Still More New Faces

The next day came, and my property was loaded with DDP scientists. I was poked and prodded until I could help but bite a scientist that I have been calling Steve. After that they had me run with a speedometer, and have me lift weights. They tested my hearing with an obnoxious beeping noise and a dog whistle. They glued a bunch of wires to my head and had me smell different things, to figure out how I could smell emotions. After a bit of that they went back to poking and prodding. they had to draw blood, but their needles couldn't pierce my skin or scales. I plucked off one of my scales, though it was painful, and I used it to cut my arm to give them blood, then I handed them the plucked scale so the could examine it. I then grew talons. They took pictures of them, and wrote down notes for documentation. Then they gathered the ash that my talons turned into when I was done with them. Men came and examined my cave, which I didn't like. No humans should enter my cave, but if it meant they would leave faster I would tolerate it. Though I couldn't help letting out a few growls, which Cortelco laughed at.

"Easy mother, they are only looking around and taking pictures." Cortelco said in a tone that was both sarcastic and calming.

"Hmph. Let's just see how you act when they inspect your precious bog. Remember I am not the only mystery here." I reminded him in a irritated voice.

"Oh no they won't! They will see their deaths before they touch a single toadstool in my bog!" Cortelco said with a roar; scaring several scientists.

I smiled evily. "Dont forget, we can't hurt these guys we can scare them a bit, but we can't traumatize them. So the will be probably step on a few toadstools." I was about to laugh, but then saw a man holding a bag of moss with a Mystic Whisper scale in it. I roared and ran at him. At that Cortelco started laughing. efore I could get to him though I was grabbed by the hair stopping me completely. I looked over to see Bill, Will, and Mabel all holding my long dark hair.

"Remember Ivy, you can't hurt or stop them." Will said.

"They are stealing from my home. They took one of Tres's scales." I said trying to make my actions valid. Jasper, whom I hadn't noticed walked over to the man with the clear plastic bag. He explained about the scale. The man looked at me. He could see the anger in my eyes, and the three people holding me back. He quickly took the scale from the bag and put it in Jasper's covered hands. I relaxed a bit when Jasper placed the one scale into my palm. It wasn't but another fifteen minutes when I couldn't hold back anymore and roared; scaring the scientists away from my home.

"Seriously?" Bill said.

"I gave them plenty of time. I held back for awhile. Now it is time for our resident Spirit Speaker to go through this torture." I said flashing a devilish grin at Cortelco.

"Oh, they have already done the bog. They figured going through your cave would be a good distraction, and keep Cortelco away from the bog." Mabel explained.

Cortelco growled before stretching out his wings and quickly flying to the bog. I rolled my eyes.

"I need to go now before Cortelco does something stupid to one of the DDP people." I yelled as I ran at full speed to the bog. When I got to the bog Cortelco was controlling the last of the scientists. He was making them leave the bog. One of the men was holding a bag of toadstools. I laughed hard, as that was the exact example Cortelco had given me. He broke his concentration at the sound of my laughing, thus freeing the DDP scientists. They all ran as soon as they could control their bodies again.

"Mother why did you free them?" Cortelco growled clearly annoyed.

"Firstly I didn't, you did. Secondly Now they know a little bit of what you can do. Thirdly, how is your head? I know controlling living things can take a toll." I said ending my statement in a motherly tone.

"I am fine, just a dull pain." he said.

"You were controlling five people, that is impressive. Especially being as Callalilly's bees have been your only practice." I said, showing him a proud, but worried smile.

I hopped on his back without warning. "Come on we have to keep an eye on all of them, maybe they will ask you to use your powers and you can have some fun with them. We both smiled, and he took off into the air. I loved the feeling of the sky. Flying makes you feel so free. I would much prefer wings than horns, but beggers can't be choosers.

"You have plenty of wings, because you control and raise a hoard of dragons. You have all sorts of things, don't whine about not being able to fly. Especially while you are on your living taxi." Cortelco chimed in after listening to my thoughts.

"How do you know what a taxi is?" I asked him.

"I can read, and Jasper and the mouse have a lot of books."

I rolled my eyes at his pompous tone, but he was my ride, so I would like to keep him in my good graces. Soon we landed in the yard in which the houses were built, and the tent for the temporary lab was set up.

"You should know better than to mess with a dragon's lair." I told a scientist that I assumed was the leader, as he wasn't actually doing anything.

"I do know, that is why I sent the interns, and why I had a new set of pants and underwear waiting for them here. You said you wouldn't hurt them, but you never said you wouldn't scare them." the man said hautaly.

I stifled a growl.

"So since you can actually speak; what would you liked to be called. Human no longer applies." he said again in a pompous tone.

I had been excited to name myself, but this man was simply irritating. Cortelco seemed to think the same. "I will be called a False Human." I said. All the man did was scribble on his clipboard and walked away. I wanted to maim him with my claws at how annoying he was to such a strong being; but that would go against the rules that I had set for my dragons.

"Morals are stupid do it anyways." Cortelco goaded. I sighed "I wish." I tried to walk out of the tent, but I was met by more scientists wanting to do tests. I sat down on a camper chair, and they spoke to me about my newly developed non-human mentality. This was more of an interview/ therapy session than a test. Then I was recorded as I growled and roared, and finally my eyes were checked yet again. After all of this; it was finally time for them to pack up and leave.

It took them hours, and everyone was mentally drained by the time they had left. I went to my cave, Cortelco separated from me so he could go to his bog. I finally was able to sleep. Something I hadn't done since the DDP scientists had entered my territory. I only got to sleep for a few hours, when I was woken up by a scream... a human scream. I sniffed the air, but couldn't smell a new human, but I smelt something different. I instantly ran from my cave, down the cliffs edge, and into the forrest. At some point Cortelco showed up by my side, but I was fast, and he had trouble keeping up. As we neared the edge of my property the smell became stronger. I finally ran into a small patch of an unwooded grassy area, where Somnolent growled at a small human girl who was now paralyzed. She had been coated in Somnolent's paralyzing dust. I looked at Cortelco, who flapped his wings, which blew the dust away making it safe for us to walk to the small girl. I looked down at her. She was probably four or five. She looked at me in horror, then excitement. I picked her up and ran to Bill's house. "Thank you for taking care of this situation Somnolent, remember to call to me next time." I told Somnolent. Who simply gave a grunt then laid down again to sleep. It took about three minutes to arrive at Bill's house, but it felt like hours. I kicked the door open, surprising a half awake Will, who was getting a glass of water.

"What is th... Who is she?" he asked surprised. Bill came stomping down the stairs.

"Are you serious you knocked down my damn doo... Why are you carrying a child?" he asked, as confused and shocked as Will was. Jasper began to walk down the stairs rubbing his eyes. Why is everyone being so noisy?" he asked before uncovering his eyes. When his eyes uncovered they became wide. "Who is she?" he asked like the others.

"I don't know. We found her in the woods, she is paralyzed for awhile because Somnolent was the one to find her first. So she can't explain herself.. She smells weird." I said.

"Seriously her smell is one of your concerns?" Bill took her from me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"She needs a steamy shower it will help get the toxins out of her skin." Bill said. I quickly grabbed her back.

"That is something another girl should do." I said defensively. Why do I feel so defensive for this child? I walked her to the bathroom closed the door and stripped the child. She looked to be physically unharmed. I scrubbed her down with a wet cloth and warm water. Then I turned the shower on as high and hot as it would go. Then I had a better idea. I turned off the hot water.

"Will can you bring me one of your shirts?" I yelled through the door. Soon the door opened a crack revealing a man's hand holding a large shirt. I left the girls clothes on the floor and put the large T-shirt on her. I picked her up and ran out of the house to the lake.

"I need one of you Gull Wings now!" I shouted through my mind. Soon Rose landed on the bank.

"Rose I need you to blow steam around this child." I said, sounding desperate. She started to blow steam at us, obviously annoyed that she was being used. Soon I saw the girl move her fingers, and decided that was enough.

"Thank you Rose, you may go back to sleep. I said. I put my forehead against hers as a show of gratitude. Quickly I ran to Mabel's cabin, which was the nearest building. She never locked the door so I walked right in, holding the small child. I assumed she needed to be warm, unlike me. I laid her in the extra bedroom, and went to wake up Mabel.

I shook her awake "Mouse something serious is happening, a child, come upstairs. I didn't wait for her response. I bolted back upstairs, knowing the girl was awake. Mabel soon followed in a half dead state. She imminently woke up when she saw the small girl, who had actually fallen asleep, despite all of the craziness.

"Who is she?" Mabel whispered, surprised.

"I don't know. Somnolent found her first, so she is mostly paralyzed." I whispered back.

"How does she smell?" Mabel asked. I knew this girl knew me better than even Bill, but I was surprised she asked that.

"She smells weird. Not quite human. How did you know?" I asked her very surprised.

She walked to the bedside and gently pushed aside the girl's curly blond hair, revealing small horns resembling that of a ram. My eyes went wide. How did I not notice that?

"She smells off because like you; she is a False Human. I guess her dragon genes kicked in a bit sooner than yours. Mabel said sleepily.

"That explains why I feel so protective over her." I said. Mabel nodded and began to head back to her room.

"What are you doing? I need your help." I whispered to her in a panicked voice.

"She is paralyzed and asleep. I can't do anything, and dragons are your specialty even the weird ones." she said not bothering to turn around. I got in the bed with the child. Removing the feather pillows that were on the bed, to avoid tearing them with my horns. I needed the sleep, and it quickly came to me.

*Two Days Later*

I woke up with the little girl snuggled into my arms. I gently removed my arm from under her head, but her eyes snapped open. They were a brilliant blue, and were currently slitted like mine. She sat up quickly and backed up from me. I sat on the bed like she did and stared back at her. Her eyes faded and became a regular shade of grayish blue.

"You are Ivy the dragon lady." The girl said.

"Well it seems you know me, but I know nothing about you. What is your name little one?" I asked her.

She looked down at her hands then back up at me. I am Daisy, my mama said I wasn't a people so she sent me to find a monster like me." she said, and started to cry. I couldn't help but hug her. I couldn't help but think what would have happened to me if I had grown my horns so early. "Well I don't think we are monsters, but I do think we are the same. Except I came here, and was grown up before I got my horns. Yours are very pretty." I told her in a comforting voice. She looked back up at me, with tears still in her eyes. "But you are more monster than me. and I saw a big monster in the forest." Daisy said.

"Oh we aren't monsters, and neither was that big brown guy you found in the forest. We are all dragons." I told her.

"But I can't fly or breathe fire like a dragon." she said.

I smiled at her."There are a bunch of dragons who can't fly, and most dragons can't breathe fire. You and me, we are called False Humans. We are a new kind of dragon, and we can do all sorts of cool stuff." I told her.

She smiled a bit obviously excited to know she could do cool stuff. Then both of us plucked our heads up and smelt the air.

"That my dear Daisy is the smell of breakfast." I picked her up and ran down the stairs. Mabel had set down pancakes with whipped cream and sprinkles. Before Mabel or I had even gotten to the table Mabel had eaten thirteen pancakes and was still going strong.

"Daisy when was the last time you ate?" I asked her, now very worried.

She held up seven fingers "This many." she said with a full mouth, then continued eating.

"Actually you guys slept for two days, so it has actually been nine days." Mabel added. Mabel put bacon on a plate, and Daisy quickly ate that up too. Mabel gave her a glass of orange juice which was refilled five times before the girl was done eating.

Finally Mabel and I sat down and ate some toast and drank some water; as the pancakes and orange juice were all gone. Daisy looked a bit guilty, but neither of us cared in the least. She deserved it and more.

"Daisy, how did you hear about me?" I asked her, only now remembering my identity was a secret.

"My mama is a dragon lady. She heard about a terrifying monster that used to be human that lived here. Then I found a hobo who cried when I talked about you. He said he tried to hunt a monster like that, so he told me where you is at." she explained.

"If your mama is a dragon lady, how come you don't know about dragons?" I asked her softly, but genuinely curious.

"The dragons Mama had were always tiny and black. She said they don't blow fire cuz she teached them to be nice."

I smiled at that. "Wisp. Nymph. Can you come meet our new friend?" I said out loud, then the two Shadow Sights came out of the shadows.

"Those are the dragons Mama has." she said. She grabbed Nymph and squeezed her in a tight hug. As soon as Daisy let go Nymph ran to me climbing up to my shoulder.

"These dragons are called Shadow Sights, they actually can't blow fire at all. Even if they aren't nice. Wisp snuggled up to Daisy and rubbed against her like a cat.

"Mouse do you know any dragon ladies that only raise Shadow Sights?" I asked. Hoping that we could prosecute this sweet girl's mother, or at least figure out if she was adopted.

"Dragon ladies never know what kind of dragon they will get. She is probably a distant relative of a dragon lady that has a Shadow Sight infestation. It sounds like she was either crazy, or she just wanted to be cool in the eyes of a child." Mabel explained. It made sense, but I still hated the woman, even if I had never met her.

"Daisy you can stay here with me. I live in a cave, so you might want to stay with one of the other people, that way you won't get cold." I explained to her.

"I don't get cold or hot. Can I stay with you?" she asked with puppy dog eyes.

I smiled at her "Okay. I will also show you all of the things I have learned since I came here. Today let's meet the dragons. I promise they won't hurt you; they can be your new family." She held my hand and smiled.

"Everybody I found another False Human like me. She has only ever seen Shadow Sights, and is still very small. So act as little intimidating as you can okay." I said to all of the dragons through my mind. I got a barage of responses.

"Mama found a hatchling like her?"

"I am not scary."

"I am the one who found her."

"She is small? Like Mouse?"

I didn't respond though, because I needed to focus on Daisy.

"Your eyes turned yellow and squinty." she stated.

"Yes my eyes do that when I talk to my dragons in my mind." I explained.

"Can I do that too?" she asked excited.

"Probably. I am also really strong, really fast, I can smell all sorts of stuff even from far away, I can hear very good too. I have these cool scales that protect me, I can growl and roar really loud, and I can grow sharp nails whenever I want to." I told her, trying to make us sound cooler. I showed her my fingers as I grew my claws, then they turned to ash as they disappeared.

"Woah so we are not monsters, we just have super powers." she said excitedly.

I picked up the two Shadow Sights that were on my shoulders. These guys are called Shadow Sights. This is Wisp, and this is Nymph." I said, introducing the closest dragons. These dragons live everywhere, but these two are the only ones that live here." I explained.

"Valorous I need you next, I have a feeling this one will be yours to protect." I told the him through my mind.

"Your eyes turned yellow again. Did you talk to a dragon?" Daisy asked.

"Yes I did. This dragon will always protect you his name is Valorous." I told her.

We headed towards the river and we met Valorous half way. Initially Daisy hid behind my legs, but with some coaxing she walked over to Valorous. He dilated his big eyes, making him appear cuter, just as he had done when he first hatched. It wasn't long before Daisy had her little arms around his neck.

"I love you Val-or- rus." Daisy said trying her best to pronounce his name. I have a feeling most of the dragons will be getting nicknames.

Valorous stayed by Daisy's side the rest of the day. Since we were at the river now anyways I decided to call Switch, who was working with Peculiar.

"Okay Daisy this time there are two dragons, and they are bigger than Valorous, but don't be scared." I said softly. Soon Switch and Peculiar came into sight. Daisy gripped my hand tightly, she was obviously putting up a brave front.

Switch came close to Daisy. Switch was making Daisy quiver, then Switch sat down and licked her from her stomach to the top of her head. Daisy was now dripping with dragon drool, but she was laughing. Peculiar came hopping over flapping her wings like a hatchling. They were really taking this 'don't be intimidating' thing seriously. Peculiar wrapped her long neck around Mabel, and purred. Daisy rubbed her neck.

"See these are only a few of my dragons, and they are very nice." I said. "Well actually Peculiar, the purple dragon is Mouse's dragon." I explained. "Switch is the big white dragon with the long tail, she is a Deer Chaser. The purple dragon is named Peculiar, she is a Gull Wing, but she is missing a few parts, so she can't fly." I explained. "I have a lot of Gull Wings that live here, so you will meet a bunch of them." I told her.

Daisy sat on Valorous' back and we walked to the lake. "Gull Wings it is your turn!" I yelled out loud. "Remember Daisy these dragons are very nice, they are big though, so don't be scared." I asked again

The Gull Wings arrived like a flock, and landed in a halfhazard line in front of us. All of them laid down, except for the ever proud Rose.

"Daisy this is Blithesome, and this is Reticent. I have had these two since the day they hatched. Blithesome is a girl, and Reticent is a boy. You already met Peculiar she is a girl too. This is our other boy his name is Dashing, and finally this is Rose. Dashing and Rose are new here too." I told Daisy.

"Don't forget that I was the one who helped you get rid of the toxins." I heard Rose say, though she wasn't talking to me. Daisy's eyes were that bright blue and slitted, I knew she could hear Rose. "Uhh Ivy I think I am crazy." Daisy said and looked at me.

"No Daisy you aren't crazy. That voice you heard was Rose talking to you. Your eyes turned bright blue when you heard her. Try talking to Valorous. All you have to do is think what you are going to say. Imagine you are only talking to him. She closed her eyes tightly and we all heard "HELLO!"

All of the dragons and myself recoiled, not expecting the loud voice.

"Good try...we can work on that later."

Daisy walked past me straight to Rose. "How did I do Rosie?" Daisy asked Rose. I was prepared for tears after Daisy hearing whatever it was Rose was about to say.

"That was horrible you almost made my ears bleed." Rose told the little girl. Daisy just looked up at her and smiled. "I like you." Daisy said, then skipped back to me. I was surprised that the dragon who acted more like herself than

the part of reptilian puppy that the others were playing, is who Daisy liked.

Daisy grabbed my hand. "Who is next?" she asked. "I suppose Cortelco has waited long enough. This guy looks spooky, but is a big softy." Cortelco popped out from the trees behind us. "Who are you calling a softy? I am a large, pround, rare, and intimidating dragon who fears no one." Cortelco said, making sure that Daisy could hear. Well I hope Your large, proud, rare, and intimidating non-softy self likes Daisy, because she is a False Human too. Which means a long life." I said with a smirk. I knew he would be rolling his eyes now if he could. He walked over to Daisy and held out one of his many fingered feet to shake.

"Hello Daisy I am Cortelco, I am a Spirit Speaker."

she gently grabbed one of his many toes with her small hand, and shook it. "I am Daisy, I am a Farce Human." she said

I laughed a bit before correcting her "You are a False Human, not a Farce Human."

She still had a lot of introductions; I wonder how the rest will go.