It was a normal day in Principal Rotwood's mythology class. Not a single student was paying attention to his unswerving rambling of false facts of magical creatures. "And zat children is vhy pixie dust can cure all of zee illnesses in zee vorld," Rotwood summed up yesterday's lecture in heavy accent, interrupted by a commonly tardy Rose. "Ah, Miss Rose, so nice of you to even make zan attempt to show up in my classroom. Vhat is your excuse zis time?" he reprimanded.
"Mr. Rotwood…"
"Ah! Principal Rotwood!"
"Principal Rotwood, I am so sorry! I was um… helping a cat out of a tree? And I uh…. was having trouble climbing it, and I didn't notice how late it had gotten," she lied, knowing full well that the Huntsman had kept her late to discuss her slowly slipping grades and that night's mission.
"Very well Miss Rose, if you can take zee time to miss my class to help zee poor little kitty, then you can make up zee time in after school detention," he ripped off a pink detention slip from a diminishing pad of paper. "But sir, I… I can't be late getting home!" she begged. "And you shouldn't have been late to my classroom! Now take your seat and pay attention!" he ordered.
"Yes, Mr."
"PRINCIPAL!"
That afternoon"Yo, Rose, why are you looking so down? School is finally over!" Jake looked at his somewhat girlfriend. "Rotwood gave me detention. The Huntsman's going to kill me if I'm late again tonight. He claims that he has this fail proof plan tonight, and he'll blame it on me when we fail," she sighed walking with Jake towards Rotwood's classroom. "So what's the briefing?" Jake asked as he would always. "Central Park, six o' clock. Same thing," she shook her head. "Well, I guess we'll see each other later," she waved him goodbye.
"Take a seat in zee back Rose," Rotwood ordered.
Rose brought out a piece of lined paper and doodled a picture of central park and the plan that she would follow that night – with a small glitch. She knew that she would never slay the American Dragon. Before the harsh two hours were over, she had drawn Central Park, herself getting married to Jake, and her and Jake kissing over a dead Huntsman's body. It scared her how much pleasure she received out of these drawings.
The buzzard rang and she tore up the paper and dropped them into the recycling bin on her way out of the room. "Rose!" Rotwood stopped her. She was already late enough, and his prevention was not welcomed. "Have a fun night!" he wished with a chuckle. "Thanks?" she replied slow and hesitantly.
As Rose sped through the crowded New York streets, Rose roughly braided her hair, pulled out her Huntsgirl mask, and easily threw on the rest of her uniform. The Huntslair was coming closer and closer to get as the winter sun began to set.
"Huntsgirl!" the Huntsman shouted the moment she stepped through the doors. "Yes, Master?" she braced. "Why weren't you home hours ago?" he raged. "Sir, I um… had detention – again. But it wasn't my fault!" she vowed. "Silence! You promised me that if I returned you to New York, that you would be able to maintain the responsibilities that come with it! We do not have time to confer this now. Go get prepped for tonight, we're leaving in forty minutes!" he stormed out.
That NightRose sat in the top of a tree waiting for the signal. Jake, please come soon. Finally a stray Unicorn wandered out and began to pick at the ground. The Huntsman flashed the signal, and within a second the poor beast was completely surrounded.
"Hey now, give him a fighting chance," Jake and Lao Shi flew into the area. "Dragon!" the Huntsman acknowledged. "Huntsgirl!" Rose understood and began fighting both Jake and Lao Shi at the same time. Jake and Rose had rehearsed fights in the Dream Realm, but real life was much more complicated. Her dodged her lasers, and she dodged their fire, but when an unexpected laser came from the Huntsclan towards Jake, right pass Rose; she shirked to the side into one of Lao Shi's fire streams.
"Ah!" Rose cried out in pain. Her arm had been slightly burned, and it felt like a thousand needles pushing trough her flesh. "You'll pay for that dragon!" she cried out, but Jake unthreateningly grabbed her with his tail and threw her into a tree – just as planned.
She shook her head to make her surroundings stop spinning, but by the time that she stood, the unicorn had fled the area, and Jake and his grandfather had flown away. She heard the Huntsman scolding the young member for firing towards the dragons when his order was to attack the unicorn. Then she felt the pain surge through her right arm. She cringed holding in the pain until they returned home, and the Huntsman was able to alleviate the pain and treat the burn.
Rose sat on a table with the Huntsmaster next to her. "This wouldn't have happened if you weren't late. Your mind was still stressed, and that made you unfocused," he injected a small amount of medicine above her burn. He often did this after a mission when she got hurt. The medicine increased healing of the body, made her stronger in the mind, and increased her energy and the ability to pump it up when needed. Rose really didn't know all of the details of the drug, she just knew that she had been receiving it after injuries for years, and it used to giver her comfort to know that her guardian could protect her – but that was a long time ago. Now it worried her that her master was taking every advantage to inject this strange substance.
"I understand, Master. I'll try harder tomorrow," she stared at the ground. "See that you do," he finished wrapping her arm and sending Rose on her way to bed.
Principal Rotwood's Mythology Class"Ah, good day Rose. I see zat your arm was injured last night? Hmm?" Rotwood took interest. "Yes, I was boiling a small amount of water in a measuring cup, and I didn't realize how hot it was getting, and I tripped carrying the cup and it fell on my arm," she lied retaining her seat wondering why Rotwood had taken up a sudden interest in her personal life.
As always, Rotwood talked and talked for the entire hour about things that Rose knew were untrue. She sometimes wished that he were more accurate; because then she wouldn't fail all of the tests when she answered what she knew was correct.
"Rose, I need you to stay after school for a single moment," he wished. "But sir, I really have to get home," she declared. "No, no, it shall only take a minute," he persisted. "All right," she sighed and walked to her next class.
"Rose!" Jake spotted her. "Oh, hey Jake, Trix, Spud. How are you guys?" she asked excitedly (the drug from the previous night wouldn't allow her to be in a gloomy mood). "Rose, we're so sorry for what happened last night! That was never supposed to occur! Are you okay?" he glared back down to her arm. "I'm fine, it wasn't an awful burn. Your grandfather has really nice control over every aspect of his fire breathing," Rose laughed trying to keep her voice down. "So same time tonight – flock of pixies come to mate," Rose whispered to the three of them and left into her next class.
After School – Rotwood's Classroom"You wanted to see me Principal Rotwood?" Rose entered the empty room cautiously. "Yes, thank you very much for visiting me, Rose," Rotwood snuck out from behind the door and locked it. Rose became stiff and tried not to show it, but prepared herself for a battle. "Relax Rose. I am not going to hurt you," he sat down behind his big wooden desk, "We have a deal to arrange."