The Stray Dragon and The Lonely Flower

First Encounter

You were arranging some flowers outside your shop. Business was slow today, but people still come to check on your shop to buy some love-me-nots for their significant other. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it is a good day to walk on the park to get some fresh air; but sitting outside, surrounded by natural fragrants, was enough to make your day.

Some civilians were passing by your shop, on their way to their destinations, while you're spraying your beauties to keep them hydrated and fresh.

You overheard a couple that was looking at the flowers of your shop,

"Do you think cherry blossoms would be good?" The girl asked. Her boyfriend turned to look at her and shrugged.

"I think anything is fine. We're just going to the temple in Hanamura right?" He answered with an another question.

"We have to make the Hanamura dragons happy, Hiro! So that we can be soulmates!" She giggled. Well that's not what you heard about the legend, you thought.

The legend of the Hanamura dragons was famous in Japan. It is told that the legend was about two dragons that fight for power. But when the blue dragon regretted on his murder of his own kin, it travelled aimlessly in the mountains to remorse on his brother's death. People say that if you give an offering to one of the dragons of the temple, you would either get power or long lasting relationship. But rumors are just rumors. You don't actually believed all those superstitions. A legend is just an old story made by our anscestors, nothing more. As you were tending the flowers, you saw a familiar man coming towards your shop and he looked at the daisies. He saw your figure and you gave him a welcoming smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Kusanagi. What can I do for you, today?" You walked towards your regular customer as you greeted him as usual. He returned your smile and slightly bowed at you, and you likewise to him.

"Good morning, (Name). What do you have for me today?" You put yourself into a deep thought before you answered the middle-aged man.

"Well, I got a fresh batch of red roses today. Or would you like tulips?" You asked him sweetly. The man scratched at the back of his head as he looked around. Then he looked at you with a smile.

"How about you surprise me? Arrange me some good flowers for my wife." He replied. You only nodded at him and went inside your shop. This kind of thing happens occassionally, and you didn't mind at all. In fact, you were wholeheartedly accept to help them. It was your childhood dream to become a well-known florist, and you never had any thought of stopping your career. You used to learn about floristry many years back, and you graduated with flying colors. Knowing the meaning of each and every flower, that is your favorite.

You went to your work table with a few stalks of various flowers. The huge scissors was carefully placed on the table, and an empty vase was set in front of you to make your flower arranging work easier. You took out a few lilacs and baby's breath and you started arranging them in the vase. With a few cuts on the stalk, and a bit trimming on the leaves, you took a step back to look at your masterpiece. It is perfect, you thought. With the bouquet all wrapped and ready, you went to the man and gave him the flowers. He was a satisfied customer, that's for sure.

"That looks wonderful, (Name). Thank you!" He took the bouquet from you and gave you the money.

"Keep the change, (Name). I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you Mr. Kusanagi. Say hi to your wife for me. Have a nice day!" You waved at him when he left. Everything is perfect.

Nothing can make it worse.

As you walked into the shop, you went to the cash register to put the money in. Suddenly, the sound of the chimes from your front door caught your attention. Someone in shady clothes, wearing a hat and dark sunglasses, came in and walked towards you. You were a bit dumbfounded at first, but a customer is a customer.

"Welcome. How may I help you?"

"Do you have any white flowers here?" The voice came out alluring, it was obvious that the person is a woman.

"Uh.. we have tons of those. Would you like lillies or baby's breath? Or we got white roses too."

"Hemlock."

"P-Pardon?" You didn't know why you stuttered, but something isn't right about this person.

"Water hemlocks. Do you have those?"

"I'm sorry, but we don't have any of those kinds. But I think there might be some at the flower shop across the street." You answered. The woman looked at you suspiciously, and it made you sweaty.

"Thank you for the information." Then, she turned around and left. You were curious, what was that all about? Not many people would be crazy enough to come and ask for such a plant, but such human do exist, you thought. You decided to continue your work like usual, until suddenly a loud explosion came ringing into your eardrums.

Next thing you knew, the front door was in shambles and the wall broke into million large pieces. You screamed and quickly ducked behind the counter, trying to avoid the impact. When everything slowed down, you opened your eyes slowly, and tried to take a peek from the counter. The flowers all ruined from the sudden explosion, a huge hole was at your front door, but blocked by the debris that it left. You were stuck.

Everything happened so fast, you didn't know what to do. You were scared. Are you going to die? What did you do wrong? Eyes brimmed with tears as you got out from your hiding.

"Is anyone there? Somebody help me!" You shouted. But you knew no one was there. You walked over the rubble carefully and went towards the entrance of your shop. The hole was too complicated for you to fit in, and you're not going to risk anything to find a way out.

You looked through the hole and saw people looking at you, some of them were shocked, others just took some pictures.

"Help me! Somebody!" You screamed again, but still, no one was there to help, despite the growing crowd coming to your shop to see the catastrophe. But hope still shines your way when you saw some lady called 911 for help.

As you looked at the crowd, you spotted the familiar woman, looking at you amidst the sea of people before she went off; disappeared from the view. It took almost a minute until you realized the shop was filled with unhealthy smoke. You found out the shop was actually on fire! Panic suddenly overwhelmed you as you tried any way to get out. The carbon dioxide had entered your lungs forcedfully, and you already started to lose consciousness. You coughed as you tried to push the huge rocks, alas it was no use. You slowly lost your strength as your lungs was filled with toxic carbon, and everything went hazy. You fell hard on the floor, only looking at the fire slowly engulfing your hard earned shop. Tears already escaped from your eyes, and you tried hard to keep yourself awake, but it was easier said than done.

When everything went south for you, suddenly you heard crashing beside you, and small scattered rocks came crumbling near you and you saw nothing but green. Neon green came to greet your hazy vision. You heard mumbling, but it wasn't clear. All you can remember was the thin line of glowing neon before you passed out.