Dragon Crew
Long ago, In a land faraway....that's how a Disney movie would tell this, trust me, me and my Friends tried to add this as our first couple of words, but it didn't seem...right. This story doesn't start 'Long Ago, in a land Far away'. It lebih so starts like this, 'Not that long ago, in Dragon land'. That didn't seem that could either. 'Once upon a time' never worked that much either.
So I would Cinta to let anda know, we did not come up with the 'once upon a time' theme. Not. My. Fault.
But we did decide to do a mini epilogue about how we became like this, although this starts off with 'Once Upon a Time' (Caroline insisted it)
Once upon a time, long ago, the Kings and Queens of back when there were castles and knights in shining armor, noticed there were lots of Naga in the world. Don't get me wrong, the Naga stayed far away, but they were edging closer to the kingdoms. Naga hated humans, and humans hated them. Humans and Naga never went to war because well... anda can't kill a dragon.
Humans anda could kill though.
So, They didn't know what to do, it was either do something about it, atau let the Naga kill them all, I'm pretty sure anda know what one they picked.
The Queen, had a brilliant idea (although humans like to say 'the king') she called upon a witch, a skilled witch, with potions and toxins of all sorts. She berkata she was positive that she could get rid of the dragons.
The King and Queen agreed to let the Witch try and get rid of them, so the Witch traveled to the mountains to where the Naga lived.
She told the Naga she had a toxin that could make them powerful, to where it would be them to rule over the lands instead of the men. Naga were ignorant back then, and gladly fell for the witch's trap. They all drank the toxin.
The Toxin turned them all into humans themselves. They were furious, and killed the witch. Then walked to the kingdom, and killed the King to, (I never berkata this was a happy story).
The Queen was spared, no one knows why, but later, when the Queen was old. She gave the new King, who was the leader Dragon, another toxin, which made the Naga able to access their Dragon bodies, but they were still tied to their Human Bodies, and able to die.
The Naga reproduced as always, now, let me explain something to you. Back then, those were the first Dragons. When a Dragon reproduces with a human, the child, is not human. The Dragon blood kills the human side, and the child becomes full dragon. no exceptions.
When this was found out, the government in almost all the countries decided to kill any born dragon child. This is the way life been since old times, sejak that I mean older than your great-great-great-great-Grandpa Joe. Of course, anda civilians don't know about it.
Well, of course Naga had to retaliate, one family Line of Naga trained newborn Naga and children to become an army. An army that would hopefully destroy mankind and let the age of the Naga take over.
Then anda have the 'how do they know the child is a dragon?' question. It was a simple answer, sadly, I don't know the answer. I guess the government forgot to, because I don’t see any Dragon killings.
Now, I think anda would Cinta to turn the page and actually start Membaca the story.
Chapter 1 The Newbie, Will
My name is Will, yeah, impressive name for a dragon. I would personally expect it to be 'Aragon' atau 'Rain Fire' atau something cool.
No, Will is fine.
As for my last name, I'm not telling you, it is a dangerous name, one that makes children shiver and women cry...or is that the other way around? I'm just kidding, if my name fell into the wrong hands well…I wouldn't be standing here right now, that’s for sure.
It came as a bit of a shock when I found out I was a Dragon, my mother flipped out. My dad (whom I get my Dragon side from) calmly sent me away to some desolate camp on a desolate island. I haven't spoken to either one of them since. Mostly because they don’t want to be followed sejak the FBI and because there’s no phone service.
It was quite a shock for me as well, it would be for anda to when anda cough and api, kebakaran spews out. I was only 8 too, I thought I was insane, and had some serious issues. 3 days later I'm on a plane to Some island in the middle of the pacific, not even a word from my dad.
That’s just my story, my best friend Caroline never even met her parents. She doesn't even know their names. Along with Jason, he's actually a wanted criminal of the government because he Lost control in high school and set the place on fire. He did the nice thing and ran of course, don't say it was wrong. I bet if anda Spit api, kebakaran then had S.W.A.T. cars after you, anda would run.
Anyways, here at 'Boot Camp' we learn to successfully control our Dragon side and then use it to destroy humankind…if you’re the bad camp.
Yes, we have two 'Boot Camps' one, is run sejak a evil Dragon who wants to seek revenge on humans and kill them all for what they did to Dragons. The other camp wants to stop the bad camp from destroying the world and protect humans.
I was lucky and got into the good camp. Caroline was trained at the bad camp first, then she immigrated over here.
Now, I bet your wondering what the camp’s name is, The good camp, is called Camp Fire. I’m not sure what the bad camp is called, I always forgot it anyways. (it’s a long name)
Now, I will finally tell anda the story.
I looked at myself in the mirror and went cross-eyed, just for fun. I stuck my tongue out to, my crazy looking purple tongue. (Actually it was pink, but it swelled a little)My deep brown eye looked left, to my right ear. My other brown eye looked at my right ear. It was pretty cool, if I say so myself.
“You disgust me Will,” Jason dikomen seterusnya to me. He was applying Neosporin to his right cheek. He hissed as it burned, I gave that to him yesterday, for getting the bright idea to pierce my tongue with a stapler while I was sleeping (remember how I berkata it was swollen) so my hand magically turned into a Dragon claw and it didn’t end pretty.
“I like having fun, I look funny this way anyways,” I said, I placed a hand over one freckled-covered cheek and pinched it. I looked at my light-brown hair, that was combed back neatly (I didn’t want to catch it on fire). My eyes were all Chocolate colored, I didn’t call myself handsome, according to Jason, I looked lebih adorable than anything.
“And Retarded,” Jason dikomen back, I stomped on his foot, but he dodged, and pushed me down.
“BOYS!” Caroline (we like calling her Caro though)marched in the room, her Auburn hair pulled into a low ponytail, and her eyes focusing on us.
Caro had awesome features, her Auburn hair that was always so perfectly silky smooth, and freckled skin. Her eyes were both green, Caro had that don’t-you-dare-mess-with-me look. She looked like at any saat she will turn into a 1 ton Dragon and squash anda under her foot. She had really tan skin, which made her freckles stand out more.
“Yeah?” I asked sarcastically, she shot me a look, and I shut up.
“Do anda have to spend every saat fighting?” She asked, I liked how Caroline talked, she was from Australia, so she had a thick Australian accent, but it’s becoming lebih American.
“Yes, especially when Jason decides to attack my tongue with a stapler,” I said, Jason laughed, and I looked over to him.
Jason had thick blonde hair that was also pulled back; Jason had blue eyes (the kind that they say ‘pierce into your soul’). They were behind glasses. To me Jason looked like a huge nerd, except without the suspenders and zits. For some reason though, a lot of girls liked him. I didn’t get it. His face was pale, and kind of girlish looking. Jason was Scottish, he immigrated to America with his family at the age of 13, then when he was 17 he set his high school on fire. Unlike Caro, his accent was thick.
“Dude, I couldn’t resist,” Jason smiled, and lifted his glasses higher on his face. Caro rolled her eyes at the both of us.
“Anyways, we have to be at training before 8, so hurry up,” She unwrapped a piece of gum and put it in her mouth.
“EIGHT!” Jason yelled, “That’s in 10 minit Caro!” He ran out of the bathroom and into his room, I did to, and threw on some clothes.
We all wore loose fitting clothing, and kept a extra bag of clothes with us. When we transform, our clothes shed off (of course) and we carry our bags in our talons. We also kept 2 water bottles, and a can of sausages (okay, us Naga are carnivores, strict carnivores) Most of us kept our hair pulled back, because if it isn’t when we come to our human state, the hair is on fire, atau frizzed.
Once I was in some jeans and a old tank-top, I launched out of the room, grabbed a piece of ham and blew api, kebakaran on it while I ran outside to catch a ‘cab’.
The Island Camp we lived on was in the middle of the Pacific ocean, right on the equator, so it was a jungle, hot, humid, place. With Forest everywhere, and it rained every other day. It wasn’t small either, I say it was the size of Brazil, I don’t know how humans don’t find the place (although our teacher says there’s a witch on the island who makes it invisible)
We traveled sejak Dragon, how else?
It was Jason’s turn to be transportation today, Caro and I covered our eyes while he took off his clothes and transformed into the huge 3-story beast.
Okay, I’m done The telepathic thought rippled across my mind, and I covered my eyes to see the Dragon in front of me.
Jason was about 3 stories high small for a Dragon. He was emas color, his scales made him feel like a nice pair of snake-skin boots. Except anda could alih the skin since it was loose, not tight. His tail was like a snake. Now, this is where it gets lebih complicated.
If anda are to read this, anda must learn Naga always look the same, except for four main aspects. The color, wings, tail, and finally, the color of api, kebakaran that shoots out of their mouth. In Jason’s case, he was a golden Dragon, his wings were amazing. They were like a butterfly’s, exactly like a butterfly’s, but they were patterned emas and white. Jason’s api, kebakaran was Dark Red, and very hot.
“Butterfly boy,” Caro said, Jason’s Dragon eyes rolled, and I walked up his tail and onto his neck.
If anda don’t shut up Caro, I might just not let anda take the Jason-Cab another message came into my mind as Caro hopped on.
“Yeah right,” She said, once we were situated, Jason took off.
Hold on guys
anda see, Dragon’s can’t open their mouth, atau api, kebakaran spews out of it. It used to be they controlled it, but since the whole Dragon-human drama. We can’t…in Dragon form. anda see, so much api, kebakaran is built inside the human body, that when we reach Dragon form, we can’t contain it. So it just comes out, luckily, our ancestors used telepathic messages, so we’re good.
When we arrived at the training site, I was relieved to find that we made it on time, the instructor wasn’t here yet, mostly because he had to train the sea serpents.
Yep, I berkata Sea Serpents. There are three types of Dragons, the Dragon, the Sea Serpent, and the Dinosaur (except those went extinct). The Dragon, is the aerial flyer, they have wings, and are basically the same. Now, Sea Serpents are a totally different story. They vary, some are just giant snakes, others have legs with webbed feet and few have multiple tentacles. They Cinta to spit water, just ask Becca.
Becca is our Sea Serpent friend, we always hang out after training. She’s one of the lebih complicated Serpents, but I’ll tell anda lebih about that later.
Our Instructor, Mr. Y (yes, we call him Y, none of us pronounce it correctly, so we started calling him Y) Arrived 15 minit late, as usual. He was a Dragon, but he helped the Serpent instructor a lot. He knew how to do everything.
I have the strangest Dragon ever, I wasn’t really that big of a Dragon; in fact, I was the smallest Dragon on the entire planet. I looked like a really big bearded Dragon, but with wings. My wings were amazing, they started at my neck, and came out really far. They extended all the way to the tip of my tail. They gradually went smaller on the way down to form a segitiga, segi tiga shape, and were connected my spikes, which was like my rib cage, except instead of going in it was going out.
“Okay, today we will be working on flying and spewing fire,” Mr. Y walked out of the brush, he glanced over the class, looking for people who were absent, none were, as Dragon’s never got sick.
I scrunched up my face, and I saw Jason do the same, I hated the smell of things burning, and I know Jason did to.
“So we’re not really learning anything?” I asked, Mr. Y smiled.
Mr. Y’s first name was Angelo, he was Italian, but his accent was wearing away. Angelo had dark brown hair, and tan skin, his eyes were stern though. They were also brown, but a lighter brown, it was hard to believe that Angelo was only 20. Most Naga were young anyways, although we lived to be 150, most Naga leave the camp after 20, and Angelo decided to stay.
“Now, when did I say that Will?” Angelo smiled, the smile he has when he’s up to something. He turned to Jason, and looked at him.
“Okay Scotty, what do anda have?” He asked, Jason was the only Scottish person on the island, so Angelo teased him about it.
“What do you-,” Jason jumped back when a burst of purple api, kebakaran came at him from Angelo’s mouth.
“Nice reflex,” Angelo smiled, and then looked at the rest of the class, “In this lesson anda will learn how to spew api, kebakaran out of your mouth in human form,” He turned around and coughed, smoke came out, “some of anda figured out how to do this, like Will for example, he figured it out easily,” Angelo turned to me.
“Jealous?” I asked, everyone laughed, and Angelo rolled his eyes.
“Hardly,” He said, “Although it is impressive for someone whose only 16,” Angelo said, I smiled, “Perhaps anda could demonstrate?”
I froze as he berkata this, I stammered, “Uhh, sure?” I asked, I had immense stage-Fright, I stepped forward, and took a deep breath. I felt my stomach heat up as the api, kebakaran crept up my body into my mouth. I blew, and a column of white api, kebakaran burst out of it. It burnt the ground instantly, it didn’t even half to touch it, the heat alone made the rumput turn black.
“As anda can see, White is hotter than most other fire; in fact, it is the hottest of all,” He said, Angelo smiled.
Before he could continue on as normal, a boy came crashing through the woods. I guessed he was a sea serpent because his tongue was spikes like a snakes. He spoke rapidly in a language I didn’t understand, nor care to spell at this point. It was clear Angelo was worried though, because he rushed out of the field, telling us that class was dismissed.
“What was that about?” Jason berkata I shrugged.
“I didn’t even know what language they were speaking! Much less what they were saying, besides, he seemed worried,” I said, looking over my shoulder.
We decided to walk home, atau at least to the pantai where we normally meet Rebecca. We had plenty of time to talk since it was a long walk.
“I’m sure it’s just a newbie atau something,” Caro said, “Why do anda two have to worry so much?”
“Why do anda not worry so much?” Jason retorted, Caro rolled her eyes.
“Whatever,” She mumbled, signaling she wasn’t playing another part in this conversation anymore, which was fine sejak me, I didn’t like arguing at the moment.
“I wanted to learn api, kebakaran so bad to,” Jason whined; I sighed and patted him on the back. Telling him I would teach him later if he wanted me to, Jason seemed to perk up a little bit.
We walked to the docks, and sat on the edge, I placed my feet in the water. Becca lived underwater. Like most serpents, they can live under the water, and when serpents are on land, they constantly drink water. Like how most Naga are found in fire-related incidents, most Serpents are in water incidents.
“Do anda think she might know?” Caro asked, she sat cross-legged on the plank, her head was leaning on her fist, Jason scoffed beside me.
“I doubt it, most of the time she can’t tell her head from her tail,” He said, smiling.
Then a spout of water came from the ocean and squirted Jason in the face, making his hair damp.
“I heard that Jason,” Becca growled, emerging from the ocean,
Becca had beautiful blonde hair that was swept up in a side ponytail, and sea-green-blue eyes that reflected off the water, atau at least one of them did. That was the cool part about Becca, one of her eyes looked like that ocean color, the other was brown like chocolate. It was unique about Becca, and something I’ve never seen before. anda always had a taste of the sea with her, she always did smell like salt water.
Although, when she was Sea Serpent, she was quite different, her eyes were still the same, but she was one of those legged Sea Serpents, with webbed toes and a bearded-Dragon head. She was blue, and her tongue was forked. It looked like one of those anda see on T.V. with the four scaly legs and feet that were webbed. Her teeth were spiked, good for catching fish.
“See? She’d get back at you!” I said, smiling Jason wiped the water off his face, and looked at Becca.
“Hey, did anda know why Mr. Y suddenly ran off?” He asked, Becca looked confused for a moment.
Then, it must’ve hit her, “Yes, of course, well I believe it had something to do with a newbie we had, normally it wasn’t taken to an extent like it was but, apparently something happened and we had to get him,” She berkata solemnly.
“Must’ve been bad, normally Sea Serpents don’t go to that extent,” Caro commented, dipping her feet in the water, Becca nodded.
“Did anda see what they looked like?” Jason asked, Becca shook her head.
“Actually no, but we will soon enough,” Becca said, “We’ll see him at dinner,” She smiled, and hopped up out of the water, her clothes becoming dry instantly. She scooped up some water in her bottle.
“You guys are lucky,” She muttered, “Not having to deal with limits,”
“Actually, we can’t swim, remember?” I said.
Swimming to Dragons, was like humans trying to grow wings, it wasn’t going to happen, we just hated swimming. We get all panicky and well…drown.
“Whatever,” Becca mumbled.
“I can’t wait till dinner,” Caro said, rubbing her stomach.
makan malam, majlis makan malam came sooner than expected.
Chapter 2 Making Friends, Drew
I was in a new place again.
I about had it, every week I was sent somewhere else with my father, eventually I left, and wound up here, somehow. Don’t ask how, I just had a pulling sensation, so I got on a little rowboat and rowed to this crazy island in the middle of nowhere! It wasn’t even on the map!
My name is Drew, and I’m not supposed to say my last name because it’s dangerous. Don’t ask what I look like, because I wouldn’t be able to tell you, I can tell anda I am 12, and my hair is short, ragged, and needed to be combed. My eyes were round, and I looked human. I was average height, over 5 foot, but less than5 ½ feet. I was scrawny.
If you’re thinking I’m blind, you’re close, I’m color blind. Achromatopsia, I can’t see color, only various shades of gray (this included black and white). I wish I could see color though, I imagine it would be nice. Even having Protanopia would be nice. They see yellow and blue mostly. Nope, I’m full-out color blind. If anda asked me to point to the guy in the blue shirt, I would probably point to the one in red. My whole life was a black-and-white movie, and I know those annoy you. I got my Color-Blindness from my grandmother.
“What was your name again?” a man asked me, he looked smart, and he told me his name was Angelo.
“I berkata my name was Drew,” I answered.
The medic as he called it, ran around me, checking to make sure I was healthy. He told me most kids came here with an adult, but I came with a rowboat, and that worried Rae. Who was the person who saw me when I walked up.
The medic came in with a needle. He berkata he was going to take a DNA sample, and let him, watching the gray liquid fill the container full, but I knew it was probably red.
That left me alone with Angelo, who seemed very curious about me.
“Drew, did your parents send anda here?” He asked, I shook my head no.
“I ran away, on that boat, from Mexico,” I answered, he raised his eyebrows.
“Are anda Mexican?”
“No, I’m Canadian, I Lost the accent when I moved to America though,” I berkata smiling, “Are anda Italian?”
“Yes I am,” He replied, “I had to miss teaching for this ya’ know,” He said, I shrugged.
“Why? The Medic could’ve handled me fine,” I said, “You didn’t have to leave your class,” I said, Angelo looked about 21, atau 19, I couldn’t decide on which one.
“Yes well, it’s very strange for a child as young as anda to tunjuk up here without a guardian, the last time that happened was with William,” He said, “We just want to make sure you’re supposed to be here,” He said.
“What if I’m not?” I challenged.
Before I could find out the answer, the medic came in again, this time he looked sad, atau worried. Rae was with him. They called Angelo in, and I followed, listening in through the door.
You’d be surprised how well I could hear.
“He isn’t a Dragon!” Rae’s stern voice came in through the door, I heard footsteps, pacing most likely.
“Then he must be sea serpent!” Angelo said, someone gasped, which meant they either nodded, atau shook their head.
“A human found this place,” Rae’s voice was angrier now.
“Well it’s not like we can leave him!” Angelo argued, “Let’s keep the boy,” his voice softened. While they argued, I took time to collect my thoughts.
Did they seriously just Debat about whether I was a Dragon! Dragon’s don’t exist, these people are crazy.
They opened the door, revealing me at the foot, Rae glared, but Angelo hoisted me up.
“He’s only 12 Rae, I’ll take care of the boy,” Angelo said, “He might be a help in the future,”
Rae scoffed, and walked away, I looked at Angelo.
“What’s this about Dragon’s and Sea Serpents?” I asked, he sighed.
“You’ll figure it out soon enough,” He said, “Let’s go eat, that always fun,”
He was right, it was awesome, the Makanan was delicious, I bet it was colorful to, if I could see it.
Normally I like keeping my color-blindness to myself, but sometimes, it just stands out.
Angelo directed me to a meja, jadual of about 4 kids, each one was about in the range of 14-17, he told them my name, and they told me theirs. He berkata they would tunjuk me around. Of course, when I sat down I was bombarded with questions.
“Hi, I’m Will,” Will stuck out his hand, and I took it, as I did with Caro, Becca, and Jason.
“I’m Drew,” I replied, I looked at my lap, hoping to avoid too much conversation.
“Are anda a Dragon Drew?” Caro asked me, I guessed her hair was a bright color, because it looked almost white in my vision.
“No, I’m human,” I said, shocked faces spread on all of their faces, “Dragons don’t exist,”
“Of course they do, that’s why you’re in a Dragon camp,” Becca said, Jason slammed his head on the table.
“Becca, the boy’s human, he must’ve wandered in,” he muttered, Becca’s mouth turned into a O shape.
“Can we change the subject?” Will asked, “how about we play I spy,”
I have the worst luck ever. I scratched the back of my neck, something I do when I’m anxious, “Can we not? That game is for little kids,” I said, trying to avoid the question. They agreed, and I grabbed an apple.
“I guess anda like yellow apples? The Green ones are better!” Jason said, I put it back, and grabbed another one, this one was a darker shade of gray then the others. Luckily it was green, atau I think it was.
“So, this is why class was interrupted,” Jason looked at me, “I see why, we normally don’t get humans here,” He said, I nodded, and sat on my hands.
“How did anda get here?” Becca leaned on her fist, looking at me with mild interest, I noticed the different hue of each eye (I say hue instead of color, I can’t see color, so I use hue) it must’ve meant it was two different colors.
“You guys aren’t Dragons, this is probably some stupid club; I’m going to go back and live on the streets of New York atau something,” I said, Will raised an eyebrow, and grabbed a piece of roti on the table.
“What if I can prove it to you? That I am a Dragon,” He asked.
“I’ll believe anda of course,” I said.
Jason smirked, and everyone looked at Will, he looked nervous.
Then, a burst of api, kebakaran spewed out of his mouth, it was white (White is a hue of gray, as is black, so shut up) and I could feel the heat of it from where I was sitting, the roti turned to ash, and landed on the table.
I bit my lip don’t freak out don’t freak out.
“Okay, I believe you,” I said.
Before the conversation could carry further, Angelo came and put a hand on my shoulder. He smiled warmly at Will.
“Will, since anda and Jason are my best students, I’ve arranged for the spare bedroom in your cottage to be filled sejak young Drew here,” He said, I looked over, Jason smirked evilly,-remind me to lock the door- and Will looked shocked.
“But Sir-,”
“No Buts William,” Angelo said, “I want anda to be responsible for Drew, don’t let him wander off, and make sure he doesn’t get killed,”
“Killed?” I asked, but my komen went ignored as everyone started looking at each other silently. Like they were telepathic.
“Fine,” Will said, after a moment of utter silence. I felt odder than ever, if anything I felt like a outsider which I was. A human out of about hundreds of Dragons.
The walk back to the ‘cottage’ was long, and my legs hurt sejak the end of it. We walked sejak fields of rumput and lots of trees, with leaves all different shades of gray. It makes it really hard for me to respect the beauty of the world when I can’t see how beautiful it really is. Heck, I don’t even know what the color green is.
“So, our cottage is the red one at the end of the road, we painted it red because it normally where newbie’s stay, and we don’t want them getting lost,” Jason berkata plainly, he looked at me.
I looked around, the rows of houses was exactly the same, I couldn’t tell any difference, fortunately, the house I was living in was a slight darker shade. I hoped I’d remember which one it was.
“The red one, got it!” I said, I wondered what color the other houses were. I guessed they were all the same color. Probably gray.
“Recap,” Will started, “You showed up on a rowboat, you’re human, and anda won’t pierce my tongue with a stapler at night?” He asked, I was confused sejak the last bit.
“Yes, Yes, and No,” I said, he nodded. Will tossed me a key, probably to the house, “I don’t even understand the last question,”
“My fault,” Jason raised his hand, and unlocked the door. He pushed it open.
The cottage had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, and it was arranged in a cabin-like style. It could house 6, because bunk beds were pushed against the walls of each room. The Bathroom had 3 sinks, and 1 shower.
“It’s big,” I commented, for most of my life I slept in a hotel room in one katil with my father; in fact, most of my life has been either on a plane, hotel room, car, and even walking on the subway once. anda can see why I left. He never even told me why!
“And colorful,” Jason added, he smiled at me, I nodded trying to agree, atau look like I even knew what color was.
“Anyways,” Will said, “Only Jason and I live here, it’s mainly for newbies who aren’t old enough for actual homes, you’ll be staying here to I guess,” he continued, he pointed to a bed, “Sleep there,”
“Okay,” I lay down on the bed, my muscles ached, and the hari finally caught up to me.
I, Drew, was in a island that wasn’t even on a map, in the middle of nowhere with dragons.
And somehow, I was perfectly fine with it, I didn’t see anything wrong with Dragons, they were cool, amazing.
I closed my eyes, barely catching Will saying they needed to run tests on me tomorrow, I didn’t care at the moment, for now, I wanted to sleep.
Long ago, In a land faraway....that's how a Disney movie would tell this, trust me, me and my Friends tried to add this as our first couple of words, but it didn't seem...right. This story doesn't start 'Long Ago, in a land Far away'. It lebih so starts like this, 'Not that long ago, in Dragon land'. That didn't seem that could either. 'Once upon a time' never worked that much either.
So I would Cinta to let anda know, we did not come up with the 'once upon a time' theme. Not. My. Fault.
But we did decide to do a mini epilogue about how we became like this, although this starts off with 'Once Upon a Time' (Caroline insisted it)
Once upon a time, long ago, the Kings and Queens of back when there were castles and knights in shining armor, noticed there were lots of Naga in the world. Don't get me wrong, the Naga stayed far away, but they were edging closer to the kingdoms. Naga hated humans, and humans hated them. Humans and Naga never went to war because well... anda can't kill a dragon.
Humans anda could kill though.
So, They didn't know what to do, it was either do something about it, atau let the Naga kill them all, I'm pretty sure anda know what one they picked.
The Queen, had a brilliant idea (although humans like to say 'the king') she called upon a witch, a skilled witch, with potions and toxins of all sorts. She berkata she was positive that she could get rid of the dragons.
The King and Queen agreed to let the Witch try and get rid of them, so the Witch traveled to the mountains to where the Naga lived.
She told the Naga she had a toxin that could make them powerful, to where it would be them to rule over the lands instead of the men. Naga were ignorant back then, and gladly fell for the witch's trap. They all drank the toxin.
The Toxin turned them all into humans themselves. They were furious, and killed the witch. Then walked to the kingdom, and killed the King to, (I never berkata this was a happy story).
The Queen was spared, no one knows why, but later, when the Queen was old. She gave the new King, who was the leader Dragon, another toxin, which made the Naga able to access their Dragon bodies, but they were still tied to their Human Bodies, and able to die.
The Naga reproduced as always, now, let me explain something to you. Back then, those were the first Dragons. When a Dragon reproduces with a human, the child, is not human. The Dragon blood kills the human side, and the child becomes full dragon. no exceptions.
When this was found out, the government in almost all the countries decided to kill any born dragon child. This is the way life been since old times, sejak that I mean older than your great-great-great-great-Grandpa Joe. Of course, anda civilians don't know about it.
Well, of course Naga had to retaliate, one family Line of Naga trained newborn Naga and children to become an army. An army that would hopefully destroy mankind and let the age of the Naga take over.
Then anda have the 'how do they know the child is a dragon?' question. It was a simple answer, sadly, I don't know the answer. I guess the government forgot to, because I don’t see any Dragon killings.
Now, I think anda would Cinta to turn the page and actually start Membaca the story.
Chapter 1 The Newbie, Will
My name is Will, yeah, impressive name for a dragon. I would personally expect it to be 'Aragon' atau 'Rain Fire' atau something cool.
No, Will is fine.
As for my last name, I'm not telling you, it is a dangerous name, one that makes children shiver and women cry...or is that the other way around? I'm just kidding, if my name fell into the wrong hands well…I wouldn't be standing here right now, that’s for sure.
It came as a bit of a shock when I found out I was a Dragon, my mother flipped out. My dad (whom I get my Dragon side from) calmly sent me away to some desolate camp on a desolate island. I haven't spoken to either one of them since. Mostly because they don’t want to be followed sejak the FBI and because there’s no phone service.
It was quite a shock for me as well, it would be for anda to when anda cough and api, kebakaran spews out. I was only 8 too, I thought I was insane, and had some serious issues. 3 days later I'm on a plane to Some island in the middle of the pacific, not even a word from my dad.
That’s just my story, my best friend Caroline never even met her parents. She doesn't even know their names. Along with Jason, he's actually a wanted criminal of the government because he Lost control in high school and set the place on fire. He did the nice thing and ran of course, don't say it was wrong. I bet if anda Spit api, kebakaran then had S.W.A.T. cars after you, anda would run.
Anyways, here at 'Boot Camp' we learn to successfully control our Dragon side and then use it to destroy humankind…if you’re the bad camp.
Yes, we have two 'Boot Camps' one, is run sejak a evil Dragon who wants to seek revenge on humans and kill them all for what they did to Dragons. The other camp wants to stop the bad camp from destroying the world and protect humans.
I was lucky and got into the good camp. Caroline was trained at the bad camp first, then she immigrated over here.
Now, I bet your wondering what the camp’s name is, The good camp, is called Camp Fire. I’m not sure what the bad camp is called, I always forgot it anyways. (it’s a long name)
Now, I will finally tell anda the story.
I looked at myself in the mirror and went cross-eyed, just for fun. I stuck my tongue out to, my crazy looking purple tongue. (Actually it was pink, but it swelled a little)My deep brown eye looked left, to my right ear. My other brown eye looked at my right ear. It was pretty cool, if I say so myself.
“You disgust me Will,” Jason dikomen seterusnya to me. He was applying Neosporin to his right cheek. He hissed as it burned, I gave that to him yesterday, for getting the bright idea to pierce my tongue with a stapler while I was sleeping (remember how I berkata it was swollen) so my hand magically turned into a Dragon claw and it didn’t end pretty.
“I like having fun, I look funny this way anyways,” I said, I placed a hand over one freckled-covered cheek and pinched it. I looked at my light-brown hair, that was combed back neatly (I didn’t want to catch it on fire). My eyes were all Chocolate colored, I didn’t call myself handsome, according to Jason, I looked lebih adorable than anything.
“And Retarded,” Jason dikomen back, I stomped on his foot, but he dodged, and pushed me down.
“BOYS!” Caroline (we like calling her Caro though)marched in the room, her Auburn hair pulled into a low ponytail, and her eyes focusing on us.
Caro had awesome features, her Auburn hair that was always so perfectly silky smooth, and freckled skin. Her eyes were both green, Caro had that don’t-you-dare-mess-with-me look. She looked like at any saat she will turn into a 1 ton Dragon and squash anda under her foot. She had really tan skin, which made her freckles stand out more.
“Yeah?” I asked sarcastically, she shot me a look, and I shut up.
“Do anda have to spend every saat fighting?” She asked, I liked how Caroline talked, she was from Australia, so she had a thick Australian accent, but it’s becoming lebih American.
“Yes, especially when Jason decides to attack my tongue with a stapler,” I said, Jason laughed, and I looked over to him.
Jason had thick blonde hair that was also pulled back; Jason had blue eyes (the kind that they say ‘pierce into your soul’). They were behind glasses. To me Jason looked like a huge nerd, except without the suspenders and zits. For some reason though, a lot of girls liked him. I didn’t get it. His face was pale, and kind of girlish looking. Jason was Scottish, he immigrated to America with his family at the age of 13, then when he was 17 he set his high school on fire. Unlike Caro, his accent was thick.
“Dude, I couldn’t resist,” Jason smiled, and lifted his glasses higher on his face. Caro rolled her eyes at the both of us.
“Anyways, we have to be at training before 8, so hurry up,” She unwrapped a piece of gum and put it in her mouth.
“EIGHT!” Jason yelled, “That’s in 10 minit Caro!” He ran out of the bathroom and into his room, I did to, and threw on some clothes.
We all wore loose fitting clothing, and kept a extra bag of clothes with us. When we transform, our clothes shed off (of course) and we carry our bags in our talons. We also kept 2 water bottles, and a can of sausages (okay, us Naga are carnivores, strict carnivores) Most of us kept our hair pulled back, because if it isn’t when we come to our human state, the hair is on fire, atau frizzed.
Once I was in some jeans and a old tank-top, I launched out of the room, grabbed a piece of ham and blew api, kebakaran on it while I ran outside to catch a ‘cab’.
The Island Camp we lived on was in the middle of the Pacific ocean, right on the equator, so it was a jungle, hot, humid, place. With Forest everywhere, and it rained every other day. It wasn’t small either, I say it was the size of Brazil, I don’t know how humans don’t find the place (although our teacher says there’s a witch on the island who makes it invisible)
We traveled sejak Dragon, how else?
It was Jason’s turn to be transportation today, Caro and I covered our eyes while he took off his clothes and transformed into the huge 3-story beast.
Okay, I’m done The telepathic thought rippled across my mind, and I covered my eyes to see the Dragon in front of me.
Jason was about 3 stories high small for a Dragon. He was emas color, his scales made him feel like a nice pair of snake-skin boots. Except anda could alih the skin since it was loose, not tight. His tail was like a snake. Now, this is where it gets lebih complicated.
If anda are to read this, anda must learn Naga always look the same, except for four main aspects. The color, wings, tail, and finally, the color of api, kebakaran that shoots out of their mouth. In Jason’s case, he was a golden Dragon, his wings were amazing. They were like a butterfly’s, exactly like a butterfly’s, but they were patterned emas and white. Jason’s api, kebakaran was Dark Red, and very hot.
“Butterfly boy,” Caro said, Jason’s Dragon eyes rolled, and I walked up his tail and onto his neck.
If anda don’t shut up Caro, I might just not let anda take the Jason-Cab another message came into my mind as Caro hopped on.
“Yeah right,” She said, once we were situated, Jason took off.
Hold on guys
anda see, Dragon’s can’t open their mouth, atau api, kebakaran spews out of it. It used to be they controlled it, but since the whole Dragon-human drama. We can’t…in Dragon form. anda see, so much api, kebakaran is built inside the human body, that when we reach Dragon form, we can’t contain it. So it just comes out, luckily, our ancestors used telepathic messages, so we’re good.
When we arrived at the training site, I was relieved to find that we made it on time, the instructor wasn’t here yet, mostly because he had to train the sea serpents.
Yep, I berkata Sea Serpents. There are three types of Dragons, the Dragon, the Sea Serpent, and the Dinosaur (except those went extinct). The Dragon, is the aerial flyer, they have wings, and are basically the same. Now, Sea Serpents are a totally different story. They vary, some are just giant snakes, others have legs with webbed feet and few have multiple tentacles. They Cinta to spit water, just ask Becca.
Becca is our Sea Serpent friend, we always hang out after training. She’s one of the lebih complicated Serpents, but I’ll tell anda lebih about that later.
Our Instructor, Mr. Y (yes, we call him Y, none of us pronounce it correctly, so we started calling him Y) Arrived 15 minit late, as usual. He was a Dragon, but he helped the Serpent instructor a lot. He knew how to do everything.
I have the strangest Dragon ever, I wasn’t really that big of a Dragon; in fact, I was the smallest Dragon on the entire planet. I looked like a really big bearded Dragon, but with wings. My wings were amazing, they started at my neck, and came out really far. They extended all the way to the tip of my tail. They gradually went smaller on the way down to form a segitiga, segi tiga shape, and were connected my spikes, which was like my rib cage, except instead of going in it was going out.
“Okay, today we will be working on flying and spewing fire,” Mr. Y walked out of the brush, he glanced over the class, looking for people who were absent, none were, as Dragon’s never got sick.
I scrunched up my face, and I saw Jason do the same, I hated the smell of things burning, and I know Jason did to.
“So we’re not really learning anything?” I asked, Mr. Y smiled.
Mr. Y’s first name was Angelo, he was Italian, but his accent was wearing away. Angelo had dark brown hair, and tan skin, his eyes were stern though. They were also brown, but a lighter brown, it was hard to believe that Angelo was only 20. Most Naga were young anyways, although we lived to be 150, most Naga leave the camp after 20, and Angelo decided to stay.
“Now, when did I say that Will?” Angelo smiled, the smile he has when he’s up to something. He turned to Jason, and looked at him.
“Okay Scotty, what do anda have?” He asked, Jason was the only Scottish person on the island, so Angelo teased him about it.
“What do you-,” Jason jumped back when a burst of purple api, kebakaran came at him from Angelo’s mouth.
“Nice reflex,” Angelo smiled, and then looked at the rest of the class, “In this lesson anda will learn how to spew api, kebakaran out of your mouth in human form,” He turned around and coughed, smoke came out, “some of anda figured out how to do this, like Will for example, he figured it out easily,” Angelo turned to me.
“Jealous?” I asked, everyone laughed, and Angelo rolled his eyes.
“Hardly,” He said, “Although it is impressive for someone whose only 16,” Angelo said, I smiled, “Perhaps anda could demonstrate?”
I froze as he berkata this, I stammered, “Uhh, sure?” I asked, I had immense stage-Fright, I stepped forward, and took a deep breath. I felt my stomach heat up as the api, kebakaran crept up my body into my mouth. I blew, and a column of white api, kebakaran burst out of it. It burnt the ground instantly, it didn’t even half to touch it, the heat alone made the rumput turn black.
“As anda can see, White is hotter than most other fire; in fact, it is the hottest of all,” He said, Angelo smiled.
Before he could continue on as normal, a boy came crashing through the woods. I guessed he was a sea serpent because his tongue was spikes like a snakes. He spoke rapidly in a language I didn’t understand, nor care to spell at this point. It was clear Angelo was worried though, because he rushed out of the field, telling us that class was dismissed.
“What was that about?” Jason berkata I shrugged.
“I didn’t even know what language they were speaking! Much less what they were saying, besides, he seemed worried,” I said, looking over my shoulder.
We decided to walk home, atau at least to the pantai where we normally meet Rebecca. We had plenty of time to talk since it was a long walk.
“I’m sure it’s just a newbie atau something,” Caro said, “Why do anda two have to worry so much?”
“Why do anda not worry so much?” Jason retorted, Caro rolled her eyes.
“Whatever,” She mumbled, signaling she wasn’t playing another part in this conversation anymore, which was fine sejak me, I didn’t like arguing at the moment.
“I wanted to learn api, kebakaran so bad to,” Jason whined; I sighed and patted him on the back. Telling him I would teach him later if he wanted me to, Jason seemed to perk up a little bit.
We walked to the docks, and sat on the edge, I placed my feet in the water. Becca lived underwater. Like most serpents, they can live under the water, and when serpents are on land, they constantly drink water. Like how most Naga are found in fire-related incidents, most Serpents are in water incidents.
“Do anda think she might know?” Caro asked, she sat cross-legged on the plank, her head was leaning on her fist, Jason scoffed beside me.
“I doubt it, most of the time she can’t tell her head from her tail,” He said, smiling.
Then a spout of water came from the ocean and squirted Jason in the face, making his hair damp.
“I heard that Jason,” Becca growled, emerging from the ocean,
Becca had beautiful blonde hair that was swept up in a side ponytail, and sea-green-blue eyes that reflected off the water, atau at least one of them did. That was the cool part about Becca, one of her eyes looked like that ocean color, the other was brown like chocolate. It was unique about Becca, and something I’ve never seen before. anda always had a taste of the sea with her, she always did smell like salt water.
Although, when she was Sea Serpent, she was quite different, her eyes were still the same, but she was one of those legged Sea Serpents, with webbed toes and a bearded-Dragon head. She was blue, and her tongue was forked. It looked like one of those anda see on T.V. with the four scaly legs and feet that were webbed. Her teeth were spiked, good for catching fish.
“See? She’d get back at you!” I said, smiling Jason wiped the water off his face, and looked at Becca.
“Hey, did anda know why Mr. Y suddenly ran off?” He asked, Becca looked confused for a moment.
Then, it must’ve hit her, “Yes, of course, well I believe it had something to do with a newbie we had, normally it wasn’t taken to an extent like it was but, apparently something happened and we had to get him,” She berkata solemnly.
“Must’ve been bad, normally Sea Serpents don’t go to that extent,” Caro commented, dipping her feet in the water, Becca nodded.
“Did anda see what they looked like?” Jason asked, Becca shook her head.
“Actually no, but we will soon enough,” Becca said, “We’ll see him at dinner,” She smiled, and hopped up out of the water, her clothes becoming dry instantly. She scooped up some water in her bottle.
“You guys are lucky,” She muttered, “Not having to deal with limits,”
“Actually, we can’t swim, remember?” I said.
Swimming to Dragons, was like humans trying to grow wings, it wasn’t going to happen, we just hated swimming. We get all panicky and well…drown.
“Whatever,” Becca mumbled.
“I can’t wait till dinner,” Caro said, rubbing her stomach.
makan malam, majlis makan malam came sooner than expected.
Chapter 2 Making Friends, Drew
I was in a new place again.
I about had it, every week I was sent somewhere else with my father, eventually I left, and wound up here, somehow. Don’t ask how, I just had a pulling sensation, so I got on a little rowboat and rowed to this crazy island in the middle of nowhere! It wasn’t even on the map!
My name is Drew, and I’m not supposed to say my last name because it’s dangerous. Don’t ask what I look like, because I wouldn’t be able to tell you, I can tell anda I am 12, and my hair is short, ragged, and needed to be combed. My eyes were round, and I looked human. I was average height, over 5 foot, but less than5 ½ feet. I was scrawny.
If you’re thinking I’m blind, you’re close, I’m color blind. Achromatopsia, I can’t see color, only various shades of gray (this included black and white). I wish I could see color though, I imagine it would be nice. Even having Protanopia would be nice. They see yellow and blue mostly. Nope, I’m full-out color blind. If anda asked me to point to the guy in the blue shirt, I would probably point to the one in red. My whole life was a black-and-white movie, and I know those annoy you. I got my Color-Blindness from my grandmother.
“What was your name again?” a man asked me, he looked smart, and he told me his name was Angelo.
“I berkata my name was Drew,” I answered.
The medic as he called it, ran around me, checking to make sure I was healthy. He told me most kids came here with an adult, but I came with a rowboat, and that worried Rae. Who was the person who saw me when I walked up.
The medic came in with a needle. He berkata he was going to take a DNA sample, and let him, watching the gray liquid fill the container full, but I knew it was probably red.
That left me alone with Angelo, who seemed very curious about me.
“Drew, did your parents send anda here?” He asked, I shook my head no.
“I ran away, on that boat, from Mexico,” I answered, he raised his eyebrows.
“Are anda Mexican?”
“No, I’m Canadian, I Lost the accent when I moved to America though,” I berkata smiling, “Are anda Italian?”
“Yes I am,” He replied, “I had to miss teaching for this ya’ know,” He said, I shrugged.
“Why? The Medic could’ve handled me fine,” I said, “You didn’t have to leave your class,” I said, Angelo looked about 21, atau 19, I couldn’t decide on which one.
“Yes well, it’s very strange for a child as young as anda to tunjuk up here without a guardian, the last time that happened was with William,” He said, “We just want to make sure you’re supposed to be here,” He said.
“What if I’m not?” I challenged.
Before I could find out the answer, the medic came in again, this time he looked sad, atau worried. Rae was with him. They called Angelo in, and I followed, listening in through the door.
You’d be surprised how well I could hear.
“He isn’t a Dragon!” Rae’s stern voice came in through the door, I heard footsteps, pacing most likely.
“Then he must be sea serpent!” Angelo said, someone gasped, which meant they either nodded, atau shook their head.
“A human found this place,” Rae’s voice was angrier now.
“Well it’s not like we can leave him!” Angelo argued, “Let’s keep the boy,” his voice softened. While they argued, I took time to collect my thoughts.
Did they seriously just Debat about whether I was a Dragon! Dragon’s don’t exist, these people are crazy.
They opened the door, revealing me at the foot, Rae glared, but Angelo hoisted me up.
“He’s only 12 Rae, I’ll take care of the boy,” Angelo said, “He might be a help in the future,”
Rae scoffed, and walked away, I looked at Angelo.
“What’s this about Dragon’s and Sea Serpents?” I asked, he sighed.
“You’ll figure it out soon enough,” He said, “Let’s go eat, that always fun,”
He was right, it was awesome, the Makanan was delicious, I bet it was colorful to, if I could see it.
Normally I like keeping my color-blindness to myself, but sometimes, it just stands out.
Angelo directed me to a meja, jadual of about 4 kids, each one was about in the range of 14-17, he told them my name, and they told me theirs. He berkata they would tunjuk me around. Of course, when I sat down I was bombarded with questions.
“Hi, I’m Will,” Will stuck out his hand, and I took it, as I did with Caro, Becca, and Jason.
“I’m Drew,” I replied, I looked at my lap, hoping to avoid too much conversation.
“Are anda a Dragon Drew?” Caro asked me, I guessed her hair was a bright color, because it looked almost white in my vision.
“No, I’m human,” I said, shocked faces spread on all of their faces, “Dragons don’t exist,”
“Of course they do, that’s why you’re in a Dragon camp,” Becca said, Jason slammed his head on the table.
“Becca, the boy’s human, he must’ve wandered in,” he muttered, Becca’s mouth turned into a O shape.
“Can we change the subject?” Will asked, “how about we play I spy,”
I have the worst luck ever. I scratched the back of my neck, something I do when I’m anxious, “Can we not? That game is for little kids,” I said, trying to avoid the question. They agreed, and I grabbed an apple.
“I guess anda like yellow apples? The Green ones are better!” Jason said, I put it back, and grabbed another one, this one was a darker shade of gray then the others. Luckily it was green, atau I think it was.
“So, this is why class was interrupted,” Jason looked at me, “I see why, we normally don’t get humans here,” He said, I nodded, and sat on my hands.
“How did anda get here?” Becca leaned on her fist, looking at me with mild interest, I noticed the different hue of each eye (I say hue instead of color, I can’t see color, so I use hue) it must’ve meant it was two different colors.
“You guys aren’t Dragons, this is probably some stupid club; I’m going to go back and live on the streets of New York atau something,” I said, Will raised an eyebrow, and grabbed a piece of roti on the table.
“What if I can prove it to you? That I am a Dragon,” He asked.
“I’ll believe anda of course,” I said.
Jason smirked, and everyone looked at Will, he looked nervous.
Then, a burst of api, kebakaran spewed out of his mouth, it was white (White is a hue of gray, as is black, so shut up) and I could feel the heat of it from where I was sitting, the roti turned to ash, and landed on the table.
I bit my lip don’t freak out don’t freak out.
“Okay, I believe you,” I said.
Before the conversation could carry further, Angelo came and put a hand on my shoulder. He smiled warmly at Will.
“Will, since anda and Jason are my best students, I’ve arranged for the spare bedroom in your cottage to be filled sejak young Drew here,” He said, I looked over, Jason smirked evilly,-remind me to lock the door- and Will looked shocked.
“But Sir-,”
“No Buts William,” Angelo said, “I want anda to be responsible for Drew, don’t let him wander off, and make sure he doesn’t get killed,”
“Killed?” I asked, but my komen went ignored as everyone started looking at each other silently. Like they were telepathic.
“Fine,” Will said, after a moment of utter silence. I felt odder than ever, if anything I felt like a outsider which I was. A human out of about hundreds of Dragons.
The walk back to the ‘cottage’ was long, and my legs hurt sejak the end of it. We walked sejak fields of rumput and lots of trees, with leaves all different shades of gray. It makes it really hard for me to respect the beauty of the world when I can’t see how beautiful it really is. Heck, I don’t even know what the color green is.
“So, our cottage is the red one at the end of the road, we painted it red because it normally where newbie’s stay, and we don’t want them getting lost,” Jason berkata plainly, he looked at me.
I looked around, the rows of houses was exactly the same, I couldn’t tell any difference, fortunately, the house I was living in was a slight darker shade. I hoped I’d remember which one it was.
“The red one, got it!” I said, I wondered what color the other houses were. I guessed they were all the same color. Probably gray.
“Recap,” Will started, “You showed up on a rowboat, you’re human, and anda won’t pierce my tongue with a stapler at night?” He asked, I was confused sejak the last bit.
“Yes, Yes, and No,” I said, he nodded. Will tossed me a key, probably to the house, “I don’t even understand the last question,”
“My fault,” Jason raised his hand, and unlocked the door. He pushed it open.
The cottage had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, and it was arranged in a cabin-like style. It could house 6, because bunk beds were pushed against the walls of each room. The Bathroom had 3 sinks, and 1 shower.
“It’s big,” I commented, for most of my life I slept in a hotel room in one katil with my father; in fact, most of my life has been either on a plane, hotel room, car, and even walking on the subway once. anda can see why I left. He never even told me why!
“And colorful,” Jason added, he smiled at me, I nodded trying to agree, atau look like I even knew what color was.
“Anyways,” Will said, “Only Jason and I live here, it’s mainly for newbies who aren’t old enough for actual homes, you’ll be staying here to I guess,” he continued, he pointed to a bed, “Sleep there,”
“Okay,” I lay down on the bed, my muscles ached, and the hari finally caught up to me.
I, Drew, was in a island that wasn’t even on a map, in the middle of nowhere with dragons.
And somehow, I was perfectly fine with it, I didn’t see anything wrong with Dragons, they were cool, amazing.
I closed my eyes, barely catching Will saying they needed to run tests on me tomorrow, I didn’t care at the moment, for now, I wanted to sleep.
If you've learnt British English and you're travelling in the States,or if you've learnt American English and you're travelling in Britain,you'll notice some differences.An obvious difference is the accent,but most travellers find that they don't have too many problems with this.There are some grammatical differences,but they shoudn't make it difficult to understand people,or to communicate.That leaves differences in vocabulary,which can cause misunderstandings.Sometimes the difference is only the spelling,for example,in British English 'center','colour',and 'travelled',and in American English 'centre','color',and 'traveled'.But sometimes the word is completely different in British and American English,and it's good idea to be prepared.