Ignore the commotion, I stiffly commanded myself. Don't be sucked in by the cruelty of the non-draconic.Stiffling a snarl I turn slowly to face the one who had tripped. Dragon-kind, I whispered wordlessly as a staggering bolt of power hit me. Quite unexpected.

Placing my changed book on the table I offer her a kind smile, though it must have seen a bit forced. 

Darling Li, how long since you have smiled.

God, not my voice again. I thought I had beaten it so long ago. But it's back now, and all because of the other girl. Living so long without dragons, hidden in the back of my family's house being homeschooled. It had taken all my will-power, and a bit of shifting, to get them to let me come here.

So why hadn't I noticed her before now?

Li, you do not bother yourself with the humane, and so you willfully ignored the draconic. Do not pressure yourself.

((Wait, are you talking about Aki's commotion? I think I*ll go make her be in on a bench outside.))

I breathe a snarl as I lay down on the bench to look up at the open sky. I long to fly, to be free in the open air, to live and breathe as a dragon. Even as I think these things, I knew they can't be. There was noone, other than my parents whio already knew, I trust enough to tell my immense secret. I wonder what it would be like if I opened up to my dragon self, it had been so long.

Yes, a long time indeed Aki. If you changed back, the world would probably be yours and human ould be littered at your feet, but there are others, others in this very school.

A voice comes into my head and I stifle a yelp. My inner dragon has come back.  I sigh happily and listen to what she has to say. I stop. Otrhers, I never thought of that. I think back to my cl*censored*room, not one of the bullies or children seem like they could be dragons, but then again, neither do I. My eyes alight. What about that girl that was reading in cl*censored*. when I had looked back at her, I had not seen the textbooks words, they looked different. The kitten on my lap meows, signaling that she is hungry. I let her go, but she goes nowhere. "you said you were hungry." I say, trying to put her down, but she doesn't budge. "Alright, I don't have any food, hows that." I wonder why this little kitten is so attached to me...

Giving a sigh like the wind Li slowly stood from her chair and padded out of the room, textbook forgotten on the table. Slipping out the door she followed the direction Lanz had taken, shoving the heavy doors open to reveal bright sunshine and stunningly fresh air. ‘Ah,’ she breathed with a sigh of relief, upping her speed until she was running into the forest.

Gray-green scales formed on her body as she dashed into the trees, blending together as they covered her entire body. Then her form changed, growing thinner and longer, shortening her forearms and legs, lengthening her face until she had a muzzle rather than a nose and mouth. A thin whip-like tail lashed in the air as she fell to all fours, giving a screeching howl as she did so.

Now, she was free.

Bony wings with paper-thin sails flapped above her back, creating small gusts of air that shook the trees around her. Spikes seemed to form from her neck, growing as long and as thin as a porcupine’s, the edges becoming deadly sharp.

And her pupils seemed to shrink into nothing, leaving only pure white eyes that glowed in the dark gloom of the woods.

‘Free,’ a sibilant hiss escaped from her lips, accompanied by a thin, flickering black tongue.

"Finally." The bell rang and I slowly change. Dragon takes one look at me and cowers as my body starts to be covered with a thick la
yer of blue scales. My face stretches becoming a snout. My eyes becoming rounder and more prominent on my scaled face. I grow, but just a bit, only to 7 feet tall, possibly 8, but I have never counted. As the kids started to stream outside, she ran into the woods, the dark woods that never seemed to end.

A tail stretches out of I back with spiked riges going from the top of my head to the end of my tail. A blue tongue slithers out of my mouth as my maw stretches into a smile. "Finally. I am me again. I am cold. I am water. I am Naida." (That is her Dragon Name) I glower at the surrounding trees and sniff the air. My eyes widen in surprise and alarm as a kitten jumps onto my shoulder. "Oh, hi dragon." I say, my tongue hissing out of my mouth. 

A voice resounds in my head, an ancient cry rings through my memories. There are others... It says. I shake my head. I smell them, but where...