Fire and Ice
Written by: ahnigurL

c", This will be a really fast fic, guys, I tell you. I have to finish this within a month, and due to incessant demand, here I am, posting another CCS story, a shorter one than A Princess' Aspiration. Okay. Let's get the show on the road.

Based on the animated movie Dragons: Fire and Ice.

Chapter One: To Ride
"Hyaah!"

A small black and green blur darted towards a respectable-looking lady, quite aged yet resilient. She deftly blocked the kick and a small foot connected with her arm sharply, only to disappear back into the blur again and stop a meter away from the lady.

A young boy of merely seven, with bright amber eyes and dark, chestnut-brown hair growled gutturally, provoked by the sudden defensiveness his mother and trainer showed. Normally, she wouldn't even have to defend from his attacks; she would merely dodge them with apparent ease.

But it seemed today was a different case.

The little boy defiantly glared at the lady, who stared him down evenly, before charging once again, a mere blurry figure as he launched a double mule kick at the lady's face. The lady was forced to back away and block, and the boy took it as an opportunity. He faked his move. It was a feint. He twisted his body swiftly in the air, a trained hand bracing against the ground for a moment before powerful wrist muscles released a force enough to force him up and to land a kick on his mother's defenseless stomach.

The lady doubled over, apparently not expecting such strength coming from his son. She was still a lady after all.

The young boy flipped and dropped down to the ground, doing a 360-degree helicopter spin and sweeping his mother's feet off the concrete balcony floor.

Li Yelan toppled to the floor and landed on her butt painfully. But, as she would like to put it, standing dignity.

"Ah…" Yelan sighed, looking proudly at her son. "You have grown into a fine young lad, Xiao Lang. Quite strong and agile, at that. I can see the training we burned through was not for nothing."

Li Xiao Lang smirked at his mother, cocking his head to the side. "Of course not, mother, I am not that weak. One day I will be the leader of the Empire and I intend to honor my father's memory by making the elders and people proud of their leader."

Yelan smiled fondly at her son.

Such courageous, firm words spoken like a true Li…

This little boy had not failed to surprise anybody. Ever. He was the best fighter in the entire Empire, and at this young, fragile state he was in, he already knew his duties and their importance. He already knew what role he was to fulfill once he grew up. And he was ready as hell to stand up to it.

"Come here and let your mama get up," Yelan beckoned, a devious glint in her eyes that went unnoticed to the unsuspecting Xiao Lang.

As Xiao Lang offered a small yet strong hand to help her mother up, Yelan reached up and pulled him down, pinning him down and raising her fist for a punch.

"What have I told you, little cub?"

Xiao Lang struggled under her grip and grumbled silently. "Never trust the enemy. Never let your guard down."

"Correct," Yelan nodded, getting off the little boy and letting him stand up. She stood up herself, brushing away inexistent dust on her battling outfit. "You are getting there, son, but you still have a long way to go. Remember… use your mind, little warrior. Sometimes, sheer brute force is not the solution to everything."

"Yes, mother."

Yelan smiled. "That's my boy." She walked to him and placed a feminine, yet noticeably strong hand on his shoulder. "I have a surprise for you today, little cub, and I'm quite sure you'll like it," Yelan smiled.

And as if on cue, there was a blast of cold air and a tall man with a pale, pointed face and little beady and sinister-looking eyes appeared before them. Xiao Lang bared his unusually sharp canine fangs and glared sharply at the man. They didn't exactly get along with each other. Yelan patted his shoulder to calm the boy. Little Xiao Lang spared her mother a glance, before his face changed and seemed etched in stone in that cold, calculating glare.

"Is everything ready, Slaizar?" Yelan asked the man pleasantly, who immediately placed an accommodating smile upon his face.

"Of course, milady," Slaizar bowed, beckoning towards a large, maroon dragon on the other side of the huge balcony. The dragon was glowering and growling at the man as well, though the man seemed unfazed by the apparent hostility his audience was bidding him. "If Prince Xiao Lang is ready…?"

"Ready to what?" snapped Xiao Lang in an authoritative, calculating voice that took both Yelan and Slaizar aback. They had not seen the young Prince ever act this way before. Or speak this way before.

Slaizar cleared his throat apprehensively and recovered his temporarily lost voice. "As you know, my Prince, Valgorn—" he said, motioning to the still growling dragon, "—is the last dragon remaining with the Li Clan."

"I very well know that," grumbled Xiao Lang. "And those dratted Kinomotos are the reason why the dragons all departed. Legend has it that the dragons will all come back when peace is regained, right? I doubt that'll happen, what with these annoyances running around the country that is supposed to be ours." Smart words for a seven-year-old kid. But he was no ordinary kid.

It was not unknown to both Yelan and Slaizar that Xiao Lang had the yearning to see the dragons soaring across the sky once again, just like as it was told in the stories passed on from generation to generation. But it had been centuries ever since the last herd of pure dragons flew across the beautiful, blue sky.

"Yes, yes," Slaizar nodded. "Therefore, as the ambassador of the Dragon's Realm, I reserve you, Prince Li Xiao Lang, the absolute right to deliver Valgorn under your total command, and no one else's."

Xiao Lang's head snapped up. "Total… command?"

"Why, yes."

"I can ride…?"

"Sure."

Xiao Lang practically skipped with delight as he scampered hurriedly towards the snorting dragon. He patted it's nose, and it snorted, rubbing against the child's hand. Valgorn had been loyal and friendly to Xiao Lang ever since he could remember, but he was not allowed to ride him, as law states. But now, he was in total control of the dragon, and he could ride all he wanted.

"Come on, Valgorn, show me what you got."

The sound of shattering small plates of clay pottery filled the eerie silence in the open hall of the Kinomoto castle. Sunset was at it's height, and as the Kinomoto Kingdom was at the western side of the country, the castle was, as usual, bathed in beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange.

A young girl with striking emerald eyes and beautiful, short auburn locks blocked spinning plates sent flying at her by her father. She used her palms to block it and as the plates impacted on her palm, they shattered into hundreds of sharp, small pieces. As painful and excruciating the exercise might look like, Kinomoto Sakura had mastered the art of ignoring the pain upon impact and making her palm hard enough for the pottery to simply rebound.

The plates in Fujitaka's arm ran out and he sighed, smiling at her daughter.

"Good work, Sakura… your mother would have been proud."

"Thank you, father!" she cheerfully bowed.

Then she shrieked when a spiked dragon tail came swiping at her, making her tumble down on the carpeted floor. A female, gray dragon snorted in mock laughter, swishing it's long, spiked tail back and forth in amusement. The hall had an open ceiling, and so the reptilian was free to fly in and interrupt any time she wanted.

"Frigga!" shrieked Sakura. "Why did you do that!" she stomped, harrumphing and crossing her arms. "That's it, don't ever talk to me again."

Fujitaka chuckled at her daughter's antics. "Sakura, let the dragon be. Frigga was only playing around."

"Still, she shouldn't have tripped me."

"It only shows that you should not be too fast in thinking, Sakura. All you ever do is think, you forget to act it out. Or you forget the more… minor, subtler things."

Sakura's pout grew more pronounced as her father's words sunk in.

"Ah, I almost forgot, I have a surprise for you, Sakkie," Fujitaka smiled, watching her daughter shift from pouting to eager.

"Really?"

"Yes. He should be here any minute now."

"He…?"

Just then, there was a cold draft, and Slaizar appeared before them.

"My apologies for the lateness of the hour, sire, I had some matters to attend to on the… ah, other side," Slaizar bowed respectfully at Fujitaka.

"No matter, Slaizar," Fujitaka nodded. "Ambassador's duties, eih?"

"Yes. It is quite a burden, sometimes, flitting in between two rivaling forces and being in the middle of the tension all the time. I don't think I ever read it in the job description, honestly."

Sakura snorted. She had never taken a liking for the creepy man. "Didn't you hear, job descriptions are all lies, they're honey lies to attract ignorant bees searching for work."

"Such a smart little mouth, Princess, pretty smart for your age," smirked Slaizar. Sakura just glared at him. "Now, if Princess is ready, we could proceed."

"Huh…?"

"Princess, from this day on, as the Ambassador to the Dragon's Realm, the dragon named Frigga is all yours to command. Ride away, Princess."

Sakura squealed in delight. "Really?"

"Yes."

"But I thought you would never talk to Frigga again, Sakura…?" Fujitaka said, smilingly raising an eyebrow.

"Who, me?" Sakura said innocently. "I don't remember having said such a thing. We're best friends, right, Frigga?" she said, patting the dragon's snout. Frigga snuggled against the warm hand and snorted approvingly. Sakura smiled at her father, who nodded.

"Yay! This day couldn't get any better! I can ride Frigga! Now, my only wish is to defeat those Lis so the dragons will all come back, and I'll have a chance to play and fly with them!"

The girl sat upon the dragon's back, and held the reins tightly, as the dragon sent gust after gust of billowing air on the hall as they were taking off.

Slaizar and Fujitaka looked after her receding figure in the skies, her laughter tinkling from afar.

"She is quite a smart and intuitive girl, isn't she, my King?"

"Yes… yes she is. Got it from her mother, I know…"

Tsuzuku
c", There. Done. Chapter 1.

ahnigurL : ViPeR aLcHeMisT
Lady Kiasidira Ixari
04.13.06