Writing Prompt 6/27/20

So, normally I do my word prompts on Wednesdays. I find a picture and then scribble down the first scene that comes to me. Tonight, or rather this morning -because what is time right now- I was restless and having a hard time working on my current WIPS. Usually when I'm having a hard time, I scour Pexels to see if there are any pictures that inspire me. This one caught my eye. Like seriously paused me in my scrolling. The photo was taken by Wherbson Rodrigues.

 The reason the picture caught me was because weeks ago, maybe even months, I did a writing prompt about  Mila. Mila is a hybrid dragon, and after the death of her grandmother, her family has come to claim her. Whoever this gorgeous model is embodied Mila for me and so, this morning, I decided to write another scene for her. The woman looks strong and coming into her power, don't you think? So anyway, I imagined her in a world of dragons, not quite fitting in, but trying to be the dutiful granddaughter and taking the place they say belongs to her. But, what if, after all the talk of family and taking her rightful place, there were some who didn't want her there? What if her being a hybrid dragon, with the powers of the Storm Lords running through her veins, meant dealing with suspicion and wariness from the others. What would she do, how would she handle it? IDK how she'll handle it myself, but I am looking forward to exploring it. For now, I decided to have her learn with some degree of certainty that not all the dragons want her to take her place. The scene goes from there. 

As always it's off the top of my head, so not really edited. 

As long as she could remember, Mila had only wanted two things in her life. One: to escape her abusive grandmother and two: to know more about her mother and father. She’d come to Nara—not exactly of her own free will—for the latter. She’d long escaped the icy fingers of her grandmother and she’d done it on her own. Yes she’d starved more times than not, but in the end, she’d managed to keep herself alive. She looked down at her hands, their fingertips glowing red. Wind moved around her, raising her twists to the sky. Twin powers battling inside of her, all courtesy of her parents, marking her a hybrid. Would she also shift? She didn’t know, and according to Tatsuo, she didn’t necessarily have the time to see about it. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. All at once, the wind stopped and her hair slapped against her back as it settled.

“My uncle keeps calling me hybrid like it’s a bad thing,” she said softly, lifting her lids to study the man in front of her.

Tatsuo shrugged his lean shoulders. “You are the first. Who knows whether or not that’s a good or a bad thing.”

The honest answer hurt her feelings, but hadn’t she asked him for honesty? Her instincts had been churning for days now and she’d been tired of the looks he’d been giving her. She wanted to know what he was hiding from her, and now he’d told her. What she was supposed to do about it was the question of the hour.

She looked around the stadium where he’d brought her, stunned by its size. “What’s this place for?”

“Changing the subject won’t make all this go away, Mila,” he gently reminded her.

She growled and threw her hands up. “I don’t have a lot of options here, Tatsuo. As far as I know, and what’s been told to me, there are two different kinds of people trying to kill me. Should I choose death by fire beneath some dragon’s maw, or shall I choose whatever creative manner of death the Storm Lords have chosen for me?”

Silence met her questions and it irritated her all the more. For a weeks, she’d been able to live in the fantasy that she’d finally found family that wanted her and here he was, ripping that dream to shreds. She played the part of the princess returned to her rightful place, traipsing around the palace as though she belonged, all the while knowing something wasn’t right. She cooperated through lessons on how to use her magic, tours through the Fire Kingdom, and a week-long festival to celebrate her return.

She’d endured the suspicious looks from the townspeople who expected a hybrid to cut a swath through their town in a berserker rage. She’d let it all roll off her shoulders, happy to finally have family. All that for Tatsuo to pull the rug from underneath her feet, slamming her back down to reality.

“Isamu said he just wanted me to meet my grandparents. He promised I could leave after that. Why are you so sure he’s going to try and kill me?”

 And why was Tatsuo helping her? That more than anything was an answer she wanted, but she’d bite her own tongue off before she asked. It wasn’t his fault she was stupidly catching feelings for him. He’d been the one to teach her how to use her dragon powers. Every day she’d looked forward to their lessons. A shirtless Tatsuo, his body taut and corded, was a sight to behold. Him sweaty with exertion even more so. It didn’t help that he was so nice to her or that her magic seemed to gravitate towards him. Even now it reached out to mingle with his. His dragon answered her call, Tatsuo’s eyes lighting, the blue flame within sparking a moment before he suppressed it.

Tatsuo took a seat in one of the orange seats that surrounded the stadium. He propped an ankle over his knee and looked down to the field more than ten stories below.

“For as long as I’ve served your family, Isamu has wanted one thing, and that was power. You are the rightful heir to this kingdom and I can’t imagine him willingly giving it up to you.” He turned his gaze to her. “You being dead solves two problems for him. You can’t take over the kingdom and the Storm Lords can’t use you against us. So, no, I’m not 100 percent sure he’s going to try and kill you, but I know he wants you dead.”

A chill went down her spine and she flopped into the seat next to him. “I can leave.”

“And risk the Storm Lords finding you?”

“They are my mother’s people, my grandmother’s people,” she shuddered at the thought, “I only have the word of the dragons that they want to harm me.”

That leaky garage she’d been renting for the last two years was looking real tempting right about now.

“That’s true.” He admitted.

“What if I contacted them?”

Tatsuo closed his eyes and sighed. “Mila.”

“Why now? Why didn’t Isamu just kill me in Louisiana when he had the chance?”

He’d had ample opportunity. Especially since the Storm Lords had tried to snatch her from them. He could’ve easily let her die in the fray and been done with it.

“That’s the part that I don’t understand.”  Tatsuo wiped a hand down his face. “If neither side wants you alive, why the ruse?”

She turned to face him, tucking her feet underneath her. “It seems to me, the answer to all of this is finding out why a hybrid is so dangerous. No one will tell me that, not even you.”

He looked sheepish, turning his head away.

“What is it about a hybrid that has these people so shook? And why is Tatsuo so sure the Storm Lords will use me against the Dragons?”

He stood suddenly, his eyes wide. “I may know someone who can answer those questions.” He held out his hand to her. “Do you trust me?”

She stared at his hand and debated the answer. Her instincts came back with a resounding yes. In a place as unfamiliar as she found herself, she’d leaned on him as the one thing through it all that she could trust.

She grabbed his hand and stood.

“Then fly with me, Mila.” 

The boyish smile he gave her as he dropped her hand walked towards the railing sped her heart. It thundered as he climbed up on the railing...stopping as he stepped backwards off the railing. She stood stunned, her feet rooted to the spot. 

She heard the air whooshing as his wings beat against the air, until he rose, hovering just above her. He was huge, much bigger than she’d imagined. Certainly bigger than the other dragons she’d seen circling the city appeared. The iridescent blue scales covering hid body gleamed and sparkled in the morning sun. He was beautiful...scary. 

He held out a hand, claw, paw? 

The pad of it large enough to for her to stand in. Trusting him to tell her the truth was one thing. Trusting him not to drop her to her death as they flew through the air was another. His eyes watched her, dared her. She took a deep breath and stepped into his palm, squealing his large fingers closed around her. She gripped a claw tightly and shut her eyes.