FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

This is chapter two if my Cinderella retelling. Don't worry. I promise that it will all make sense in the end.

Chapter 2

Cinder slept peacefully on a warm, soft bed. She was happy beyond words. Doctor Johnson had, over the course of three years, taught her speak the language of man, as well as human customs, and such. She had trouble pronouncing the language of man, since she had a long tongue, and a different-shaped mouth, but she had good grammar, and a large vocabulary. Johnson was like the father she never knew. Ever since he learned that her mother had been killed, he made it his task to take care of her, and teach her as much as he could. Under his care, she had grown quite a bit, her wings starting to develop their flight muscles, and her height increasing to about four-foot tall. Unfortunately, the rest of his family wasn't so kind.

"Wake up, scale-butt!" A well-groomed, brown-haired human boy that was wearing a blue tunic ordered, poking her on the cheek with a hot metal rod.

"Ow! Hey! Sstop that, Tarrin! That hurrtss!" Cinder cried, sitting up. "You know I'm not fire-proof!"

"Then why do some dragons live in volcanoes?" Tarin asked, in a snobbish, arrogant tone.

"Have you seen a drragon in a volcano?" Cinder snapped, looking at him with an annoyed stare.

"Um... well... not exactly." Tarin said, slowly stepping away. "Mom! Cinder won't wake up!" He cried, running down the stairs.

"That brrat! He's jusst trrying to get me in trouble!" Cinder groaned, leaping off the bed. She hurriedly dashed down the stairs, and sat patiently by the dining-room table. A young, red-haired girl with pigtails and a fancy red dress sat at the table next to the baroness, who wore a red dress as well. "Good morning, everyone!" Cinder said politely.

"Oh shut up, lizard-breath." The red haired girl groaned in annoyance.

"Ssorrry, Mary. I apologize for what I have done." Cinder said, lowering her head into an apologetic bow.

"Cinder, dear, please stop this. You are so polite all the time that it is annoying." The baroness grumbled.

"Ssorry. Sso, wherre iss fatherr at?" Cinder asked, looking at the regally-dressed baroness.

"He is still getting dressed." Mary groaned, looking at the large breakfast prepared on the table. "I wish he'd hurry up so we can eat!"

"Well, let's just eat. I'm sure he won't mind!" Tarin said, grabbing his fork.

"But we can't eat without fatherr!" Cinder cried.

"Tarin is right. Let's just eat." The baroness said, filling her plate. Cinder lowered her head in thought.

"Fatherr never misssess a meal! I'm going to go check on him!" Cinder said, running off. As she walked down the hall, she saw his bedroom door slightly cracked. "Fatherr?" she asked through the crack. No response.

"Hurry up, you two! The food is almost gone!" the baroness yelled from afar.

"Fatherr?" She asked again, nudging the door open with her nose. The door bumped something, causing her to jump with surprise. Usually, the door just swung open. As she peeked around the corner, she cried, "Everrybody! Come quick!" Before her laid Doctor Johnson, face-down on the floor.

"What do you want, you scaled pest?" The baroness yelled angrily. Cinder hysterically nudged him, and sniffed him over. She tried pawing at him, and held her ear up to him. He had no signs of life, except that he was still warm.

"Fatherr iss dead!" Cinder cried, falling to her knees. This was the third time she had lost her care-taker. She barely remember her real father, her mother was slaughtered, and now this!

"You stupid animal! What did you do to him?!?" The baroness cried, running into the room, almost knocking Cinder down to get to Doctor Johnson. She leaned down to check for a pulse, than collapsed on him sobbing.

"I don't know what happened! He was like thiss when I found him!" Cinder cried, tears welling up in her eyes. She had grown very attached to him. She loved him like a real father.

"What did Cinder do to him? Tarin cried, running into the room with Mary.

"I know you did this!" The baroness cried, sitting up. "You stupid animal! You probably attacked him, didn't you?"

"No! Honesst! I didn't do anything! I found him like this!" Cinder cried, tears still rolling down her face.

"Shut up!" The baroness cried, slapping Cinder across the face. Cinder put her paw on her face, feeling a sharp, painful tingle where she had been hit.

"Mom, I think he had a heart-attack!" Mary cried, looking at him. "He is lying on his right arm, like he was clutching his chest when he died."

"Oh... so Cinder didn't kill him?" The baroness asked, calming down slightly.

"He'ss rreally gone..." Cinder cried, collapsing over Johnson's body. "Why! Why did this have to happen? Fatherr!"

"Shut up, you dumb lizard. He wasn't your father." The baroness said, angrily. "He already had two kids. You're just some beast he dragged home and pampered."

"Sshuut up!" Cinder cried, glaring at her. "I loved him. He wass the only fatherr I everr knew!"

"That doesn't mean anything!" Mary said, wiping tears from her eyes. "He was my father, not some wild animal's father."

"I am not a wild animal!" Cinder growled. "I am just as ssmart as you!"

"You can't even talk right, you over-grown gecko!" Tarin yelled in Cinder's face.

"Ssorrry, but my mouth iss differrent frrom humans!" Cinder growled, looking down at Johnson. "Now pleasse! We need to sstop fighting. Fatherr is laying herre dead! Does that mean nothing to you?"

"You shouldn't tell us how to feel, you dumb lizard!" the baroness yelled. "Anyways, we better get somebody here to clean this up. Tarin, go tell the servants to get him cleaned up for the coroner's arrival. Mary, go spread the word. I'm going to go sweep the floor. We need this place presentable for when they arrive to pick him up."

"So that'ss it? You jusst found yourr hussband dead, and yourr just going to act like it'ss no big deal?" Cinder cried, angrily.

"Get in the basement! We don't want anybody seeing you." The baroness ordered.

"But... fatherr..." Cinder cried, looking down at him. She began thinking a bit about what was going on. As everyone left the room, she took a few deep breaths. "I love you... father..." Cinder whispered. "Goodbye... and thank you for all that you've done." She said as she turned to walk away. Tears trailed as she walked away.

Cinder sat in the basement, listening as the coroner talked to the baroness. She hated the baroness and her two kids. They always treated her sorely, insulting her, and trying to get Johnson to throw her out. Now that the baroness was the only one that she had left, she knew she was in for it. What irritated her was how the baroness acted toward her father's death. She put on an act, sobbing uncontrollably and saying how she loved him, and that he was the sweetest man ever. Cinder felt sick to her stomach hearing this. The two fought all the time, and probably would have divorced sooner or later. Now, she figured, as soon as the funeral was over, she would take all of Johnson's belongings, and try to sell them for as much as she could.

"Alright, we will send a messenger as soon as the funeral can be arranged." The coroner's voice echoed. Cinder just sat at the basement door, her ear pressed to the door.

"Th-thank you, darling. I must thank you for your help!" The baroness said, sobbing. Cinder couldn't stand it anymore. She walked down the steps into the dank, grey basement. The basement was slightly damp, and was cooler than the rest of the house. As she walked into the empty basement, she sighed. She knew that, now that Johnson was gone, she would probably be either thrown out or harassed by the remaining family. Sitting their considering her options she realized that, if she tried to just walk out of the house, she would probably draw too much attention. As a pup in a cage, Johnson easily brought her in. Now she was a little bigger, and, to most humans, starting to look more threatening.

"Cinder! We need to talk to you!" Tarin yelled down the stairs. Cinder slowly ascended the steps, her heart sinking. She knew that this conversation, no matter what, was going to be bad for her.

"Yess, madam?" Cinder asked the baroness as she walked through the door.

"Listen, I completely understand that you probably don't want to leave here right now. After all, there are quite a few warriors looking for a dragon to slay." The baroness said in a gentle voice.

"Sso you'rre not going to just thrrow me out?" Cinder asked, looking at her.

"Of course not! I have much better plans for you!" she said, laughing.

"What are you talking about?" Cinder asked, starting to feel nervous. Baroness Sabrina was rarely nice to her unless she had some use for her.

"Alright, everyone in town needs fire to heat their houses. Dragon fire burns much hotter, and, due to its magical powers, doesn't burn out as easily." The baroness said, smiling evilly.

"I can't brreathe firre yet, though." Cinder said, taking a deep breath.

"Well then, we'll just have to wait a few years. And in the mean time, while I'm waiting for your fire ability to mature, I want you to also practice transforming into a human!" The baroness said, laughing.

"But turrning into a human iss a very difficult sspell to learrn!" Cinder said, looking at her sadly. "I've never learrned magic before!"

"Well, I happen to have this old draconic spell book in my library that my father had found. I want you to go in the basement and wait for me to bring it to you." The baroness said, smiling. Cinder wasn't sure of her intentions, but she had little choice but to comply.