Dragons in Winter by Astrodragon

Friday January 6th, early, Heathrow Airport, London.

Ah, the plane ride back to the States since Christmas vacation is almost over. Good grief, all those poor snacks never stood a chance against Morgana. Yay! MMID, sort of, so less trouble and no MCO creeps finding out things about her powers they shouldn't know. Upgraded to premium economy seat, now that is a perk. What did she see about Tabitha that got her to upgrade her seat without any fuss?

Hehe, the MCO goons know not to screw with people who have MMIDs, or so it seems. Free snacks and she can take a few for the flight, now I see why premium economy is better. Whateley students stuck in the lounge, stupid idea, issolate them from the 'normal' people, but also a bunch of hormonal teens with sometimes volatile emotions and super powers all in one location.

Oh no, not a snob, the way Tabitha responds to Lovie she sounds like one. Grrr, putting your hands on someone without invitation, I really don't like Lovie already. I really don't like what she wants to chat with Morgana about, wild guess, but she is one of the Masterminds, isn't she? *facepalms* This girl is a horndog and has no tact, asking that of a girl she just met.

Told that Morgana has a girlfriend and Lovie still pushes her, now I want to see this girl fall flat on her face at least once. Stick to your guns, Morgana, if she keeps pushing then tell her off. Lovie already has a reputation, I wonder if this was her first rejection. Don't you dare tell Thulia about this, Tabitha. SHe might just curse Lovie for daring to try to make her beloved stray.

Lovie has no shame, saying that to Morgana, this girl needs to be taught a lesson. *facepalms* Just because dragons do stuff in the air doesn't mean she is going to do it with Lovie.

Friday January 6th, Whateley, Dickinson Cottage, late afternoon.

Tanya dropped off at Whateley by Nemean, ouch, reminder of Sterling not being in the dorm room to meet her. Tanya is being moved to room with Thulia, what incident!?! Hey, Nefertiti attacked Thulia, she brought it on herself. Going off on Thulia because she is annoyed about Cally, I hate what the brainwashing power has done to Nefe. I'm sure nothing will go wrong with Tanya being Thulia's new roommate.

Thulia, nothing that happened with Naomi was your fault. Already getting along, Tanya is the kind of roommate Thulia should have had from the start. Aww, Thulia snores, I wonder how loud though. Magic to keep warm in winter, wish I had that trick. Ah, this must be the first time Thulia has seen the school with a blanket of snow. Pretty consistent climate on the Plane of Fire, if only we were so lucky on Earth.

Saturday 7thJanuary 2017, Breakfast, M3 Table, Crystal Hall

Oof, chosing their classes for the term. Some of the classes start before breakfast, I'm with Morgana, that isn't right. Crystal Enchantment class, I would wake up early for a class like that. BMA special topic to learn how to use her spear, I wonder what Tolman will think of her spear.

Theory and Practice of the Escape, and Laura needs it for protection against some of the kids she babysits. Considering just the Cody kids and Karma alone I would ask for any extra lessons I could get in that class. Thulia is right, learning a new language can help a lot, especially for those who use magic.

She gave a mock glare at the other dragongirl. “She’s such a slave-driver!”

Don't give her any ideas, Morgana.

Team Tactics for Search and Rescue, that is valueable skills to learn. Familiars course, oh no, please don't let her get one that can talk and is snarky. Erica is right, don't burn yourself out by trying to do too much at once.

“Well, yes, but it’s been to use them mainly against animals or creatures. I need to learn to use them against people, and without too much force if necessary.”My weapon skills aren’t intended to fight intelligent humans, I need to modify them a lot.”

A very good reason to take Martial Arts, don't want to accidently maim or kill someone you don't want to. Aww, but just blowing shit up is half the fun when you have powers.

TA for the Portals course, Thulia should be honored, Ms. Grimes only ask someone to do that for a course she teaches if she trust their skills in an area implicitly. What idiot who knows what a succubus is and does wants to meet on, hormones overriding survival instinct. Hehe, you brought this on yourself, Morgana, now you get to meet Tanau, so not just the parents, but her grandmother too.

Tuesday January 10th, 4pm, SIMS preparation room, Team Tactics.

Yeah, Team Tactics is one of those classes you want a headstart to get there on time. Aww, watching those videos can't be that bad. All this just to prepare to go into the Sims the next time they have class, what joy.

Ouch, sims suit and adjusting it for both wings and tail, I hope there isn't an accident. Ack, just the description of what has to be done for the wings is giving me a headache. At least the Sims staff are thorough about all this. *eyes bug out* And being a mage using the Sims just got a bit more complicated, seesh, all that data.

Some weeks earlier, SIMS preparation conference room.

Tyson talking about all the people who want to be in the Search and Rescue track, M3 is around a dozen people according to him, oh boy. Split into two parts, I wonder how that will work to help them learn to work as a team in the real world. More combat than usual for the track, the Fast and the Furrious are in the S&R track, didn't see that coming. Thulia is like dealing with a junior withou the experience, she has that much magic, dang. Teaching a dragon delicacy, why am I hearing the Mission: Impossible theme? Using Morgana to help Thulia to learn to use other options than blowing stuff up, it could work.

Friday January 13th, late evening, Bianca and Morgana’s room, Poe cottage.

Fanak's brother was injected with devisor poison and is dying, no wonder Thulia is in a rush. A devisor drug designed to kill, but prolongs the dying, what kind of sadist invented this? Crap, Thulia is good at healing wounds, not poison, let alone an unknown one inside a human, this is horrible.

A ritual circle to analyze the poison first, go to the staff and ask them to get Fey, tell her it is a matter of life and death for a young boy. A way of healing a poison without doing it herself, healers at Whateley, and Pastel needs a boost in confidence and her healing abilities after what happened with Sterling. Darn it! So many things that could help, if it weren't for the rules of the Order. Paperwork, the bane of many a hero.

A flight to get there by mid-morning tomorrow, please let this all work out. Gate them all back via Thulia's home, that will help a lot. Mrs. Horton is a reasonable woman, to save the life of a child I'm sure she would even let them break some rules.

Morgana's plan sounds good, but you know what they say about plans and encounters with the enemy. Contacts in the Phoenix hero group, good, we are probably going to need them. Don't notice me spell, one of the most useful spells in anyone's arsenal. Yes, Pastel, it sounds too simple, just hope it remains that way. A dragon in their full dragonform, now that is a site you should take the chance to see.

A 3-hour non-stop flight one-way, the weather better not complicate it for them! Laura has some of the best concealer for hiding skin that is colored unusually. Good thing Laura stays up late working on projects.

Aww, Morgana, Thulia is right about needing al her essence just in case. The criminal in Phoenix can be brutal. Thulia, you can't plan properly for everything, sometimes you prepare as best you can and trust your abilities and those of your friends/allies. Oof, pass it on in two to three hours, I just know that is foreshadowing. A bunch of rats, in Phoenix I wouldn't be suprised if you could get a lot of those easily with the right spell to call them to you.

Saturday January 14th, Phonenix airport arrivals, Phoenix Arizona, 10am.

Uneventful flight is what you want, especially with a holiday around the corner. So many cameras in airport arrival lounges, I'd be surprised if someone hasn't sold a gadget or devise to hide your true appearance from them yet.

The 'don't notice me' spell, one against coming to the rescue. Yeah, a lot of spellcasters at Whateley would love to know how Thulia does that. Aww, Fanak is getting to meet Morgana and Pastel, but not fully see their faces. Fanak, they are teens and not proper superheroes yet, they just know how to make a plan and stick to you, you will learn how to with time.

Great, police officer outside the room and father inside, her brother is fading fast, but don't know how fast thanks to the nature of the devisor poison. Sleep spell on the guard, Fanak convince her father to take a break to get breakfast or something, hopefully have 15 minutes to get in and Pastel to do her work. The plan is simple because you can't predict what might go wrong, the more complicated a plan, the higher chance of one thing going wrong and ruining it all.

Yay, they get into the room with no problems, now the hard part. I forgot how impressive Pastel's healing power is, to learn all that about him by sweeping her hand over him and using her power, beyond impressive. As I said earlier, whoever made this devisor poison is a cruel sadist.

Pastel finally sighed, fumbling slightly as she slid her glove back on. “All done. The poison is fixed, and the main damage to his liver. So we’d better get out of here before someone notices the improvement and comes take a look.”

Please, no complications, I would like a story that is just a mission of mercy where everything went right. The girls get out and the nurse comes in minutes later, Fanak's brother is over the worst of it. Thank you, I couldn't stand seeing such a young boy die like that.

Oh crap, the poison is a lot more nasty than Pastel thought, she has less time to dump it than she thought. At the petshop Pastel has to convince the girl there she wants six more rats as pets, oh boy. Pastel got very good at lying while living on the streets. The rats are scared of Thulia, they know she is a predator, but not that she doesn't eat rats. Pastel acting all cheerful gave me emotional uncanny valley with her, please never have her do that again except to trick someone trying to harm her or a friend.

“Good, then we can get something to eat, I’m starving.”

“You ate on the plane!”

“That was food?”

“They said it was...”

At that height, even with pressurized air, your sense of smell and taste are dulled. You could have a gourmet meal on an airplane and it would be bland to you.

Crap! A gang leader being told about how Fanak's brother is doing better and will recover, I knew something was off with that nurse rushing into the room so fast. They know about the girls, plan to follow them, and take Pastel since a healer is a 'valuable commodity', I hope they get sent to the hospital with multiple broken bones at least. And plans to sell the other two girls as 'escorts', okay, this creep needs to die.

IHOP, one of the few consistently good restaurants across all states from what I've heard. A $50 tip, I would clam up about how much someone was eating too for that kind of tip. Good plan, Morgana, just need your guard up for creeps in the area. The Marriot Hotel, even one in a bad area is expensive. Transit centre geared to coping with visitors from other places, how many beings visit the Plane of FIre a year?

Over the worst, but more tests, best to be cautious after a patient nearly died from something like that. Keep him for a few days just in case, look after him for a few weeks, but her little brother should make a full recovery, horray. That is strange, what with how the gang member said he got 'mysteriously' poisoned. Why target her brother and who could have figured out Fanak's real identity?

Sorry, Fanak, they can't investigate it this time. Not unless they are dragged into the matter against their will.

Morgana patted Fanak’s hand. “Fanak, Whateley is a high school, it takes kids from 14 on. Apart from other things it teaches you how to handle and deal with your powers, and best of all they make sure no-one threatens your family. You really should consider going there.”

*facepalms* All this time Fanak thought Thulia is an agent and thus an adult, good grief. I hope this works out with Fanak going to Whateley finally, she and her family need their help.

Google Maps doesn't mark areas that are dangerous locales, oh boy. Good thing Pastel is keeping her wits about her and notices someone following them. Four men, two with guns, and they say that, the arrogance of idiots with guns. Crap, Pastel is starting to panic, girls, do something before Pastel tries to rabbit. Well, Thulia warned them and the idiots called them valuable merchandise, they live in a world where mutants exist and others have powers as well and thought to do this.

Thulia's staff, both her and Morgana shift into dragonform, I would pity the creeps if not for what they had planned for our girls. Threatening someone with a gun who just summoned a staff from apparently thin air and took on a dragonform, this guy skipped out on learning proper survival instincts when faced with someone who wields obvious power.

Magic shield to block the bullets, but the cowards have flash-bangs. Earplugs and the special glasses from Shutterfly, okay, this is going be brutal on the creeps. Two more in hiding, eight men to try and abduct them, beyond cowards. Pastel is shielded and ooo, the return of Thulia's tentacle entrapment spell, I love that spell.

“Last chance, surrender now or we get nasty!”

Thulia looked at her lover as she raised an eyebrow. “Does that mean I can use lethal spells on them?”

She was a bit surprised to hear Pastel snarl from behind her. “They wanted to kidnap me! Burn them all to the ground. Then do it again, slowly. Fucking bastards.”

I agree with Pastel, these types never learn and will continue to be a threat to others.

Oh no, not one of Forte's sonic grenades! This is one of the reasons sonic weapons are illegal; Thulia's forcefield protected her from the worst of it and even she still feels terrible. Trying to go after Thulia after she takes out the boomer with a firebolt, 4 going after Morgana, this is bad, they need a miracle. Pastel keeps away from the last guy, thank you, Survival class. Two guys grab Morgana, one regrets it as she hits him with her horns on a shoulder, yikes.

Considering they are trying to abduct you all, the use of lethal force is okay on these creeps. Sorry, Morgana, this sonic attack goes after the inner ear and bypasses most sonic protections unless specially designed to protect from some such attacks. The guy chasing Pastel got blasted with lightning by Thulia, these guys are going to regret this if they survive.

Idiots think taking Morgana hostage will make Thulia surrender, they tried this without an ounce of research on their targets, that is beyond foolish. An AOE spell to increase gravity around you by 10 times, dang, Thulia has a lot of good spells. 3 idiots down and the last one grabs Morgana braided hair, only to get third degree burns on his hand. Oof, the smell of his burning flesh made Morgana finally puke right all over the creep's legs.

Which would only have been disgusting, except that vomiting when your internal system was more akin to a blast furnace meant a shower of burning hot and lava-like vomit sprayed all over his legs. The volume and pitch of his scream more than doubled.

That guy is going to be need skin grafts on muliple parts now.

The gravity field will keep the 3 on the ground down for a minute or two, so Pastel kicks them all in the head to make sure they stay down longer. Swipe their wallets to know who is behind this, hide with the "Not notice us" spell, and the police arrest the creep, known criminals in the area and probably wanted on numerous crimes.

Sorry, Thulia, the universe sometimes drags you into fights you don't want to have, but need to deal with to help make the world a better place. Morgana, you think security doesn't already know about this incident and plans to talk to you when you get back to Whateley, silly girl. At least Pastel doesn't care about Whateley rules and lets Morgana and Thulia have the double room without question. Darn, no evidence of why the street thugs went after them. At least Pastel has some cash out of it, the least they deserve after the mess those creeps put them through.

Bwahaha, their flirting is both adorable and hilarious. Thulia, an innocent dragongirl, too funny. Time to fade out so they can have their privacy.

Personally she’d never seen much point in the Whateley restrictions about sex, the place was full of teenagers, what did they expect to happen?

Pastel is right, I hope the new headmaster and co-headmaster aren't more strict about it than Mrs. Carson was.

A miracle recovery, Pastel is one of the best healers around, if only she didn't have to do it by absorbing it into herself, then dumpig it onto other living beings. Construct a portal in the desert, no more complications, please.

*eyes bug out* That powerful that Pastel gets glimpse of them, dang. Handy way to fast travel somewhere if you have it.

In a way, it was familiar – it was just an off-plane version of an airport arrivals. Except that it was unlike any arrivals the two girls had even seen.

Sounds right for a transit station in another dimension to me. Boy, efficient and quick, that is more like it.

A Translation system, I thought so, no way every being in all other dimensions all speak the same language.

Thulia sat back. “Well, Pastel, it’s partly practical, partly traditional. A human sized form is far easier to move around in, we can make smaller and less energy-intensive gates, and human hands are more flexible than a dragons claws. Since we can shapeshift, using a human-type form is often convenient.”

Makes perfect sense. 20-foot form! Thulia has to show that off some time, if not on Earth then on the next visit to the Plane of Fire. And giant tails, yikes, just the thought of one of those is scary even if not being used to attack.

A great story from start to finish, I loved seeing the trip home. Though Lovie, please say she won't start stalking Morgana and Thulia while at school now. She seriously needs to learn boundaries better.

After Nef's attack on Thulia I wondered what they would do about her roommate situation. I'm so glad she has Tanya as her roommate now, someone who can listen to her problems and help, a friend who won't mess with her just because of who she is friends with. I can't wait to see how they get along as roommates in the future.

At the rate things are going in the next year or two they might have to make the Theory and Practice of the Escape a required course for all students. Or am I just seeing more dangers in the outside world than there are?

I can't wait for Morgana to meet Thulia's family now. Meeting Tanau will be interesting to say the least.

Search and Rescue course for the sims is becoming more popular. Shoot, the basics of the course would be good to know for anyone in case of an emergency. I wonder what scenarios the sim techs will cook up for them.

Whoever made that devisor poison needs to pay for what they did, 'testing it' out on a kid is monstrous. It doesn't sound like Forte's area of devisor tech though, I wonder who it could be. Please say there will be a follow-up on this in a future story.

I'm so glad all the initial plans to get there, Pastel to heal Fanak's little brother, and get out worked out fine. If only there wasn't a nurse on the payroll who rated them out to that gang. They need more heroes to help clean up Phoenix, Forte, and Fanak's stories along with the one where Thulia came to help don't come close to showing how bad thing really are there, do they?

I'm so glad Thulia and Morgana were able to deal with the gang members and keep Pastel safe. Going after healers, whoever wishes to buy a healer from this gang needs to be stopped. It isn't Frankencorp, is it? I thought Thulia shut down their location operations.

It was nice to see a little of how the transit location for the Plane of Fire works. But now I'm curious how many other dimensions are there that have visitors going there, plus if that translation system could work on Earth.

I can't wait to read more of Morgana, Thulia, Pastel, M3, and everyone else's adventures in the future.

Luvie is actually one of mine. She was hinted at in another story where they have the Christmas Dance, and Emiko wonders how wise it was to have her porn star wannabe roommate help her dress for it.
She's going to be fun.

Pastel being used to healed Fanak's brother is something Astro and I worked out a while ago, soon after Fanak was created. I have some nasty plans for that girl.
So in the next Fanak story we will learn who is going after her and why. I have that story plotted out and now that I'm writing again, it will be coming this year.

And yes, Pastel needs a win. She actually does get a few, and...well... then the hammer comes down.
Hard.
And everyone around her suffers.