The day after the first class was a nervous wreck for Rosette. Because of the incident she told him to wait in the lobby during her classes, and she scrambled out of every class to see if he was still there. Half the time he fell asleep on the chair with his hood pulled over his head, and the rest of the time he sat silently while he watched the people who walked by. Each time her class let out, Rosette would come straight out in a sort of panic to see if he was alright. Still, because of her instructions, he didn’t move from his spot.
Finally the day was over and the two were standing in front of huge glass doors, staring at the swirling snow outside. Rosette didn’t want to step out into the storm, and Ryu was just waiting for her to move. She finally reached for the handle, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
“Hello there!” the silver haired girl chirped. Her smile was contagious.
“Hey.” Rosette grunted.
“Are you two going home?” she asked.
“Yes, if I can find my car.” She said, gesturing to the storm outside.
“Are you two living together?” she asked. Rosette was getting annoyed at this nosy girl, but wasn’t in the mood to argue with her.
“Yes.” She sighed, Ryu remained silent.
“Are you two dating?” she gasped, Rosette turned red.
“What makes you think that? We could be brother and sister for all you know!” she yelled, turning a few heads.
“You two aren’t related.” She said, “You look nothing alike.”
“Why so curious?” Rosette asked with a sneer, “Is that your way of asking if he’s available?”
“No, I’m just curious. That’s all.” She said.
“What’s your name anyway?” Rosette asked. The girl’s face turned red.
“I, um….I have to go!” she stammered and pushed past them out into the driving snow, leaving the two of them stunned.
“She’s an odd one.” Rose muttered.
“And, she’s not wearing a jacket.” Ryu added.
The trip home was rough. Not only did they have to take a detour because of the storm, but they ended up on the highway because she had missed a turn she was supposed to take. To make matters worse, the radio had said that the roads were closed due to the storm, and the snow began to pile up on the road.
Once she had realized that she was lost, she turned the car around on the highway, crossed the meridian, and began heading back in the opposite direction to try and find the correct exit. Bad turned to worse when the car slid on black ice, and slammed into a snow bank.
Rosette woke up a few minutes later and found herself hugging the steering wheel. She turned to find Ryu passed out in the seat next to her.
“Ryu! Wake up!” she shouted as she shook him. He finally came to and moaned.
“What happened?” he moaned.
“We hit a snow bank.” She said.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a big pile of snow.” She said as she pulled on the door handle. Both doors were pinned, and the snow apparently covered most of the car. Rosette turned the car off so that they wouldn’t die of carbon monoxide poisoning from a clogged exhaust pipe.
“What do we do now?” He asked.
“I guess we wait.” She said, “There must me someone who will look for us.”
“Rosette, are you alright?” he coughed. She noticed that his wounds were open again so she pulled a small first aid kit from under the seat.
“I’m fine, but you’re bleeding again.” She said.
“You are too.” He said. Rosette felt her forehead and her hand came away red.
“It’s just a scratch.” She said, wiping it clean, “You’re much worse.” She said.
“It’s awfully cold, Rosette. Are you going to be okay?” he asked. She did feel cold, even through her heavy parka, but now that he had mentioned it, she admitted to herself that she felt frozen. With Ryu patched up, she sat back in her seat and shivered.
“Doesn’t this thing have a heater?” he asked.
“Doesn’t this thing have a heater?” he asked.
“It does, but the engine needs to be running for it to work.” She said, “If it gets bad, we might have to huddle together for warmth. Is that alright?” her face became flushed.
“I don’t mind.” He said, “But it wouldn’t do you any good. I’m cold blooded, remember?”
“Oh yea. Sorry.” She said.
“My blood may be cold, but I am a fire dragon.” He said, “Maybe we can think of something.”
“You are not setting fire to my car!” she said.
“I wasn’t going to!” he said.
“Then what are you thinking of?” she asked.
“I can do more than breathe fire you know!”
“Like what?” she snapped, shivering in her jacket. Ryu reached up and tapped the glass of the passenger window, hoping the snow would fall off and they could at least escape.
“I don’t want to give you the wrong idea.” He said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like you and everything, but other than burning something, the only way to warm you up is to, um…” he trailed off.
“What is it?” she asked, turning red. Ryu didn’t want to say it.
“It doesn’t matter. We can use it as a last resort. If it comes to it, I can tell you then.” He said.
“I want to know now.” She said, “It’s not, well you know…” Ryu stared at her.
“No. It’s not that.” He said, “It’s just a kiss.”
“Oh, I see.” She muttered, staring at the steering wheel in front of her. The minutes seemed to crawl by as the two sat in silence. The storm outside seemed to get worse.
“We could get out of here, you know.” Ryu said, “We could escape, but your car would get broken.”
“I paid a lot for this thing!” she said, “You’re not going to break it!”
“It’s been two hours, Rosette. How much longer can you stay in here?” he asked.
“I’m f-fine.” She stuttered as she shivered, “How about you?”
“The bleeding’s stopped.” He said. Again another period of silence.
“We should keep talking.” She said, “It will give us something to do and keep us awake.”
“What do you want to talk about?” he asked.
“Where were you born?” she asked.
“Overseas. I was born in a place you now call Germany.” He said, “My family were nomadic dragons and we moved around a lot. We ended up over here.”
“What were your parents like?” she asked.
“Mother was an Ice Dragon like one of my sisters and my father was an Earth Dragon. They were overprotective of the three of us and taught us all kinds of things.” He said, “What about you?”
“What?” she asked.
“What are your parents like?”
“They live in a small town up north. My father is still on that expedition that had found you. My mother is, well….” She went quiet.
“Your mother?” he asked.
“She’s been in bed for almost a year now. The doctors think its cancer, but it’s not exactly like any cancer they’ve ever seen. It could be a new, evolved form of it, but they’re not sure.” She said.
“She’s sick?” he asked.
“Very.”
“I’m sorry.” He said.
“There’s nothing you can do about it.” She said, “It’s just God’s will.”
“Who?” he asked.
“God.” She said, “You’ve never heard of God?”
“No, should I have?”
“Do you know anything about religion?” she asked.
“No.” He replied, “I know that some humans used to do some strange things a long time ago. Some of them called it religion, but I can’t understand any of it.”
“Most people believe there is a God that created everything and is all powerful.” She said, “This being sees all and knows all and is capable of anything.”
“So this God has the ability to call people to their deaths?” he asked.
“It’s not like that. The belief is that God lives in heaven and he calls us to join him in paradise.” She said.
“So when you die, you go to heaven and become happy?” he asked.
“That’s the idea. Life after death, Heaven is supposed to be a utopia, but some people say it doesn’t exist and that it’s just people’s fabrication to lessen the fear of death.” She said. The car went silent as Ryu listened, but after her words, it looked like he was thinking hard.
“Rosette?”
“Yes?”
“Do you think that dragons go to heaven?” he asked. His question was met with an awkward silence.
“I’m sure that everything can go to heaven, Ryu.” She said, her voice was weak as she spoke, and he noticed that she had stopped shivering.
“Rosette, are you cold?” he asked.
“Yes.” She said as he eyes drooped. Ryu sat up and felt her forehead.
“Rosette, we have to get out of here! This is bad. I’ve seen this before. You’ll die if you don’t get warm.” He said.
“I’m alright, just let me sleep for a minute.” She whispered as she closed her eyes.
“No! Stay awake!” he yelled, “You’ll die if you sleep!”
“The car’s stuck. There’s no way we can get out.” She said, “Besides, even if we do, it’s a long way to walk back.”
“So you’re just going to give up?” he yelled.
“I don’t want to.” She whispered, “But there’s nothing I can do.” Ryu pulled her forward until they were eye to eye.
“There’s something I can do.” He said, and kissed her.
Rosette felt the warmth flow through her body as soon as their lips pressed together, and her eyes snapped open. When he backed away, she felt as if it was a hot summer’s day and she even wanted to take her coat off. Her face was still flushed and she flopped back in her seat speechless.
“Rosette, how are you feeling?” he asked.
“Wha…..Oh I’m fine now.” She said in a daze.
“We still need to get out of here.” He said, “You’ll get cold again.”
“We can’t.” she said.
“I can.” He said, “I’ll try not to break anything.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked as he looked around.
“I have an idea.” He said, can you get these windows down?”
“I’ll have to turn the car on again.” She said.
“Do it.” He said. She turned the key and the car finally groaned to start under the massive pile of snow. The smell of exhaust filled the car. She lowered the passenger window and turned the car off once again. The snow seemed like it would hold at first, but the wall of snow let go and flooded into the passenger’s seat, all over Ryu’s lap.
“What are you going to do?” she asked, “Can you dig our way out?”
“Not what I was going to do, but a good idea.” He said, “I just think my way is faster.”
Ryu turned so that he was facing the open window and took a few deep breathes. His eyes snapped open, he took a deep breath, and blew out a stream of fire that blasted a hole in the snow bank through the window, leaving the car unscathed. Once he was finished, the snow on one side of the car had melted away, and the door swung open with ease.
“We still can’t walk all the way back there in this!” she yelled over the raging wind. Ryu took her hand and began walking through the blizzard. She was still amazed that he wasn’t cold, even wearing nothing but a t-shirt and a thin ragged cloak. Before long she found herself stumbling in the deep snow and she tripped and fell, taking Ryu down with her.
“Rosette, are you alright?” he yelled.
“I’m so tired.” She said, “This is hard. Isn’t there anyone one the roads?”
“No Rosette. There’s no one here.” He said, and then it hit him.
“What do we do?”
“There’s no one here…” he repeated, helping her up. She stood on her own and he backed away.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. As soon as she finished, there was a bright flash of flame, and his body disappeared in the blaze. Rosette screamed as the fire burned, and the last thing she saw before she passed out, was a pair of red, scaly wings, and a long, horn tipped tail.
The next thing she knew, she was staring at the ceiling of her own room, covered in almost every blanket she had in the house. The sound of the television could be heard down the hall. It took some effort to push the blankets off, and then she donned her slippers before heading to the living room.
She found him sitting on the couch, still wearing his cloak with his hood over his face, and the remote in one hand. He mindlessly scanned the channels, but never did decide on anything.
“What happened?” she asked from behind him. He didn’t move as he responded.
“You fell, so I took you home.” He said.
“How did we get home?” she asked. Flashes of a pair of red wings and a tail flew by in her mind, “What did you do?”
“I had to, Rosette. You would have died out there.” He said.
“You turned back into your dragon form, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Someone could have seen you!” she yelled.
“It was the middle of nowhere and it was a snowstorm.” He retorted, “There’s no way someone saw me!”
“Then how did we to the apartment?”
“I landed on the roof” he said.
“So nobody saw you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Well then, thanks.” She said.
“What?”
“You saved my life! I’m grateful.” She said, “But you didn’t have to. I don’t know your real name so there’s no bond.”
“I didn’t do it because of the bond.” He said, “I did it to save a friend.”
“So you consider me a friend now?” she asked with a smile.
“I guess so.” He shrugged.
“So that kiss was just between friends as well?” she asked. She could tell that he was blushing under his hood.
“I was trying to save your life.” He said, “Don’t read too much into it.”
“Fine.” She said as she stared at the TV, “Why are you wearing that in here? Are you hiding something? Did you get hurt again?”
“No.” he said.
“Then why is your hood up?” she asked as she reached up and pulled it off. At that moment, she got her answer. His face was still covered in red scales and two white horns protruded from his red hair. His eyes were still yellow and most of his teeth were razor sharp.
“What’s wrong?” she gasped.
“It takes me a while to turn back, okay?” he snapped, “I’m not used to this kind of thing. I need practice!”
“Fine, it’s alright.” She said in a soft voice, “But you don’t need to hide it from me.”
“You’re not scared?”
“Of course not!” she said, “It think it’s great!”
“Why?”
“I’ve always loved dragons!” she said, “And to have a real one as a best friend is a dream come true!”
“I see.” He said.
“I didn’t get a good look at you in your dragon form, so I would like to see it again someday.” She said, heading towards the bathroom for a shower.
The next day, classes were cancelled because of the still ongoing storm, so Rosette was forced to stay inside to wait out the storm. Ryu was introduced to video games, and she spent the morning drawing in her sketchbook. By lunch time, she had a rather large drawing done of a dragon flying high over a city. Ryu was too involved in the games to notice what she was doing, until the divine smell of steak filled his nostrils.
Once they were finished and the dishes done, Rosette took a seat on the couch next to him to watch a movie, when to her surprise, there was a knock on the door.
Opening the door a crack she peeked outside to see a familiar blond haired girl standing before her, holding a snow-covered book bag and an awkward smile on her face.
“Hi, remember me?” she asked, “I sit in front of you in art class.”
“Um, yes. What can I do for you?”
“I was late yesterday morning, so I missed class. Could I copy your notes?” she asked. Rosette glanced behind her to see Ryu pull his hood over his head and give a nod.
“Sure, come in!” she said.
Once inside, the girl took a seat at the table and began her work of copying notes. She didn’t even notice Ryu sitting in the living room, or that he was staring at her.
“You came all the way over her in a snowstorm?” Rosette asked.
“I only live across the street.” She said.
“And how do you know that I live here?” she asked.
“I see you pull up here everyday in your car.” She said, “Your room number is on your parking space.”
“I see.” She said, “And you are?”
“I sit in front of you.” She repeated.
“I know that, but do you have a name?” she asked. The girl didn’t even look away from the page.
“Of course I do.” She said.
“And what is it?” she asked. Finally she glanced up from her notes. “Who’s that?” she asked, gesturing into the living room at the hooded figure staring back at her.
“His name is Ryu.” She said, “Why?”
“Just wondering.” She said, “Did he say his name was Ryu?”
“What do you mean?”
“Never mind.” She said.
“So what’s your name?” she asked. The girl became nervous.
“Why would you want to know my name?” she asked.
“Well maybe we could be friends.” She said, “I don’t have any here besides him.” Rosette said, gesturing towards Ryu.
“You can call me Sparcy.” She said, turning back to her notes.
“Sparcy? That’s an interesting name.” Rosette said, “Is that your real name?”
“What makes you think it’s not?”
“Because you told me to call you that. You didn’t say it was really your name.” she said, “It’s the way you worded it.”
“My real name is foreign.” She said, “You wouldn’t be able to pronounce it.”
“I see. So where are you from?” she asked as Sparcy wrote.
“I was born in Germany.” She said. Ryu’s hood lifted a bit as he looked at her blonde hair.
“So when did you come over here?” Rosette asked.
“A long time ago.” She said, finishing up. Before she realized it, Sparcy was flipping through her sketchbook, her eyes glazed.
“Normally, you would ask for permission before you look through people’s things.” Rosette said, somewhat annoyed.
“I thought this was another notebook.” She said blankly, “I see you like dragons.”
“Yes.” She said.
“Interesting.” She muttered. Her eyes snapped up from the sketchbook and she began staring at Ryu from across the room.
“Do you like dragons?” Rosette asked. Sparcy gave a smile and a huff.
“You could say that.” She said, “Listen, if you want to be friends, this is my address and phone number.” She slid a piece of paper across the table, “Call me sometime. Let’s do something.”
“Oh Alright.” Rosette said, taking the paper.
“I should be going. My sister is making dinner tonight.” She said.
“You live with your sister?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s just the two of us though.” She said, “A really small family.”
“I see. I’ll be sure to give you a call later, okay?”
“Sure. See you later.” She said and left the small apartment, leaving them in silence.
“She seemed nice.” Rosette muttered, “And you didn’t say a word. What’s wrong?” Ryu looked at the floor.
“She wasn’t wearing a jacket either.” He said.
By morning, the snow had let up, leaving the city covered in a thick blanket of snow that cut a deep hole in the city’s snow clearing budget. With Rosette’s car still wedged in a snow bank on the highway, she had to take the bus in the morning. Even with her argument against him coming, Ryu sat next to her, covered in his thin cloak.
A few kids sitting across from them began staring at him for the whole trip. From time to time they would whisper, giggle and point at him as he sat next to her, seemingly asleep. It was when a young boy mustered his courage to cross the bus and sit next to him, that he finally moved.
“Hey, mister!” he said, tugging on his cloak, “Aren’t you cold wearing that?”
“No.” he quietly said.
“But it’s full of holes! You should at least get a new one!” he said.
“Don’t you have a favorite jacket?” he hissed from under his hood.
“Yes.” The boy squeaked.
“Well this is my favorite.” He said, “Its fine just the way it is.”
“Is it because the hood is really big and it can hide your face?” he asked. Rosette nervously smiled. Ryu turned to her.
“Are all human children this inquisitive?” he asked.
“Most of them are.” She muttered.
“This one is starting to annoy me.
“My friend isn’t feeling well, kid.” She said, “You think you could leave him alone for a while?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” He said, hopping down from the seat. The kid returned to his friend and Ryu sank in his seat. Rosette looked worried.
With the same routine as before, Ryu waited in the lobby for Rosette as she went to class. They met up for lunch and headed for the cafeteria together, where they found the only two familiar faces, sitting at the same table. To their surprise, the blonde haired girl waved them over and they realized she was sitting with the young, silver haired girl from before. Both were smiling as they sat down and Ryu remained silent.
“That was some storm, eh?” Sparcy said in a huff, “Almost didn’t make it across the road!”
“Yea, my car is still stuck on the highway.” Rosette said, taking a bite of her sandwich, “The tow truck said it would be tomorrow before they get it out.”
“You got stuck in that blizzard?” Sparcy asked in surprise, “How did you get out of it?” Rosette became nervous.
“Someone picked me up.” She said. Not a lie, but not the whole truth either.
“I heard some people saw some weird stuff in the snow.” The silver haired girl said, “Some people said they saw something flying in the blizzard, but I think there’s no way a pilot would be crazy enough to do that.”
“I didn’t catch your name.” Rosette said, “We’ve met before but you ran off before telling me your name.”
“Oh, sorry about that!” she said scratching the back of her head, “I have a habit of doing that. You can call me Crystal. I’m her sister.” She gestured towards Sparcy sitting next to her with a big smile on her face.
“Well that’s out of the way.” Rosette huffed. Still Ryu remained silent as he kept staring at the two strange girls.
“So Ryu, you don’t go to school here, do you?” Crystal
“No.”
“How old are you anyway?” she asked. Ryu looked to Rosette.
“What was the number again?” he asked. Rosette almost choked on her drink.
“Sixteen.” She said.
“It was more than that.” He said.
“No it wasn’t.” she said with a serious face. Ryu shrugged and let it go.
“So are you two…you know. Together?” Crystal
“Yes.” Ryu said.
“No.” Rosette answered.
“Well what is it? Yes or no?”
“We’re not like that. We’re just friends.” Rosette said.
“But we’re together right now.” Ryu said, confused.
“That’s not what she meant.” Rosette said, and then leaned down to whisper in his ear.
“Oh, I see.”
“You two are interesting.” Sparcy giggled.
“So Sparcy was telling me that you like dragons.” Crystal
“Yes.” She said in a quiet voice. The two sisters shot each other a devious glance.
“Have you ever seen one?” she asked. Rosette dropped her sandwich and her eyes went wide.
“W-What?” she stammered.
“Have you ever seen a real dragon?” Crystal
“I don’t know.” She said. Ryu’s head slowly turned to look at her.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I haven’t seen a dragon like the ones in books, but I still think there’s a possibility they exist.” She said, “You probable think I’m weird now.” The two girls laughed.
“We don’t think you’re weird! We both love dragons too.” Sparcy said, “It would be cool if they were real though, don’t you think?”
“Ha ha, yea.” She laughed, nervously.
“What about you, Ryu?” she asked. “Do you believe in dragons?”
“Yes.” He said, “Why are you asking me?” Crystal
“Well, it just so happens that I was looking out the window during the snow storm, and I’m not sure, but I thought I saw a dragon land on the roof of your apartment building.” She said. Rosette gasped.
“What does that have to do with me?” Ryu asked, Crystal
“There was a flash of light and the next thing I saw was your cloak flapping in the wind.”
“Interesting.” He said. The two girls leaned in so that no one else could hear.
“We’re keeping our eyes on you two.” Sparcy said.
“Especially you, Ryu. If that is your real name.” Crystal
“What are you implying?” he asked.
“We’ve been looking for a long time, but we have to be sure before we say anything.” Sparcy said.
“What do you mean?” Rosette gasped. Sparcy’s eyes narrowed as she stared back at her, and Rosette was the only one at the table to jump when a bolt of lightning lit up the cafeteria windows. There was a scream, and the roar of thunder echoed through the halls after the flash. Without realizing it, she had grabbed a hold of Ryu in fright. The skies then broke open and the rain pelted down on the newly falling snow.
“What the hell?” Rosette gasped as she stared outside. Another bolt of lightning hit a skyscraper down town and yet another boom of thunder rocked the University. Someone had opened a door to look outside, and a blast of humid warm air floated into the cafeteria.
“Weird weather we’re getting, eh sis?” Sparcy said with a smile.
“Very weird.” She said, calmly taking a bite of her lunch. Ryu stared suspiciously at them both.
“So Ryu, what’s with the hood?” Sparcy asked, “You’re not ashamed of an ugly face, are you?”
“I bet he hides it because he’s too handsome!” Crystal
“I wear it because I don’t want to scare anyone.” He muttered.
“That bad, eh? I bet you could get a cream for that.” Sparcy said with a giggle.
“Show us! We won’t laugh!” Crystal
“Fine.” He said and reached for his hood. Rosette grabbed his hand in mid air.
“No! Not here!” she said.
“It’s fine.” He said, pulling away. The hood dropped, and the girls gasped.
Ryu was the same as before, with his blazing red hair and his headphones behind his head. No scales, and no horns.
“It’s not bad at all!” Crystal
“You don’t seem like a very cheerful kid.” Sparcy said, “If there’s anyone bothering you, you just tell us and we’ll take care of it!” Ryu looked up and stared into her blue eyes. Now that he thought about it, the both of them had blue eyes.
“Just like them…” he muttered.
“What?”
“You two remind me of my sisters.” He muttered, “You’re just like them.”
“Really? They must be nice.” Crystal
“He lost his family a long time ago.” Rosette said.
“How sad.” Crystal
“What happened?” Sparcy asked. Rosette looked to Ryu, who just nodded.
“His parents were killed and his two sisters disappeared in a fight.” She said, and then paused, trying to think about how to word the next part, “He woke up later and everything was gone.” She finished and looked up to find the two girls staring at each other very seriously.
“You don’t think….”Sparcy whispered.
“It’s too soon to tell.” Crystal
“What’s going on?” Rosette asked. The two girls put on fake smiles.
“Oh nothing.” They said together.
“Well I’m sorry, but I have to get to my next class.” She said standing up.
“Do you mind if Ryu stays with us while you go?” Crystal
“Don’t ask me! He can do what he wants!” she huffed and strode down the hallway alone.
“Come on, Ryu. Let’s go.” Sparcy chirped and dragged him down the hall in the opposite direction with 
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