Fire Heart

Chapter 6: Training

Zoey and Luke started to walk home together, all this excitement had tired them out. Just as they were walking out the door, a voice called them,
"Wait! Zoey, I must let you know something," Miss Crompton called out to them.
"To harness the power of the dragon, requires hard training. Meet me tomorrow outside the back of the library, and I'll show you what you're capable of..." She walked back inside.
Zoey and Luke just looked at each other, then Luke broke the silence,
"Come on, we should probably get back home, it's getting kinda dark."
Zoey nodded, she didn't know what to say exactly.

The walk home was quiet and awkward, but before the kids turned into Zoey's street, Luke stopped walking.
"Zoey, we need to talk," Luke said. Zoey started to feel nervous,
"sure..what's up?" She tried to keep her voice steady,
"the thing is, I really like you, and I know you like me as well." Luke held Zoey's hands, she started to blush,
"it's true, I do like you. But I never thought you would like me back," Zoey looked over her shoulder,
"I should get going, bye." She got up on the toes, and kissed Luke's cheek, they waved goodbye.
As Zoey walked through her front door, her parents were sitting in front of the fireplace,
"H-hey mum, hey dad..."
Zoey was worried what her parents might say, she did snap at them last night. Her parents didn't look at her, but her mother started talking,
"Sweetie, there is something we aren't telling you..." Zoey took this moment as an opportunity to sit down with her parents.
Zoey's mum out her hand on her shoulder,
"We aren't the ones that gave birth to you on the 27th of July, sweetie," said Mrs Croft sadly, but continued her story,
"Let me tell you what really  happened that night," She kept talking,
"It was a rainy summer evening, me and your father saw a weird light coming from the front door, and the doorbell rang. Jake opened the door to see who was there, he called us into the hallway, saying there was a baby sitting on the doorstep. We didn't believe him, but we went to look anyway, and what we saw, was a little baby. You were sleeping on our doorstep, there was a letter laying on top of your blanket, we've kept it for so long..would you like to see it?"
Zoey nodded, her mum reached behind the pillow, and pulled out an envelope;

Dear sis, 
I know we haven't spoken for a while, but i need a favor. Merida tried to take Vesteria. No matter what, that witch must never get her hands on my daughter. So i leave her in your hands, please take care of her.
p.s. call her Zoey.
xoxo Dianna!  

Zoey sat there stunned, her mum took the letter,
"there's a note on the back," she handed it back to her.
Zoey turned over the piece of paper, her mum was right

Dear Zoey,
I know you haven't met me before, and i'm sorry I left you like this. But I had to, Merida is evil, she was going to kill you, and harness your power for herself. So I sent you to live with my mortal sister, and to raise you as her own, so when the time comes, Mrs Crompton will teach you the ways of the Dragon. Don't hate your parents for not telling you anything, they weren't allowed to, if you had any idea of your true identity before you were old enough, bad things would happen, Merida would find a way to get to the mortal world and she would take you away from both of your families. Remember, my child, i did this all for you, because I love you, an you mustn't forget that, you're Vesteria, you are the daughter of fire!
xoxo Queen Dianna (your mother <3)

Zoey handed the letter back to her parents, and headed upstairs,
"Thank you," she said to her parents as she walked upstairs.
Not even ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door,
Zoey walked up to her window to see who was there
Luke maybe? We didn't make pla-
She was cut off mid thought, the person at the door, was probably the most important person in the whole world. Zoey bolted down the stairs before anyone could open the door, she pulled the door open ans squeeled,
"ASHE!! YOU'RE BACK!" Zoey and Ashe jumped up and down hugging,
"there's so much i need to tell you!" Zoey's mum walked in,
"Ashe, are you staying for dinner?" She asked,
"If it's ok with you," Ashe replied politely, Mrs Croft nodded and walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner.
The girls ran upstairs, but were stopped just as the were about to enter Zoey's bedroom,
"Your back?" said a male voice behind them, it was Zoey's older brother Jake,
Ashe turned to face him,
"Yeah, i'm back, did you miss me," She retaliated in a voice that made Zoey think, her friend may not be mocking her brother...
"Nope, not one bit," Jake said as he walked downstairs.
But Ashe wouldn't take her eyes off of him, Zoey started to understand what was happening,
"Come on, we need to talk," Zoey dragged her friend into her room.
Zoey started to explain everything that happened, the marshmallow, the legend, and the letter. Before Ashe could ask Zoey about anything, Mrs Croft called them down for dinner. As the girls sat down at the table, Zoey's mum placed a huge chicken on the table, along with some mashed potatoes. Ashe looked like she hadn't eaten for days, she stuffed her plate so much, someone would think her parents starve her.
"Calm down wolfie, we need some food too," Laughed Jake,
To Zoey's surprise Ashe started to blush, and not because of all the food she was consuming...

After dinner, Ashe had to head home,
"See ya." Zoey said as her friend headed out the door,
"Good luck with training tomorrow," Ashe said, and then she was gone.
Zoey started to feel drowsy, so she decided to head up to bed.
For once, she actually managed to fall asleep, and not have a nightmare.

When Zoey awoke in the morning, she told her parents that she was going to the library for training, they knew what she meant. So she grabbed an apple that was on the table, and ran to the library. Mrs Crompton was standing outside, clearly waiting for Zoey,
"Good Morning," she smiled at her librarian,
"Are you ready, Zoey?" asked Mrs Crompton, Zoey nodded,
"Yep, what do we start with," She asked,
Mrs Crompton started to walk around the back, Zoey followed,
"To start with, we need to see what skills you already have," Mrs Crompton took Zoey's hands, and felt them,
"What you need to do is, close your eyes," Zoey did as she was told,
"Now, focus all you energy into your hands," Zoey tried,
And just as Mrs Crompton thought, her hands became warmer,
"You're doing great, now I need you to imagine yourself with fire in your hands," 
Zoey tried as much as she could,
"Open your eyes," Zoey opened her eyes, she gasped, there in her hands, were two fireballs,
"Turn your hands into fists," Mrs Crompton said letting go of Zoey's hands.
Zoey slowly put her hands into fists, now her both her hands were covered in fire,
"You're doing great!" Mrs Crompton said, Zoey looked confused, 
"What do I do now, Miss?"
 Mrs Crompton put her hands over Zoey's, and the fire disappeared,
"My name, is Lilly," She replied,
"Now, lets see if you can form an animal," Zoey looked confused at this,
"I'm going to make an animal appear? How is that even possible?"
Lilly smiled, " It's a fireball, that takes the form of a being, all you have to do is, do what we did before, but instead of imagining fire, imagine a...cat,"
Zoey nodded in agreement. She did exactly as Lilly said, and to her surprise a little kitten appeared out of nowhere, it was an orange-red colour and had a little flame on the end of it's tail.
"Well done, Zoey! That's all for today, we don't want to be too  far ahead in the program,"
Lilly laughed
"Ok, i'll see you next week," Zoey smiled and walked home.

Zoey sat down on her bed, accompanied by her flaming kitten, she decided to name him Flambo, from her favorite cartoon, Adventure Time. Flambo was just floating around Zoey's bedroom, suddenly all the lights went out, it was totally dark. Luckily Flambo was bright,
"Mum! What's going on?" Zoe called downstairs,
"Don't worry! Just too many things plugged in at one time, Jake can you go flick the switch in the fuse box?" Jake headed downstairs,
"Zoey? Can i borrow your fire-cat-thing?" Flambo rested on Jake's shoulder, and they went downstairs. A couple minutes later, the lights came back on, and Zoey felt relieved that noting bad was happening...for now...