Taking risks

'Something bothering you?' Dorothy asked as she noticed Kurt continuing to stare at his own hands every now and then while walking through the hallways of the academy.

[It's nothing...]

'You know, ninety-nine percent of times someone says that there is no problem when they're asked if there is a problem, it usually means that there is a problem...'

[Ugh...]

'Now... Are you gonna keep acting like a baby or will you just say what's on your mind already?'

Kurt stopped walking for a moment and began to think back to what he did to all these boys a while ago, the image of him attacking the shaved-head guy and using his healing talent to stop him from passing out so he could continue to hurt him even more flashing before his eyes.

[I feel... I feel like I almost lost myself for a moment...] he confessed, [I wanted to hurt him so bad... And I didn't want to stop... I don't think I would have if it weren't for you...]

'Well... Duh?'

[Duh...?]

'You're just a kid, Kurt... I mean... In a way, you kinda lived for nearly thirty years, but you are still just a boy that never really went through your maturing phase... You still can't control your emotions like a proper adult, at least not while watching your master getting tormented!'

[Master...?]

'Yes, me! On top of that, you're no longer a human, you're a dragon! That means it's in your nature to be more beast-like!'

[I... I see...] Kurt mumbled as he realized he never really felt the difference from being a dragon to being a human until this point.

'But!' Dorothy continued, 'Just because you're not human, doesn't mean you have to forget your humanity!'

[...]

'Please, make this promise to me, Kurt! Don't make me watch my boy forget who he is!'

[Uuhh... Side note, when did I turn into your boy...?]

'Well... I am the reason you came into this world, right? And I am raising you! Much more than your ghost of a father at least...' she whispered, 'That kinda makes me like your parent as well, right?'

[I... I don't know about that logic, but I don't really hate it, I guess...]

'Then it's decided! And, since you're now officially my boy, give me your word that I won't see you lose yourself!'

Kurt lowered his gaze and began to fill his head with worry, [What if something like that happens again?]

'Then, I'll be here to stop you again!'

Kurt widened his eyes.

'I'm never going to leave you! And I'll never give up on you! As long as you don't give up on yourself as well! Deal?'

The boy started to smile from ear to ear while feeling his face burning from hearing that Dorothy would never give up on him.

[Deal!]

'That's my boy!'

___________________

___________________

Lunch break had ended, and since Kurt was busy handling the kids that tried to ambush him, he never got a chance to eat anything nor got to interact with new people.

By the time he returned to class, he realized that everyone in the classroom had already formed their own circle of friendships.

[Ah... I got left out... ] the boy with red hair carrying an owl on his shoulder mumbled while noticing the current situation of the students.

'Why not just ask if you could join one of their circles?' Dorothy wondered.

[It's not that simple... There is an order to this... You can't just go there and ask 'Hey! Can I be friends with you guys?' so easily....]

'Why...?'

[Because you can't.]

'Again... Why?'

[It makes you look desperate for company.]

'You ARE desperate for company...'

[Well, duh, but I don't want them to know that... I need to be cool! Keep up my image.]

Dorothy just stared at him with an expression that screamed 'Teenagers are such a pain to handle...' all over her face.

"Hey, man! You by yourself again?" a voice suddenly asked Kurt while giving him a heavy slap in the back.

At first, the lad assumed someone was being hostile again, but it turned out that the culprit just had big hands.

"Ah! Hey, Trevor!" Kurt replied while greeting the kid with large bones and short black hair.

"Man, I really wish you could have seen the advanced biology lessons! We learned about all in-depth details of the classes of dragons of the warrior type!" Trevor commented while blushing as he shared his love for studying dragons.

"Classes...? Warrior dragons have classes...?"

Trevor raised an eyebrow, "You didn't hear about the classes during your basic biology lesson?"

"Dude, I haven't managed to learn a single thing all day... My seat is terrible for people like me that have trouble listening from afar."

At that moment, Trevor gasped as if he had just spotted a gold mine, "Ah!! Wait! Wait, wait, wait!! That means you need help with biology!! I can teach you!!!"

"Right now...? But our next lesson is-"

"Who cares!? You won't hear it anyway... Come on, man!! Let me geek out about dragons a bit!!!"

"O- Okay..."

The two proceeded to do as Trevor suggested. The next lesson should be about dragon flames, but just like before, due to Gaby having stolen Kurt's seat, the poor boy was struggling to grasp anything being said.

Trevor took this chance to share about dragon classes while revealing sparkles in his eyes. Kurt assumed the kid was probably dreaming of becoming a teacher in the future and was using him as a test subject.

"So basically, dragon classes are divided by the unique ability each dragon warrior can use when they turn into their second form!

For instance, a dragon that can use abilities related to enhancing its natural skills is called body class! Things like boosting your strength, speed, defense, and so on."

"I see..."

"Dragons that can use elemental abilities like spit fire or freeze their opponents are, big shock, elemental class. They are the most common and fire is usually the most used element due to its offensive potential."

"I see..."

"But we also have dragons that can use non-elemental abilities, such as reading someone's mind, seeing into the future, healing injuries, and even lifting things with their minds! They are called psychic type, and they are usually the most powerful class due to how unpredictable they can be!"

"I... Oh... Interesting..." Kurt mumbled.

The boy was honestly barely paying attention due to how tired and hungry he was. Fighting the shave-head boy and his gang made him really sleepy and the empty stomach was really not helping much, but hearing that his healing ability was included among the strongest classes did a good job of waking him up.

[Dory! Did you hear that? My healing talent is one of the strongest!] Kurt whispered while using another dialect to chat with his owl.

'No surprise there... You can't really be defeated if you can just keep healing yourself...' Dorothy replied.

"Man, you really like to mumble to yourself, don't you?" Trevor noted.

"Eh? Oh... I guess... Haha... It's just that saying things out loud helps me to relax more than just thinking about it, you know?"

"Eh, no problem! We all have our quirks. I like studying about dragons, you like to talk to your imaginary friend, and Gaby likes to tell people to piss off! It's just the way we are!"

"Ugh... Gaby..." Kurt groaned at the mention of that name. Just thinking about how much he lost just because she forced him to give up his seat was starting to dig up some leftover anger from his fight against the kids from before.

He still wanted to vent a little, and just like Dorothy had said, he shouldn't just let people walk over him all the time.

The more he looked at her from behind, the more Kurt desired to get back at her.

"Trevor, you said the psychic class is the strongest one, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Does Gaby have a psychic class as well?"

"Mmm... I'm pretty sure her class is elemental. Both her parents were elementals as well."

"Her parents...?"

"Oh, right, forgot to mention, your talent is something you inherit from your mother or father. The one you get is decided at random by your genetics, but most of the time, the genes from the mother are the ones that prevail."

"I see..."

Kurt now understood why he wasn't able to cover his body with metal like his mother. He must be a rare case that inherited his talent from his father's side.

Usually, he would find that upsetting since he always felt he was closer to his mom than his dad, but today, that was all he could ask for.

After the fire class was over, Kurt stood up and moved to the center of the room before the next professor arrived.

"Kurt?" Trevor called while watching him moving through the desks.

'Kurt...? What are you doing?' Dorothy asked as well.

[I'm gonna get my seat back.]

He finally stopped once he reached the desk he was going to use and that had been taken from him. Staring right at him while holding an open book in one hand and taking notes on a piece of paper on another, was a girl with short curly purple hair.

"Hey, Gaby" Kurt greeted in a cold tone.

"You again? What's this, the third time you bother me today?" Gaby replied while trying to send the message 'Get. Lost!' with her eyes.

"I want my seat back" Kurt declared.

"Well, good for you! Now tell that to someone who cares!"

Kurt closed his fist. Her behavior was really ticking him off, "The last class of today, is combat training, right?"

At that moment, every single person in class lifted their heads upon hearing something that might grab their interest and stared at the two of them.

Trevor began to wave his hands while whispering "Dude!! Bad Idea! BAD IDEA!!!" but Kurt didn't seem to notice.

"How about it? I'll be your opponent. Winner gets the seat. Seems fair?"

Gaby just opened her mouth and began to look at him as if she had eaten something rotten, "The hell...? Why in blazes would I do that? I already have the seat..."

"You don't... Not really, I just gave it to you because I was trying to be nice... But you have been nothing but a jerk to me about it all day, so now I want it back!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. You're just like every other bully. Thinking that just because you want something, you deserve it more than others. I used to be scared of idiots like you before... But not anymore!" he announced, as if each word spoken was a step taken to get farther away from the weak version of himself from his old life that would always run away from things, "What about you? You have the guts to face me? Or are you all bark and no bite?"

Gaby glared at him. She had a look that was a mix of shock, confusion, anger, and curiosity. It seemed like nobody had dared to challenge her in a long time, if ever, and she was having trouble knowing how to react.

She immediately stood up and bolts of electricity began to fly all over the room and covering her in lightning from head-to-toe.

"You wanna challenge me??" she asked as her hair started to rise from the static and sparks began to appear around her eyes, "Fine by me! But after I turn you to ashes, if you survive, you leave me alone for good, got it?"

Kurt was so stunned by her sudden change in appearance that all the newfound courage from before had almost completely vanished.

"G- Got it..." he managed to utter.

Gaby released a wide grin, "I can't wait!"