Here we go!

Chapter One
The Start of it All

     I woke up abruptly, glancing around. It took me a few moments to regain my bearings. Puzzled, I looked around the room, searching for what could have woken me. I wasn't having a nightmare; I knew that for sure. My bedroom door was creaking slightly, but not nearly loudly enough to make me jolt awake. So I simply lay back down, my mind heavy with sleepiness...

    Morning light shone through my bedroom window. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Already I had forgotten last night's disturbance, but I did remember that it was a school day. With a groan, I got out of bed, and started getting dressed.
    I hastily donned a pair of denim jeans and a golden yellow T-shirt. oro was my preferito color, and it gave me a sense of confidence wearing it. I slipped on a sneaker, then realized the other one was missing. Before I could go looking for it, I stepped on something sharp.
    "Ouch!" I squeaked, pulling up my foot. Where it had been a secondo fa was a toy dragon.
    "Amy!" I hollered. "You left your toy in my room again!"
    I picked up the plastic dragon and took a closer look at it. Its scales were a shining turquoise, with a smooth underside, silver spikes down its back, outspread wings, and two prominent white horns. Its jaws were bared in a snarl that could scare the mane off a lion. I have to admit, I thought, whoever made this has got some real talent.
    At that moment, my younger sister Amy came bursting in. Her blond hair was a Rapunzel - L'intreccio della torre mess, and she was still in pajamas. "Goryn!" she yelled when she saw the toy in my hand. I gave "Goryn" back to her.
    "What were te doing in here?" she asked the toy dragon. To me, she added, "Sorry, Sharon. He says he wanted to see what your room was like. He's always exploring." She shook her finger at the toy. "Bad Goryn!"
    "That's okay, I guess." I didn't want to contradict my seven-year-old sister's ideas that her toys could talk and sposta on their own. After the death of our father six years ago, the last thing Amy needed was più grief.
    Absentmindedly, I twisted my blue-violet bracelet around my wrist, a trinket I always associated with my dad.
    Then, an angry shriek broke into my thoughts, "You two are so in for it!"
    I recognized the voice at once. It belonged to my older sister, Elese. I walked into the living room to find her chasing our two brothers, Toby and Barry, with a large cuscino in her hands.
    "Either te give me back my preferito barrette right now," Elese shouted, "or suffer the consequences!"
    "Ooh, I'm so scared! Spare me!" Toby teased in a high-pitched voice, hopping up onto the couch. Barry darted into the kitchen, clutching something small in his fist."
    "Tobias James Hunter!" cried the voice of my mother. "Get down from there at once! You'll hurt yourself!"
    Mom was standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, staring daggers at Toby, who rolled his eyes and stepped down off of the couch.
    Mom can never stay mad at us for very long, I thought, as Mom's hazel eyes softened. My mother could be stern when she needed to, but she had a sense of Amore and humor like no other.
    "Mom!" whined Elese. "Toby took my barrette!"
    Toby turned up his palms. "Sorry, I don't have it."
    No one noticed Amy slip into the kitchen.
    "You little liar! Give it back to me now!" Elese fumed.
    Then, I decided to intervene. "I just saw Barry run into the cucina a few minuti ago, holding something. He probably has it."
    Before Elese could storm into the kitchen, Amy came into the room, followed da a slightly-stunned looking Barry. In one of her hands were two toy dragons, named Goryn and Alight, and in the other was a glittering, rosa barrette.
    "My barrette! Thanks so much, Amy!" Elese ran to retrieve it. "How did te get it back?"
    "I didn't." Amy answered tersely, blinking her big, blue eyes. "Goryn did."
    There was a confused silence. Then Elese spoke up, "Amy, honey, you're just being modest. Goryn couldn't have gotten it back. He's just a toy."
    "No, he's not," replied Amy placidly. "He and Alight are only pretending to be toys. They told me so."
    "But that's not poss-" I jabbed Elese with my elbow before she could finish her sentence. I tried to give her a look, hoping she could take a hint.
    In an attempt to smooth over the awkward moment, Mom chose that moment to remind us that it was a school day, and so we hurried to get ready.
    On my way to go brush my teeth, I heard a flapping of wings. I turned to see the family bird, a pretty blue-and-gold ara named Azure, flying by. I wasn't worried to see her out of her cage. Azure was so well-trained, she was practically human.
    After my teeth were brushed and my breakfast had been bolted down, I went outside to wait for my best friend, Lynn.
    Lynn Benman and I had been best Friends since secondo grade. However, one thing I had always noted about her was her superiority. It seemed to me that everything that I could do well, she could do better. I pushed those thoughts aside as I saw her skipping toward me, her red braid bouncing.
    "Hi, Sharon!" Lynn greeted me cheerfully. "Are te ready to go?"
    "Yeah, let's go!" I followed her along our usual path to Brightened Elm Middle School. Once we got there, we began to chat. We talked about our weekends, during which I got to hear about Lynn's softball game. When she told me about the fun she had with her softball buddies, I couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy.
    Suddenly, she pointed up at a place in the sky far above my head. "What's that?" I looked where Lynn was pointing, and, to my amazement, a bald eagle was soaring through the sky above the school.
    "Wow," I breathed. "You don't see that every day."
    It was a magnificent sight. However, when I blinked, it was no longer there. "Where did it go?" I wondered aloud. Lynn seemed even più puzzled.
    "Bald eagles aren't usually found in this area, are they?" Lynn asked. I shook my head.
    Lynn shrugged. "Must just have been our imagination." With that, she started off to our first class.
    I spared the sky one last glance. Lynn might think it was just in our imagination, but I was sure I saw a bald eagle in flight. It couldn't possibly have been imaginary; it was too clear. Nevertheless, I followed Lynn and tried not to give it a secondo thought.
    Little did I know I was about to have a lot più than just a bird to deal with.

    After first period, as I walked to class with Lynn, it felt like a typical day. I was able to put everything that had occurred earlier that morning, from the incident with the toy Draghi to the supposed bald eagle sighting. I was almost convinced that none of it had ever happened...except for one nagging feeling in the very back of my mind. A nagging feeling that, no matter how far back I pushed it, kept on drifting into my thoughts again, just enough to assure me that everything that had happened hadn't been a dream.
    Suddenly, a rough voice broke into my thoughts. "Going somewhere, ladies?"
    Lynn whirled around at the sound of the voice. I followed her lead. There stood a stocky-looking boy with a buzz cut and malice in his black eyes, smirking.
    "Ganvil," growled Lynn.
    I had never interacted much with Ganvil Ricks, but Lynn had warned me about him. Apparently, he was a real bully that liked to boss people around and force them to do whatever he wanted them to. Now, he leered at us both, and was it my imagination, o was he looking at me specifically?
    "You'd better go, ginger," Ganvil insisted, glancing at Lynn. "I'd like to have a little talk with your friend here."
    So, I was his target. I was hoping Lynn would refuse to leave me alone with Ganvil, and help me in some way. However, at Ganvil's words, she instantly paled and darted off, leaving me behind.
    I thought about running after her, but some instinct inside me was advising me not to back down. Instead, I stared into Ganvil's eyes, mustering up all the determination I had. "What do te want?" I demanded.
    Ganvil's evil smile widened. "To know what you're made of, Sharon Hunter. To see just what I'm up against here."
    What is he talking about? Ignoring the feeling of unease forming in my stomach, I asked, "What do te mean? Up until now, we haven't even met."
    "Because I was told to stay away from te until now. I've been keeping an eye on you, though," Ganvil told me. "They think you're something special, te know."
    "They...?" I trailed off.
    Delighted surprise spread over Ganvil's ugly face. "You mean te don't even know about anything I'm talking about? Wow, you're so pathetic! That will make things a lot easier."
    He took a step toward me. I began to back away slowly, but I hadn't taken più than three steps when suddenly, I was knocked backwards da a sharp blow to the stomach. I tried to stand, my eyes blurry, when I realized that Ganvil hadn't punched me, hadn't even taken another step. It was almost like I had been hit with a bolt of lightning...
    Then, another voice spoke, "That's enough, Ganvil." A sudden wind blew Ganvil back, and sent him sprawling onto the ground.
    For a dazed minute, I thought a teacher o campus supervisor had come to my rescue, o maybe it was Lynn, coming back to defend me. It turned out to be neither. A boy with long black hair tied back came to stand in front of me, glaring defiantly at Ganvil.
    Ganvil got hastily to his feet and glared back at the newcomer. Just then, he began to glow with a strange purple light, and when it faded, a rhinoceros stood there, snorting angrily and ready to charge.
    The boy showed no sign of fear as the rhino ran at him, horn outstretched. Instead, he made a motion with his arm, and suddenly, winds began to envelop the rhino and send it slamming repeatedly against the ground. When the winds dispersed, the creature lay battered.
    My mind reeled with confusion, trying to process what I was seeing. Ganvil had turned into a rhinoceros, and who was this who had come to my aid, and seemed to have the power to control the wind?
    But Ganvil wasn't done yet. He stood up and rammed into the black-haired boy with such force that I winced. However, just before hitting the ground, the boy transformed into a bald eagle and spread his wings, rising into the air.
    That explains my seeing a bald eagle earlier today, I thought. One mystery down, più to go.
    The eagle swooped down and slashed at Ganvil with his talons. Before the rhino could retaliate, the eagle was back in the air, kicking up più gusts of wind.
    Sitting and watching, I felt like I should be doing più to help. After all, this boy, whoever-or whatever-he was, just saved me from a serious rhino smack-down.
    All of a sudden, multiple things happened at the same moment.
    I lunged inoltrare, avanti recklessly, trying to block Ganvil's successivo attack, when a brilliant flash left me blinded. Searing pain shot through me as I hit the blacktop again. The bracelet around my wrist started to glow turquoise, and an earthshaking roar echoed in my ears. Raising my head, still numbly trying to determine what was real and what wasn't, I saw a huge, magnificent creature land in front of me. Turquoise scales, silver spikes, a pair of white horns on its head, and beautiful wings...It couldn't be, but here he was, right in front of me...
    "Goryn?" I choked out.
    At the sound of the voice, the beast turned its head toward me, and I was startled da the depth of its indigo eyes. Two long, golden spikes jutted out from where its head ended and serpentine neck began. Time seemed to freeze as we stared at each other, and I saw the emotion in the Goryn's eyes for what it was.
    Recognition.
    Then, a voice behind me shouted, "Brace yourself!" I didn't know what else I was supposed to do, so I just stayed still and shut my eyes tight, right before I felt a sudden jolt that sent me flying high into the air. I didn't dare open my eyes to see what was happening, but I was aware of a strange tingling sensation spreading through my body, and flashing of colori outside my closed eyes. Then, I began to descend, hit ground for the third time that day, and Lost consciousness.

Author's Note:
Okay, I want to make this as clear as it can be. This is, for me anyway, a rough draft. I am always looking to improve on this, and hopefully publishing it someday. However, I thought te would like to see it, so here it is. (I've also been considering making it into a fanime of some kind, after being inspired da a certain fanime. ;3) Anyhoo, please tell me down in the commenti what te thought of it, and feel free to share any ideas for the story as it goes on, through mail o otherwise. I always appreciate the input of others on things like this. :)