FSE

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Here is the deal. This is a story from earlier this year. We had to write a short story that was a retelling of "Cinderella" for my creative writing class. We had to have certain elements, and basically the same cast of characters, but we were allowed to alter them in any way, shape, or form. (Name, species, and such, but they had to serve the same general role.) Anyways, I will post this in chapters. I admit, it's not perfect. I typed the whole story in about six hours, and the only person who edited it was a student teacher, but overall, I like how this came out. Anyways, I'll post one chapter a day until it is done. I hope you like it!

Chapter 1

She was orphaned, and it was all because of stupid humans. She was a small, young dragon, with ruby-red scales covering most of her body, except for her underbelly, which was golden. The poor dragon was huddled in the underbrush of the forest, like a wild animal. She was cold, hungry, and felt miserably depressed. Not more than three days ago, she watched as a human man with a sword viciously slaughtered her mother, only to steal the shiny objects she had collected. Why did humans do such things to dragons? She managed to run away, but now regretted her choice. Now she was simply lying in the woods, slowly wasting away. She knew if there wasn't some break, she was going to die a slow, agonizing death from starvation or dehydration. She whimpered pathetically, in a desperate hope that she would draw somebody to her aid... either that, or somebody to put her out of her sick, depressed, agonizing misery.

"Is that a dragon pup?" A voice asked from afar. The little dragon turned, hearing the voices. The only word she knew was "Dragon," because she remembered hearing the man who killed her mother say it repeatedly. It was what she was. Other than that, she didn't understand the language of man. Two men in leather garbs approached her from the brush. She wasn't very big, being about 3 foot tall, so humans were pretty intimidating.

"I think so! Looks young. I bet somebody would pay a mint for it!" one of the men laughed. He had shaggy brown hair.

"Those scales are almost colored like rubies! If we can't sell it as a pet, we can sell it as a pelt!" the other man said, brushing his long, greasy black hair. The dragon growled at the two men, and stepped back. She had no clue what their motives were, but she knew it was probably not good for her.

"Be careful. It may be a pup, but a dragon is still a dragon." The brown haired man said, pulling out a club. "And a dragon is much easier to sell as a pet when it is tamed down."

"Good idea!" The dark-haired man laughed, pulling his club out. He swung at the small pup, clipping her across the forehead. She whined in pain, and fell back on her haunches. Warm blood trickled down her forehead into her left eye.

"Hey! I wanted to hit first!" The other man yelled, swinging his club. She tried to dodge, but her clumsy, under-developed body didn't let her move fast enough and he nailed her in the right jaw, knocking her pathetically to the ground.

"This is kind of fun!" the dark-haired man laughed, kicking her hard in the chest. She cried out in pain, and curled up, closing her eyes.

"Get up, you stupid little beast!" The brown-haired man demanded, kicking her in the stomach. She just yelped, and looked up at them. She just wanted them to stop.

"He said get up, you dumb lizard!" The dark-haired man yelled, kicking her even harder on the hip. She whimpered, and attempted to get on her feet. As she tried to stand up, the dark haired man struck her again with his club right on top the head, knocking her back down. "On second thought, we'll carry you!" He laughed. Her thoughts slowly drifted off into darkness.

"Hmm, what does it eat?" she heard the dark haired man ask as she slowly regained consciousness. She could only open her right eye. The other was swollen shut. Around her, she saw metal bars, and the two men that attacked her sitting on the other side. She wanted to growl at them, but decided against it in fear that they would hit her again.

"I think they eat people." The brown-haired man said, laughing.

"Well, we can't give it that!" the dark-haired man said, annoyed.

"I got a half-eaten sandwich in my bag!" the brown-haired man said, rooting through his bag.

"Hello, there, sirs!" A third voice called, causing the pup to turn. Wherever she was, there were lots of trees around her, and a small fire. The man who was approaching had shaggy white hair all over his face, and was wearing blue clothing.

"What do you want?" the brown-haired man asked, sounding annoyed.

"Sorry to bother you travelers, but I was wondering what you were going to do with that caged dragon?" the man asked, pointing at her.

"Well, we're gone to sell it when we get to town." The dark haired man said, looking over at her.

"What if I offered you one-hundred gold pieces for her?" the blue-clothed man asked, smiling.

"A hundred? Then I'd say deal, sir!" The dark-haired man said, approaching the man, who handed him a small sack. The dark-haired man looked through the bag, then handed him a key. "Go ahead, and take the trapper, too. We don't need it!"

"Thank you very much." The blue-clothed man said, pulling the dragon away. She slowly started to growl, when he turned and looked at her. With a gentle smile, he said, "Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm just going to take you home and fix you up." She didn't know what he said, but she could feel a difference in the emotion he put out. She was still nervous, but at least he seemed a little nicer.

After a few hours, the two arrived at a town, bustling with people. "Don't worry. I'll make sure everything is okay." the man said, as he wheeled her cage through the town. Several people stopped to gawk at her, who made her feel uncomfortable. She growled slightly under her breath as they passed through the crowds. What was so interesting about her anyways? All those eyes focused on her. It made her feel like a freak. Eventually, they reached a large metal gate with spiked railed fencing around it. A massive mansion, painted white, sat within. As they passed through, he made his way to the door. Knocking on the door, he fixed his hair slightly, and stood upright.

"Darling! Your home!" A young dark-haired woman said, answering the door. Suddenly, she turned to the red dragon pup. "So, you brought another beast?" she groaned, giving the pup an annoyed look.

"She's a dragon, sweet-heart." The blue-clothed man said, smiling. "Dragons are every bit as smart as humans, so give her a little respect. I just brought her here to treat her wounds, and then I was going to try and find her mother." He said, smiling at the red pup.

"Mom! Tarin hit me!" a small girl with red hair cried, running up beside her.

"Mary Anne, get back in the house!" the woman cried, angrily. Meanwhile, the pup remained huddled in her cage nervously. She felt bad vibes coming off of the woman.

"Anyways, I think I'll get to work!" the man said, walking passed the woman. She leaned forward, and the two turned to share a brief kiss, before he pulled the cage into the house, and wheeled it into a large room that had tiled floors, and a small bed. He slowly opened the door on the cage, and knelt down to face the dragon at eye level. "My name is Doctor Johnson." He said, slowly pointing at himself. "Johnson."

"Johnssson." She repeated, adding emphasis on the "s" in his name. She was still nervous, and in pain from her earlier beating, so she figured that trying to communicate with him would hopefully prevent more pain. Her legs were too sore for her to try and run, so she just lowered herself down submissively.

"Come here." He said, smiling gently, and coaxing her with a hand gesture. She slowly approached him, looking into his eyes. He had the gentlest eyes of any human she had ever seen. She stepped forward, when he suddenly put his hands around her waist, and picked her up slowly. She was nervous, so she simply closed her eyes. He sat her on the soft bed, causing her to open her eyes. She had never been on a human bed before. This caused her to look around, a confused look on her face. Her claws got caught in the sheets of the bed, causing her to stumble and stagger helplessly as she tried to free her claws. Finally, she fell, and growled with annoyance. Johnson simply reached down, pulling her claws free, and gently stroked her on the nose. "Calm down, little one." He said, chuckling.

"Dear! I think you have a patient coming in! Can you... Cripes! You put that thing on the bed?" the woman from earlier cried, running in the room. "You have a patient waiting for you!"

"She isn't a thing, and you have plenty of experience helping me. Take the patient upstairs, and get them ready! I'll only be a moment!" he said, getting slightly angered.

"You care more about that stupid lizard then you do me!" She cried, covering her eyes.

"Well, she isn't yelling at me all the time!" Johnson yelled, enraged.

"I am the daughter of one of the richest men in the country. I am Baroness Sabrina Phinellia of the house of Phinellia!" she yelled, putting her hands on her hips.

"And the daughter of a dead man! The only reason you have money is because of your inheritance! Now shut up, and get out of here!" Johnson screamed at her. Clearly, the two weren't on the best of terms.

"Mom!" a young boy's voice yelled.

"Be there in a minute, Tarin!" the Baroness yelled out the door. Turning back to Johnson, she grumbled, "You better get your stupid old wrinkled butt out here as soon as you finish fixing that beast." She turned quickly, and strode out the door, her chin held high.

"I am really sorry you had to see that." Tarin apologized to the dragon. Anyways, I better get working!" he said, grabbing a damp rag and dabbing her bloody fore-head. "Anyways, I need a name to call you! How does Cinder sound?"

"Cssinderr." She repeated, looking at him. She was going to survive. Johnson was her savior.