Lots of Updating!

Okay, I know I haven't posted in FOREVER (here meaning a week). My excuse is that I've had LOTS of homework and rehearsal and craziness. I'm also going to New York tomorrow, and spring break starts in about an hour, so that means the official SPRING BREAK COLLEGE TRIP!
This is also my first post as a no-longer-last-week's-age-year-old. My birthday was on Sunday, but I was so busy catching up on homework to post about it. So... yeah.
This post also serves as a LITERARY UPDATE! HOORAY!
This is technically a day late (sorry, Liz), but it's here. It's a sort-of retelling of "Beauty and the Beast," except with dragons and teenage issues. I would have worked on the ending more, but I want to get this up. So here it is. YAY!


Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a princess named Storm. That wasn’t my idea, by the way, for my name to be Storm. But that’s not the point. My christening is where my story starts, and, so far, it hasn’t ended yet.
Something you should know before I start: dragons are feared above all else in Lyseno. Dragons are dangerous, but they’re also living creatures with needs, and, as I’ve learned, the only reason they need to raid a town is because a human killed a dragon.
Another thing I’ve learned is that you should NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, irk a fairy. Ever. Especially not a Creature Fairy who’s also a Dragon Friend. I wasn’t turned into an aardvark, like the doorman (who DID irk a Dragon Friend/ Creature Fairy), but he was an idiot – the fairy that he wouldn’t let in to my christening turned him into an aardvark and gave me eternal acne, facial hair, a rebellious attitude, and the capability of turning into a dragon because she was in a bad mood (I don’t think she slept well the previous night AND had skipped caffeine that morning).
Some of the other fairies at my christening, however, were able to modify the curse a bit for my mother’s sake – the acne would come out on my 13th birthday and stay until I met someone who realized that looks aren’t all there is to me (and admit it OUT LOUD), and the facial hair would come out on the first night of my monthly cycle, and would end with the same standards as the acne. They could do nothing about my attitude or the dragon thing, and I don’t think they wanted to.
The fairies that didn’t put their effort into modifying the curse gave me other things – curiosity, strength, competence, ingenuity. It worked out nicely, I guess, but Mother really didn’t agree. I’m certain she hated me for the time I lived in her castle. See, when I turned 13 and the acne and the hair started coming (my first cycle began, almost ironically, on my 13th birthday), she began to freak out about how repulsive I looked (repulsive for a princess, I mean – I was a little below average by commoner standards, but I was in the negatives for a princess), so, being a traditional queen, my mother decided to send me away to an abandoned castle a few miles north of our palace, with nothing but some seeds to grow, some cheese and water, and nobody to supervise me.

Well, for me the live-alone thing worked out great. I wrote to my parents whenever I needed more books on any topic, or to get some ropes to make traps to snare intruders (I never actually SAID I was making traps – I don’t remember what I said, but it wasn’t the truth) or some extra seeds for the garden (I had to eat SOMEHOW). The letters were delivered by a nameless fairy godmother.
I spent my teen years in the abandoned palace. I’d the full run of the place, and I loved it. I set my own rules, did my own thing, ran my own house. It was awesome! Also, there was nobody trying to annoy me enough to get me to turn into a dragon. As such, I didn’t have a whole ton of human interaction, so I got kind of lonely sometimes. I didn’t make friends with birds and wildflowers and stuff, like most princesses would – being a rebel ingrained with dragon magic, I refuse to partake in such irritating frivolities.
Instead, I befriended dragons.
Dragons are awesome creatures. They can do anything they want, really, and the only way they ever end up taking ‘no’ for an answer is when a prince or a knight runs something through their chest or when ‘no’ works well for them. When I first met the dragons, I was completely open with them about who I was and what I can do – like my parents, I’ve read the stories, but unlike them, I’ve taken note of the fact that liars usually get eaten. I like the dragons, I respect dragons, and I’d greatly prefer to not be eaten. They’re misunderstood by most Lysenans because most Lysenans are scared of them. My best friend in the dragon world is a purple-scaled, yellow-spiked dragon named Milanor.

The day after I turned seventeen, my life changed. A merchant on his way home from a failed trip decided to pick one of my roses. Normally I wouldn’t be offended by this, but I’d just gotten back from Milanor’s cave, and we’d fried a prince (he’d shown up and started attacking Milanor and me, even though Milanor hadn’t had a princess in over a year and I wasn’t doing anything) and we deduced that male humans are idiots. After that, I wasn’t inclined to meet another man, but ONE WAS IN MY YARD, and HE WAS STEALING MY STUFF. He could have at least asked! I might have said yes! (Okay, I probably wouldn’t have, but its common courtesy to ASK before you just randomly take something) Like I said, male humans are idiots.
He completely flipped when he saw me – I hadn’t returned to human form, so he seemed to deduce that he’d just raided a dragon’s castle (another big no-no).
Never have I ever had anyone cower at me.
I LOVE dragons.
When I arrived on the ground, this guy looked like he was about to faint from fear – I guess most humans would if a sixteen-foot green dragon landed right in front of them.
I just looked at him for a while.
“So,” I said simply, “Why’d you steal my flower?”
“It… it… it’s for my… my… my daughter,” he stuttered.
I looked at him for a while longer. “You know that I’m not going to hurt you, right?” I told him. The merchant gave me a confused look before going into the fetal position.
“I’ve already done my prince-frying for today,” I explained. “You’re safe.”
If I were him, I’d be enormously relieved that I wasn’t going to die. But I wasn’t him – this guy squeezed himself into a tighter ball.
“If it makes you feel better, you can have the rose,” I said patiently.
The guy continued to look confused and curled up tighter.
Sighing, I changed back into an acne-ridden teenager. This freaked him out even more, and he tried to run away, but somehow forgot where his legs were.
“I’M NOT GOING TO HURT YOU, OKAY!?” I yelled in exasperation. “I’m not actually a dragon! I’m a teenager! My name is Storm!”
“It’s… the flower… my daughter…” he stammered.
“Yes, you have a daughter,” I said calmly. “She’s beautiful?” He nodded earnestly. “I’m sure she is. Now, do you have any sons?” He nodded again. “How old are they?”
“T-twelve, f-fifteen, and seven- seventeen,” he gulped. “I – why – why would a dragon be interested in a boy, milady?”
“I’m NOT A DRAGON, I’m a PERSON. Now, keep the flower and send along your oldest son, all right?” He looked terrified at the idea.
“I’m not going to kill him,” I said. “It’s a sad day for him if he goes back to you with more than a bruise.”
He rose to his feet shakily, his entire body trembling. “Ni- Nikolai will be along soon, milady,” the merchant stammered. Men are wimps.

A week later, Nikolai came, looking just as terrified as his father, which doesn’t make sense to me. I dress like a teenage boy, I have bad acne, and I get really hairy once a month. So what if I can also turn into a dragon? It’s not the end of the world. Anyone who gets fried probably deserves it.
Nikolai turned out to actually be kind of attractive when he’s scared. He’d big, dark eyes and shaggy brown hair, and a really nice smile (I didn’t see that until later).
If truth be told, I don’t know why I demanded that Nikolai come, because I have nothing for him to DO.
So, I started off by telling him the truth.
“My name is Storm, and I live here,” I said lamely. “You won’t be hurt as long as I have something to say about it. And as long as you’re careful and don’t step into one of the traps.”
Nikolai gulped. “Traps?”
I shrugged. “In case someone decides to storm the castle, you know. To pick off a few people if there are raids. There haven’t been any raids,” I added quickly. “But… well, why not? People like killing dragons, don’t they? Even if the dragon’s really just a teenage girl?”
Nikolai continued to look terrified.
“You’re safe here, all right? I had to ask for SOMETHING of your dad for breaking and entering without permission. You won’t be hurt, I swear. Everyone thinks this place is haunted, right? And if they go near here, they’d realize that I can change into something that can very easily hurt them and will probably run away.”
The terrified expression hadn’t left Nikolai’s face.
“What’s so scary?” I asked.
“You,” he said quietly.
“I’m scary,” I stated. “I’m scary? I’m scary? What- but- why?”
“You can turn into a dragon,” Nikolai said. “And everyone says you’re really ugly and have a horrendous temper. There’ve been a lot of rumors,” he added apologetically.
“Well, I’ll have you know that I don’t have a horrid temper most of the time,” I informed him as civilly as possible. “I can change my shape, but I won’t hurt anyone who doesn’t give me any cause to.”
Nikolai didn’t look convinced.
“Okay, whatever,” I sighed. “I’ll just shut up now, shall I? Come on, I’ll show you where you can sleep, I guess. Unless there’s something you’d rather see,” I added.
“Um… no,” Nikolai said. He looked, finally, a little less uncomfortable with the idea of staying with a girl who could turn into a dragon. He didn’t seem comfortable with it by any means – he just seemed to accept that as his fate.

That was in early May of my seventeenth year.
By the end of the month, Nikolai had opened up, we had become good friends, and Mother had written to me:

Storm,
It has come to my attention that you’re hosting a boy in your castle. Although I approve highly of the fact that someone has caught your attention, please remember the standards of the curse – he doesn’t have to be a LOVER, merely a FRIEND. I’d also like to point out that if he’s blind, your situation will be aided.
Also, it’s my duty as your mother to remind you that, as you have a boy in your place of residence, you’re not to partake in any frivolous actions that may result in your becoming a mother. This is especially important as your curse hasn’t been broken yet – cursed mothers are notorious for unintentionally cursing children. It would be disgraceful for you to be a mother before you became a wife, and Lyseno didn’t have any disgrace in the royal family before you came along. Please don’t worsen the situation.
Fondly,
Mother

I respected what she was saying, but I really didn’t like her telling me what not to do. So I wrote back as a joke:

Dear Mother,
I’m pleased to inform you that the boy you mentioned, Nikolai, hasn’t only broken my curse, but I’m now with child. We don’t know for certain its sex, but we do know that Nikolai hadn’t broken the curse before the child was conceived. We have no plans of getting married, though Nikolai is certain that he will remain in my company to help rear the infant. We will name the child Diana if it’s a girl and Darksnake Jaguaro if it’s a boy.
Just kidding.
Nikolai hasn’t broken the curse, nor am I with child. Nikolai’s very nice, but we haven’t done anything yet, except death-defying races for our lives in dragon challenge courses.
Also, on the subject of dragons: can you PLEASE tell all the knights and princes to stop killing dragons? I’ve lost three friends already, and I’m getting blamed for the misfortunes of the dragons. Although I can change into a dragon, that doesn’t help in the slightest. Dragons are becoming an endangered species. Please help, or we’ll be forced to take action.
Sincerely,
Storm

The last two paragraphs were true: people were killing off dragons left, right, and center and my dragon friends were livid. The letter to my mother was all I could do on the subject, without a raid on the palace. Dragons were an endangered species without the assassinations, and now people were hunting them like it was still the Age of Dragons!

“Well, you could go off and save the world yourself, Storm,” Nikolai suggested that night. “Isn’t it completely in your power to do that?”
“Um… not technically, no,” I replied. “But it’s a thought. What would I do to save the world, exactly? I’m kind of new to the business.”
“Well, I’ve had very little experience with the matter,” Nikolai answered casually, “But it usually involves some pain in the butt area for those one wants to defeat.”
“Well, I know THAT much,” I said, “But the real thing is how to inflict the pain. I can’t decide among ‘fire,’ ‘scratching,’ ‘all of the above,’ or ‘other.’ What do you think?”
Nikolai thought for a moment. “I kind of like ‘all of the above,’” he said.
I got a letter back from my mother the next day. It was brief and curt:

Storm,
Dragons are horrid creatures and should be disposed of at all costs. It would be just like you to befriend them. You’re not to associate yourself with any more dragons at all costs. The killings will continue as long as there are dragons in the area. You did a wretched job of raising yourself.
Mother

That night, Nikolai and I started plotting. We planned over the course of the next week, with the start being on Midsummer’s Night.
The plan was for me to be a dragon and for Nikolai to be riding on my back. I would go to Milanor’s cave and signal to Milanor’s father, the king of the dragons (Milanor isn’t the prince of the dragons – unlike with humans, the dragon ruler’s title isn’t hereditary). He would signal to the rest of the dragons, and we would all storm the castle until some amends had been reached. I knew it would be difficult to bring my parents around, and Milanor’s father, Janu, was a bit unreasonable when he talked politics (unreasonable for humans, I mean. He’s unusually fair for dragons). I knew Janu was open to negotiations – he’d expressed a fear of the dragon-cide that was going on, and that was part of my reasoning for writing to my mother. When it became clear that the killings were to continue, I realized (with Nikolai’s urging, of course) that I had to do something.
Nikolai and I had developed a lot more trust since he first arrived – I guess he decided that, dragon shape, acne, and monthly hair aside, I’m actually an okay person. He hadn’t actually said he liked me out loud – otherwise the curse would’ve been broken. Either way, I was glad to have his friendship on Midsummer’s Night. Although I’d always dreamed about it, I really had never had the guts to… well, raise a dragon rebellion and storm my parents’ castle.
There’s a first time for everything, right?
I was nervous on Midsummer’s Night. I love reading about these sorts of climactic sequences, but I never thought the people in books were nervous.
For the record, they are.

At dusk on Midsummer’s Night, I went to get Nikolai. I found him on the balcony of one of the upper rooms, staring out into the sunset.
“You ready?” I asked.
“I guess,” was all he said. He looked nervous, though not as nervous as when he’d first shown up at my castle.
We were quiet for a moment. I was developing a different sort of nerve around him – the sort of nerve you get when you really like someone, and can’t decide whether you should admit it or not.
I decided to let him in on another secret – just not that one.
“For the record,” I said, fixing my gaze out over the yard so I didn’t have to look at him, “If we die tonight, I’ll have died cursed.”
Nikolai smiled. “I know.”
“Really. When did you find out?”
“Well, how else would any girl who’s not a werewolf get all hairy one night a month, whether or not it’s the full moon, and also be able to turn into a dragon at will?”
“Well, the dragon bit won’t end, but I don’t want it to. The hairy bit will, eventually, along with the acne.”
“I suppose this is one of those true-love’s-first-kiss things?” Nikolai had a note of suspicion in his voice.
“Oh, no!” I yelped. “Good Gods, no!”
“Okay, good,” he said with a smile.
“It’s a see-past-the-gross thing,” I explained.
Nikolai gave me a look. “What do you mean it’s a see-past-the-gross thing?”
“Well, it means if you hate me, you have to hate me because I’m a jerk to you, not because I have bad acne and sometimes look like a werewolf and turn into a dragon.”
“Well, I don’t hate you,” he said. “You’re too nice to be hated. And the dragon bit’s endearing. I mean, not to most people, especially as most people think you’re going to kill them if you go near them, but there’s nothing you can do about that, I guess.”
I couldn’t say anything to that. Nobody had actually said something that nice to me. As Nikolai had rightly pointed out, most people were too scared to think well of me.
But it turned out that I really didn’t have to say anything to that, because there was some sort of weird warm feeling going through my body.
The best way to describe it was as a cross between getting to do a well-deserved victory dance and going into a really warm shower.
And then I started glowing. The glow and the warmth lasted for ten or twelve seconds, and when it was over, I could tell something was different. For one thing, my face felt weird. Then I realized that it didn’t have so much oily grossness on it.
“I think you just broke the curse,” I said, smiling.
“Really?” Nikolai said in a jokingly sarcastic voice. “What gave you that idea? Was it the fact that you now are completely acne-free, or the fact that YOU JUST STOPPED GLOWING?”
We both laughed. “Thanks, Nikolai,” I said. “Now, let’s go kick some royalty butt, shall we?”
Long story short, that’s exactly what we did.

Now Nikolai are married, and our kids are named Diana and Darksnake Jaguaro. Dragons are no longer hunted, and I am now queen.
Just kidding.
We aren’t married, and we don’t have kids, though dragons are now a protected species and it’s illegal to poach them over pain of death and having one’s butt fried off. The dragons aren’t allowed to capture princesses, but that saves everyone a lot of stress (well, except for my mother. She hates the fact that her future granddaughter will never be carried off by a dragon, and she hates the fact that it was the mother of her future granddaughter who caused it). That’s fine with pretty much everyone, though – dragons have to look for other sources of entertainment, but Nikolai and I came up with the perfect solution.
A lot of dragons are now the border patrol.
All in all, life is good.