Hello, reader! Welcome to my first story! I hope you enjoy it, and please leave a review telling me what I can fix and what I can improve on.

~Arg

In ancient times, the Dragon tribes came together as a council to protect their world from the humans that sought to bring its destruction. They chose from their great families one dragon to protect the magical creatures of specific regions, wherever he or she may live. The duty is passed down from generation to generation, to the firstborn of the dragon's family.

This way, the magical world became well protected.

But what of the water dragons?

Marcus grumbled as he messed with his somewhat spiky slicked back blonde hair. "This is stupid," he whispered to himself as he flipped over his test. He doodled on the sidelines of the page. This wasn't advanced enough for him. Fractions? That was easy. These other kids were just stupid. They'd proven that they couldn't handle even simple arithmetic. This wasn't elementary school. No, it was middle school. Come on, guys. Wake up and smell the algebra

Well, whether or not it was dumb, he was stuck in arithmetic with all of the idiots. With a sigh, he glanced around with dark brown eyes for his friends. He quickly spotted redheaded and tall Zia, the sporty short haired girl who always seemed way too cheerful and excited. Even then she looked happy, her green eyes bright with passive glee.

Marcus turned his gaze to the back corner of the room where his friend Moe was sitting, her pencil being bitten between braced teeth and her big black boots up on her desk. She didn't ever seem to care, and when she did, she never showed it. No one seemed to ever care what she did, either. She may have been disrespectful, but she'd never really broken any rules. Well, except for dress codes. She always wore skirts that were way too short and shirts that showed way too much of her slim waist. Marcus briefly wondered why Moe was really such a good friend, and the only logical answer he could come up with was that she made such a great foil to Zia.

Something made Marcus's breath suddenly catch in his throat. He coughed. Zia and Moe immediately both looked at him, Zia with worry and Moe with an eyebrow raised. He sighed, glad no one else stared at him.

Class ended a few minutes later. Marcus handed in his dragon-covered test. The teacher smiled at his drawings, amused.

"So," Marcus said as his small friend group met up outside. "Are we rollerskating today?"

"I'd love to!" Zia smiled. "Moe?"

"Sure, whatever," Moe replied, smirking a bit. Her dark hair was falling in front of her face again, especially the dyed dark green streaks in front.

The group then put on their own pairs of rollerblades, save for Zia, who used truck skates, and headed to the skate park. Marcus left after both Moe and Zia were called to their respective homes.

He walked up to his house feeling apprehensive. He had a strange feeling about today. Marcus opened the door cautiously. Nothing seemed to be off, so he walked right in. "Hi Mom," he called out as he put down his backpack.

"Hi, Marcus. How was school?"

His tall blonde mother appeared from the kitchen, her hands covered by oven mitts. Marcus could smell fish. The scent made him hungry, strangely. He'd never really had a craving before...

"Fine," he answered. "We had a fractions test today. It was way boring. I already know this stuff."

"Of course you do, dear," his mother smiled. "You're a smart boy. Dinner's almost ready. Go get your sister and wash up, please."

Marcus sighed and climbed the stairs to go knock on his sister's door. Meranda opened the door, her golden hair tied up in a ponytail for once. That meant that she'd been either drawing or working on homework. Probably drawing, since it was already kind of late. "Dinner," Marcus told her, before he went downstairs to meet up with his mother and father.

Mr. Geraldi, Marcus's father, was reading the news on his cell phone. Marcus scratched at his neck as he waited for dinner to be set on the table. Meranda hurried down the stairs, her hair no longer tied back and her teal sweater on. Food was set onto the table.

Marcus quickly grabbed some of the fish and ate it slowly. It was strange. Normally, he wasn't such a fan of fish. He hadn't expected to like it as much as he suddenly did.

Then again, he was nearly fourteen. That meant that his tastebuds were due to change around then, right? Yeah, that made sense.

Mr. Geraldi gave a heavy sigh. "Our stocks are down another two percent," he said. "At this rate, we'll lose the company..."

"Sell," Marcus said suddenly. His family glanced at him strangely as he kept shoveling fish into his mouth.

"What?" Mr. Geraldi asked, sounding greatly confused. Marcus swallowed.

"Sell," he repeated, sounding bored. "Tomorrow. Then buy the next month."

"Why?"

Marcus shrugged. He didn't honesly know why. It was just a feeling he had. He scratched at his neck again as his parents gave each other worried glances. Meranda poked at her fish with great disinterest. "You gonna finish that?" Marcus asked her. She shook her head and he took her plate.

"Since when do you like fish?" Meranda asked him boredly.

"Since recently, I guess," he answered casually. "It's around that time where people's tastes change for me."

"That happens?"

Marcus nodded, finishing his fish. He yawned, scratched at his neck, and went up to bed. His parents gave each other another concerned glance before they began cleaning up.