Raya and the Last Dragon x Reader

Chapter 1: The Dragon Gem

(Sadly the reader is not in this chapter yet, but she will be in the next one)

3rd person's POV:

The flickering of torches illuminated the ancient tunnels, giving the carvings on the walls the illusion of brief movement. 

A figure passed into the tunnels, and briefly stopped near the intersection on the left. They let their fingers trail along the cool surface of the carvings before stopping and realizing the pattern. The figure reached for their face and ripped off the mask covering their mouth, revealing themselves to be a girl. 

She kneeled down and started pressing on the stones on the floor. One of the stones slowly started to slide down further into the ground, and then a net jumped out from one of the swirling markings in the wall, looping over and back into the ceiling. The girl jumped back in surprise before quickly regaining her composure. 

"Huh, looks like someone's trying to be clever." The girl reached for one of her pockets, and pulled out a small rolled-up armadillo-pug. The girl tapped twice on the shell of the creature, to which it immediately un-rolled itself and playfully chirped at her. "Alright Tuk Tuk, let's show 'em what clever really looks like."

The girl picked up Tuk Tuk and turned his body around so that he was facing the net. Tuk Tuk  jumped out of her hand and rolled back up, rolling under the net and activating the next nets, with the girl crawling under the activated ones. Tuk Tuk was about to activate the last net, when a bug caught his attention. He un-rolled himself and slowly trailed after the blue insect with wonder, before the girl's voice caught his attention. "Tuk Tuk! Focus." She whispered from under the previous net.

Tuk Tuk nodded as he snapped out of his trance, and he quickly rolled-up and activated the last net. He bumped off the wall with a small thunk, and turned himself around to chirp at the girl. 

"Hey, bud. That was awesome, gimme some shell." The girl outstretched her hand, and Tuk Tuk tried to reach his paw to hers. But he failed, and accidentally rolled onto his back. The girl chuckled and pushed him back onto his feet with a "I got ya," to which he let out a happy grunt and smiled in gratitude.

The girl stood in front of a circular slate, with mismatched dragon carvings laid in around it. She took out her wooden practice sticks and shoved them each into a hole on one side of the slate. She let out a grunt as she turned the slate clockwise, hearing the gears turn on the inside of the door. Finally, the dragon markings matched up, and the door slid away into the wall. 

On the inside, there was a few stairs that blocked a faint blue glow from the top. The girl slipped off her shoes and she entered the dome-shaped structure. She looked around before starting up the stairs. A few small streams of water were flowing backwards, up the stairs, carrying some small leaves with them. 

A large hole in the top of the dome let natural sunlight pour into it. Some trees and other plants were growing on the sides of the dome. Purple luminescent gems lined the walls and illuminated the greenery. But the girl wasn't looking at any of that. She was looking at the floating gem atop a stone that jut out the ground, with a small lake surrounding it. 

The girl let out a small "woah" as she laid her eyes on the glowing gem. But then she furrowed her brows in suspicion. "Wait a second." She looked behind her, and at the entrance where Tuk Tuk was waiting for her. "This feels too easy."

She turned back to the gem, and there now a person with a goblin mask standing on one of the stones in the water, a shielded sword in hand. She smiled as she recognized who it was. "Chief Benja."

She raised her head cockily. "I know it's your job to try and stop me, but you wont." she continued with determination in her eyes.

"Don't mistake spirit for skill, young one. I promise you will not set foot on the dragon gem's inner circle. Not even a toe." Chief Benja responded.

"You might wanna take out that blade. You're gonna need it." the girl replied cockily.

"Not today."

There was a moment of silence and suspense, until the girl whipped out her practice sticks and charged at the gem behind Benja. He closed his eyes before blocking her with his sword. The girl grunted in annoyance before turning and running along the side of the inner circle, Benja hot on her heels. 

Their weapons crashed multiple times before the girl was flung into the air and landed on one of the stones, anger clear on her face. She leapt into the air before continuing to attack him, more determined to get to the gem then ever. 

She soon kicked him in the stomach before rounding back up and charging at him once again. The girl drove him back onto the small island of the inner circle before Benja smacked the sticks right out of her hands, and pointed his shielded sword at her face. There was a moment of silence, and then...

"...boop." He booped the top of her nose with his sword before taking off his mask.

"Like I said, not one foot on the inner circle. You lost, Raya." He smugly grinned at her.

"Did I?" Raya looks down at her foot and Benja follows her gaze. There, pressed on the inner circle island, was one of her toes.

Benja softly gasped in astonishment, before speaking.

"Raya... I probably should have said two feet." He smiled as he helped Raya up from the ground.

"Hey, don't beat yourself up too much, Chief Benja. You gave it your best." Raya giggled.

"I wont." He chuckled. "And it's either "Father" or "Ba" to you." He placed one of his hands on Raya's shoulder in pride. "You did good, dewdrop. You passed the test." He moved aside so that she could see the gem behind him. 

Raya softly gasped. The Dragon Gem glowed a faint blue, and small drops of water floated around it.

"Wow," she chuckled slightly. "The spirit of Sisu."

She and Benja sat down on their knees before placing their hands to their foreheads in the familiar circular shape. A moment later, they let their hands drop to their knees.

"For generations, our family has sworn to protect the gem. Today, you will join that legacy."

Benja cupped his hand in a small pool of water. "Raya, Princess of Heart, my daughter," He brought his cupped hands to her forehead. "You are now a Guardian of the Dragon Gem."

Raya grinned at her father before dropping her head down, letting him pour the water on top of her head. Some of the droplets dethatched themselves from her head and started to float around her and her father, before rushing over to the gem, joining the other drops of water. 

Benja moved a bit closer to Raya and placed his arm on her left shoulder, as she leaned into him, watching the beautiful sight in front of her.

Word count: 1224