Ch 5- Can't understand

Two hours later Casey put down the book and heavily flopped his body onto the bed. During this time he only managed to read through the first four chapters.

Casey lay paralyzed on the bed and lamented on his poor learning capability. With his poor health in his past life his father didn't push him at go to school or seriously study after the age of twelve.

Casey initially picked up the book and planned to study seriously. But the more he read, the slower his pace became and the more he felt like what he was reading was written in a foreign language.

He could read the book for the most part but he could barely start to grasp the concepts it talked about. Casey held his head in frustration and was mad at himself for not caring about his education before.

After struggling with himself for a while he sat up and slowly reached for the book. He got off the bed and with his head hung down walked towards Mac's room to seek help.

"Tap tap tap".

Mac was silently reading a book of his own when he heard soft knocking coming from his bedroom door. When he opened the door all he saw was was Casey's blue horns and shiny silver head.

" Do you need my help with something?".

Casey didn't raise his head but asked in a soft voice.

"Is there a teacher in your tribe? My foundation is too bad and I can't understand this book very well. I know that you have a lot of important things to do, so it'd be better if I could find a teacher or someone else since I'll probably need a lot of guidance".

Casey felt very guilty asking these things, he felt that all did was add trouble to this tribe which made him feel particularly useless. Mac could guess a little bit of how this small dragon might be feeling, he patted his head in comfort before speaking.

"We don't have any dedicated teachers, however my grandfather and some other elders are generally free. I can speak with them, I'm sure they'd probably fight amongst themselves to be your teacher". Mac grinned at him and explained.

"So don't feel bad about asking for help, you'd actually be giving the old ones something to do and keep them occupied. I'm sure they'll be very excited when they hear you want a teacher".

Casey felt much more comfortable after listening to Mac's words, he raised his head and nudged against Mac's legs.

"Thank you Mac, I'm going to set aside reading that book for now then. When do you think I can start learning with the elders?".

"Let's head over now and see". Mac chucked "I bet they'd be so excited they'd try to start teaching you on the spot".

So the two set off towards the tribe leader's home. Mac explained the situation and Casey's request for a teacher. Tala sent Mac out to bring over the other elders so they could decide who would take the honor of being the dragons teacher.

After Mac left to fetch the elders it was just Casey and Tala in the room. Tala made an earthy tea and brought small snacks out. He looked at Casey with hot eyes.

"Do you have any preferences for a teacher?"

"Not particularly. As long as it is someone who has free time normally and I won't be imposing on, then that's all that matters to me".

Tala nodded in understanding. He stared at the small dragon as he munched on biscuits. Tala knew from Mac that Casey was a recently hatched baby dragon.

Since he was abandoned here and has no parents Tala hoped that he could be swayed and become dependent on their tribe while he was young. The more dependent he was, the more attached he would become to their tribe. Tala had many hopes and plans he was pinning to this dragon's small horns.

"Small one do you mind if I ask what plans you have for the future?".

Casey pondered for a moment before answering " Well I want to learn how to use my spiritual power, and I think learning mechanics and engineering would be fun to study after".

Tala shook his head. "No no no, that's not what I'm asking. I mean when you leave this planet, what will you do?".

"I'll go to Dalhi star". Casey stated

"And what will you do once you arrive? Where will you go? How will you support yourself?".

Hearing Tala's words Casey deflated a bit as he answered dryly "I'm going to look for my relatives".

"How will you look for them?". Tala looked down and continued speaking softly and quietly.

"What if you don't find anyone? What will you do then, how long will you search?".

After hearing these words Casey looked at Tala a bit lost, truthfully he didn't want to think about or face these questions. Casey stayed silent and didn't reply for a long time. Tala saw his uneasy look and spoke again.

"You can always consider our tribe your home. If you can't find your family or have troubles, you can come to us; we will always support you". Tala showed the warmest smile he could muster and looked at Casey with warm and loving eyes.

He gently touched his horns and continued "In the future don't forget you have a home and family here on this planet waiting for you".

Casey felt warm hearing these words and nodded lightly in reply. Tala felt he had said enough to sway him for the moment and shifted the topic. "Would you like to eat some cookies? I'll go grab a plate and bring some over".

As soon as Tala stood up Mac coincidentally opened the door, behind him were five other older Shira's all of whom Casey recognized.

"Old man Tala are you trying to win the dragon over so he'll pick you as his teacher?" The tallest of the Shira looked at Tala and joked before he turned towards Casey.

"Good evening Casey, the five of us here heard you were looking for a teacher and rushed over".

Casey nodded "That's right, I was trying to study a book about spiritual power. But failed to understand a lot of terms and concepts. So I hope to find someone to read with me and explain as we go along".

The elder nodded in understanding before looking at the rest of the group.

"Then your teacher should be decided based on proficiency in understanding and application of spiritual power".

"We don't have the technology to test spiritual power here. But out of us here Rose can use spiritual power the most fluently and has excellent control and understanding. She would probably be the best teacher for you".

The only female Shera in the group stepped forward, Casey may not be good at learning but he has an excellent memory and quickly greeted Rose.

Rose stepped in front of him and held his claws in her hand, Casey could feel a wind gently wrapping around his whole body. Rose looked at him and smiled kindly.

"Little dragon if you're alright with me I'd be delighted to teach you how to use spiritual power".

Casey could feel Rose's gentle spiritual power surrounding him and felt that she would be a good teacher for him.

"I'll be in your care then" Casey gave her a shy smile before looking at the others. He saw that the rest of the group looked disappointed, he felt bad so seeing the situation he spoke up quickly.

"There are many other things I hope to learn in the future and I'll be coming to seek more guidance. Please take care of me when the time comes". He showed a vibrant smile to the group and they smiled back in turn and agreed.

Seeing that everyone reached an agreement Mac spoke up.

"Well it's almost time for for dinner, Rose let's have Casey start his lessons tomorrow. I'll take him over to your house in the morning. We'll leave and head home first".

Mac walked over and picked up Casey he then wrapped him around his shoulders. As he turned to walk out he glimpsed at his grandfather and saw him wink at him discreetly. Mac nodded said goodnight and left.

As they walked back Casey wanted to get down from this embarrassing position. However he saw that Mac looked dazed and distracted, so he disregarded his discomfort and nuzzled against Mac's face.

"What's wrong?". He asked

Mac gave him a faint look before lowering his eyes. "Nothing, I was just thinking about what to make for dinner".

Casey didn't believe those words, he thought maybe Mac was just tired so he answered casually. "Make something simple and let's rest early tonight, okay?".

Mac nodded blankly and the two didn't say another word to each other until they were going to their rooms for the night.

"Goodnight" Casey whispered.

The hand that was turning the doorknob paused, Mac looked over and saw a cautious dragon holding his tail fidgeting with it.

His heart felt slightly moved and he touched the dragons head and said goodnight then closed the door lightly. Casey crawled back to his nest of jewels and quickly fell asleep.

Mac stood behind his door unmoving for a long time. He kept recalling the conversation he had with his grandfather before. And then he kept thinking of the silly, shy, and clingy dragon.

He felt guilty but he wasn't sure why. His grandfather has plans he made based on Casey's existence. They aren't harmful and could even be said to be helpful and beneficial for him and them.

But Mac still felt unsure, he liked this dragon a little bit, he wasn't arrogant or domineering as the dragon race is proclaimed to be and was quite sweet. He felt like keeping things from him; especially things that had to do with him wasn't quite right.

The more time Mac spent thinking about it the worse he felt, but he didn't have the resolve to face his little neighbor and tell these things to him.

At the end of the day, Mac was to be the next leader of the tribe and he had it in his mind to do whatever it takes to give them the best life possible. So with a heavy sigh, he put these complex feelings away and decided he would treat Casey especially well in the future.

With his mind settled he slowly eased, he reached out to turn off the light and lay down to sleep.

The next morning Casey woke up in an excited mood, he quickly got ready and flew out of his room. He sat down to eat and after finishing breakfast he kept asking Mac when they were going to head to Rose's house.

Mac stared at Casey's shiny eyes in a momentary trance. Casey was picked up and held by Mac, he struggled to get out of the arms of the other.

Mac pinched his horns. "Be obedient, and let me hold you". Mac blandly said.

Casey saw his face and decided he could concede this one time for Mac's sake. So they made their way through the tribe towards the teacher's house. Once they arrived Mac set down the small dragon and tapped his head saying that he'd pick him up later.

Casey nodded and turned his attention towards Rose. Her eyes had been following Mac's movements and she had a somewhat dignified look on her face as she watched him leave.

Casey tugged on her dress and she looked down at him, then spoke quietly.

"Let's head inside, did you bring that book with you?".

Casey lifted his claws presenting the book to her as if it were a treasure, his ruby eyes shining. Rose smiled, took the book, and led Casey inside to start their first lesson.

She led Casey downstairs to a room that he presumed was meant to be a study. He opened his eyes wide as he looked around. This room was filled to the brim with paper books, he turned to look at rose again with questioning eyes.

She smiled when she saw it and explained.

"After our tribe first found a pile of books and other fragile goods they specifically built this building to store and protect them from light and other damages. My family has lived here for generations acting as the bookkeeper of the tribe".

"This is amazing!" Casey couldn't help exclaiming. Rose smiled and nodded.

"Alright come take a seat and let's go through the book you brought first". Casey then steeled his nerves and prepared himself mentally for his first lesson.

.