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Whoo! Three updates in one day! I'm on a roll!

Prompt: Dragons

The following is an extract from one of the upcoming chapters of my story His Other Half. Sooo..... Spoiler Alert!

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"There is no way I'm riding on that!" Misako exclaimed, backing away from Garmadon's Elemental Dragon. Its violet scales glimmered in the sun while a shimmering purple smoke issued from its snout.

It was a magnificent creature when looked at from a distance. Up close, it still looked mesmerizing but when the talk came to riding it, all the majestic beauty and awesomeness vanished, replaced with fear.

Garmadon chuckled at the horrified expression of the bespectacled woman. He sat atop the aforesaid creature, rubbing its scaly back. When Misako resisted still, he extended his hand towards her, smiling in a comforting manner. "It's okay. It won't hurt you."

It had been a fortnight since their first meeting in the library – the first meeting in which the all powerful Garmadon had fallen in love. He and Wu would always go down to the café in Jamanakai village to meet with her.

She would have a bucket load of questions about the life of Spinjitzu Masters and the brothers would be more than happy to answer each and every one. Wu would always inquire if she was coming to visit the monastery anytime soon or not.

Misako had finally persuaded her parents to let her go and assured them that she would be careful especially around "you-know-who". Now, she was standing on the outskirts of Jamanakai village with a legit, totally real, no-joke dragon, giving second thoughts to her decision.

She knew that the lifestyle of the brothers and their father would be different from the rest of Ninjago but never had she imagined that her mode of transport up to the monastery was going to be such a fear-striking yet majestic reptilian beast.

"Misako, come on!" Garmadon whined, slightly irritated. "We're getting late and we have to be there before lunchtime."

The brunette shook her head, stepping further away. She nervously pulled at the ends of her braid, wishing she was back home. "You go ahead," she told the dragon's master, dismissing his offer. "I'm a pretty fast walker. I can be there in no time."

Garmadon rolled his crimson eyes at the thought of Misako walking all the way from the village and up to the monastery. "Don't talk nonsense. It took me twenty minutes to get here on a dragon – it's gonna take you about an hour on foot."

"Then I'll take a taxi," Misako argued stubbornly, folding her arms and turning away. Garmadon sighed and ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair. "The taxi can't climb stairs, Misako. And it's a long way up."

"Well, neither can a dragon," Misako countered, not turning around. There was no way she was going to let him persuade her to ride a dragon. She was very down-to-earth and transport offers on magical, winged creatures did not strike to her as safe.

"At least it can fly up there," Garmadon muttered, not giving up himself.

"It doesn't matter," the woman shook her head. "I have legs and I'm perfectly capable of walking up the steps."

Garmadon slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning with frustration. "As previously stated; it's a long, long, long . . . very long way up to the monastery."

As their argument continued, the dragon had had enough and was eager to return to the skies as soon as possible. With a low grunt, it stretched out its wings causing Misako to shriek and make a dash for the safety of a huge rock jutting out from the ground.

The creature flapped its wings once or twice and was a good few inches off the ground before its rider tapped impatiently on its scaly head. "Whoa, whoa, get down!" Garmadon ordered. "Who told you to take flight, huh?"

The dragon grunted with irritation and dropped lazily back on the ground, expressing its discontent by raising its tail and lightly flicking Garmadon's head.

The brunet rubbed the back of his head while glaring at Misako's peeking figure indignantly. "As you can see, we're both frustrated," he said, gesturing at himself then the dragon. "So I'm giving you two options."

Misako emerged from behind the rock, eyeing Garmadon with a cranky look on her face. "Option one," Garmadon declared, raising a finger, "you come with me now so we can get home. Option two; you stay here while I go and break the news that you're gonna be a no-show. This will ultimately lead to the waste of Wu's time and energy that he spent arranging the monastery for you. What's it gonna be?"

Misako thought it over in her head. Did she want to risk her life while flying on a dragon? No. Did she want to waste Wu's hard work? Of course not! She sighed, giving in. She timidly made her way closer to Garmadon and his "ride" and took a deep, calming breath. "You're sure this is safe?"

Garmadon smiled gratefully, reaching out his hand once more. "I promise." Misako muttered a quick prayer before taking the man's hand and climbing onto the dragon's back behind him.

Garmadon made sure she was seated right before taking up the reins. "Hold on tight," he advised, blushing profusely as Misako wrapped her arms around his waist.

She shut her eyes and whimpered, cutting off Garmadon's air supply as she held on tighter than he had instructed. The dragon – very happy that they were ready to go – took off before Garmadon even gave permission.

As soon as they had left the ground, Misako opened her mouth in a scream of horror, causing Garmadon to wince. "Calm down, will you?" he called back to her. "We're not even properly off the ground yet?"

They rose higher and higher, the village nothing more than a patch of houses in the midst of mountains. The dragon started flying faster and began doing tricks; nosediving and rising up again or doing loop de loops in the air. It was completely out of Garmadon's control and he was worried Misako might pass out.

"Hey!" he snapped, yanking on the reins. "We promised to keep her safe, not scare her to death!"

"I wanna get off, please!" Misako pleaded, not daring to open her eyes. Garmadon tried to think up ways of distracting her long enough till they reached the monastery.

"Uh . . . do you want me to sing A Whole New World from the theatre play Aladdin?" He suggested to her. "I can't believe me and Wu have all the lyrics memorized. I used to sing Aladdin and he used to sing Jasmine."

He hoped this would make her laugh or even smile but she just shook her head vigorously and said, "No!"

"Why not? I'm not a bad singer," he continued to joke. "Father says I'm even slightly above average."

"Because it'll be weird when I'll be screaming my head off and you'll be singing a freaking Disney song!" Misako snapped at him. Garmadon shrugged in return. "Never mind."

They continued their flight as Misako held on for dear life, ignoring how beautiful the world looked from among the clouds. She didn't care in the least but only hoped she would come out of this alive.

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