Tamed

Chapter 17. The project

"Good Morning, my fellow Dragon keepers!" Mr. Chapman chirped. It was after a long break that they were seeing their trainer Theodre Chapman again. The training sessions were handled by Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Levitsky during those months when he was on a break due to ill health. But today, he looked healthy and cheerful, as always.

"Good Morning sir!" they greeted him back.

They were all standing at the entrance of the dragon reserve. Mr. Chapman was about to brief them about their upcoming tasks to be done as part of dragon keeping.

"Hope bonding with the fellow dragon keepers is going well," he beamed.

Nathan rolled his eyes at this statement.

"You had been acting under the supervision of the chief trainers at WICKED for a month now. I hope you have gained enough experience in dragon keeping. From now on you'll have to work unsupervised. So, we the trainers won't be there to breathe down on your necks anymore," he chuckled.

"But..." Mr. Chapman added after a brief pause, "the senior dragon keepers who are posted at various zones of the reserve will guide you through your tasks. So it is not like we are pushing you off of a cliff all of a sudden," he chuckled again. It was contagious. The dragon keepers couldn't help but smile.

"And now, moving on to the important part. You will be doing a project in pairs. After the project is completed, you have to prepare a detailed report of your study, and submit it by the end of this week. For the project, you have to check upon the dragons assigned to you and assess their health condition. You also have to cure the ailing dragons under expert guidance of the senior dragon keepers. No funny business lads," The last warning was specifically directed towards Jason and Boon, the trouble makers at WICKED.

Charlie couldn't help but grin at them as they highly reminded him of his favorite twin brothers, whom he had badly started to miss. Jason gave a bro fist to Boon and they both winked at Charlie. They better not be paired up together, Charlie thought.

"Sheperd and Zachary, pair up!" Chapman instructed.

"Millicent and Gilbert!"

"Haywood and Greene!"

"Flicker, Weasley!"

"McMiller, Scott!" Chapman smiled at Natalie.

Charlie felt a pang in his chest. He wasn't sure why exactly. He watched Aiden move from his side and walk towards Natalie. Unknown to Charlie, his lips shaped themselves into a frown, as he watched them grinning and talking. He was unfamiliar with the sudden swirl of emotions within him. He couldn't understand whatever it was that he was feeling.

"Hey Charlie," Marshall's voice pulled him back to reality. Charlie peered his eyes away from the pair and fixed his gaze on Marshall. "Hey Marshall," he greeted back.

"Atleast it's not Gilbert or Zachary," Marshall stated.

"What?" Charlie crossed his brows in confusion.

"With Nat, I mean."

"Aiden is nothing like them, Flicker," Charlie blurted out. How could Marshall even compare Aiden with those two dung heads?

"Yes, he isn't. I guess they are getting along well," he remarked looking at the pair who were now chatting animatedly with Jason and Boon, who seemed to be cracking some jokes. The earlier emotions hit him hard on the face again, like strong waves crashing against the shore.

"I know she is capable of taking care of herself, but I don't know why I feel so protective over her," Marshall mused.

"I understand," Charlie nodded even though he didn't understand at all. Who was he kidding? He wasn't even able to comprehend his own feelings. How on earth was he supposed to decipher Marshall's protective attitude towards Natalie?