before I can announce your visitation." I said. He smiled and nodded. In between clutches for sure my wife will be here, I will probably visit more often."

I smiled "I will be looking forward to it then, unless you come here because of business. In which case usually something bad has happened." I said with a polite smile.

"I can't believe how much you have grown in three months. From Cora's reports you simply seemed to be a protective babysitter to start out, but her reports came back with a different opinion of you each week. Now you speak as though you have been working with dragons and parenting your entire life." Paul praised.

I genuinely smiled at his statement, I knew I was good at what I was doing, but some validation from an outsider felt good. "Okay let's gets back to Bill's house. I'll make omelets and hash browns today. Mouse you can squeeze some fresh orange juice." I said clapping my hands and working my way out of a serious conversation.

"Why do I always have to help you?" Mabel whined.

"Because you cook about as well as a monkey. Helping me means you don't have to make meals like the rest of us." I explained pomposly.

"Fine." Mabel groaned as she threw her hands in the air, showing her defeat.

"Come on how bad can her cooking be?" Paul asked.

I sighed. "Last time she made breakfast we had charred toaster waffles, which were somehow still frozen in the center, instead of maple syrup on the top she put kero syrup. We had a side of something green, but nobody could figure out what it was. Even our Mouse was at a loss." I said, not exaggerating at all. Paul looked at his daughter. "Shit happens." she said and shrugged her shoulders. I laughed as he lectured his daughter about her language. I ran ahead of them and began cooking. They still had at least fifteen minutes before it was time to get to Bill's house. I woke up Jasper for breakfast, and Bill and Mrs.Horn had already taken advantage of the fresh pot of coffee. I finished the omelets just as Will came inside from working with the bees. Then I heard a loud scream followed by steps coming to the door. I could feel that the scream was a happy one and it came from Mabel. She bolted into the house slamming the door against the wall. "Ivy Ivy Ivy guess what!" Mabel said excitedly. Before I could guess she squealed the answer. "Dad is going to build me a cabin by the lake with a secret dragon nursery just like yours! And he is going to expand your property so the Gullwings have a sanctuary to breed, and be taught how to care for eggs!" she said again in a squeal.

I was shocked, happy for her, and excited for the Gull Wings, and couldn't help but get excited too. "That is amazing! Can I help? I have some suggestions for the secret dragon nursery. Oh, and we should make a room for when your parents visit." I said too quickly.

"Well of course I will get my own room." Paul said as he walked in." We all sat at the table eating and excitedly talking about new plans. Mostly though, I was happy that I could keep my Mouse. She was like the little sister I never had, though I would never admit it.