The Sixth Dragon Rider

Part 16

*A/N:  I think this song really describes Aura's relationship with Nirvana, not specifically in this chapter but just in general.  So give it a listen and tell me what you think.*  I don't know if everyone on computers can see the song so if you can't it's "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban*

"Just five more minutes..." Aura mumbled as the heavy form of Nirvana plopped down on top of her.

"Nope, not today!" Nirvana said cheerfully, "We have places to be, up, up, up!"

"Ughhhh, fine you obnoxious lizard.  What'd you do anyway, eat a barrel of sugar, no one should be this happy in the morning," Aura grumbled as she pulled herself up from under the covers of her bed.

"You know, if I didn't know you're always this grumpy when you get woken up early I would be really offended right now," Nirvana said, hopping off Aura's bed and onto her perch where she began cleaning herself.

Mumbling more indistinct words under her breath Aura got up and began to rifle through her wardrobe, "Why'd you get me up so early anyway.  I'm naturally an early riser, but even I'm not up this early."

"Well we are eating in the dining hall today right?  Because, if we are you need to be down there early so you can get some of the good food before it's taken," Nirvana replied.

"Yeah, we're eating in the dining hall again, I wasn't just making a statement.  Which reminds me, I need to tell the kitchens to stop sending up meals.  What do you mean by good food though?  There's only a couple of options," Aura said yanking her dress over her head and lacing up her boots.

Nirvana waited for her to finish and then began speaking again, "Nope, there's tons of stuff, you just got down there later all the times we went so you only saw what was left. But if you get there early you get your choice of just about anything you can imagine."

"Really?" Aura asked tying off her braid and picking up a piece of stationery.

"Yep, the other dragons were talking about one day.  Asked why you always have a meal sent up when you could pick whatever you want if you went to the dining hall.  They're actually pretty nice, although some seem kinda sad, that's mostly the really old ones though so maybe its an age thing?  I don't know, they're nothing like their riders anyway.  Are you ready yet?"

"Patience, I'm almost there," Aura said, placing her quill back in the ink pot.  Picking up the stationery she blew on it carefully to dry the ink before rolling it up and tying it to the leg of the messenger pigeon in her room.  She quickly whispered some directions to it and then opened the window and sent it out.  Beckoning to Nirvana she held out her arm, which the dragon quickly hopped onto before climbing up to sit on her shoulder.  Taking a quick look in the mirror Aura brushed herself off before stepping out the door to head to the dining hall.

"You ready?" Aura asked Nirvana as she stood outside the dining hall door.

"Are you ready?  You seemed so confident yesterday, channel some of that and let's go," Nirvana replied.

"I was on a high from putting Jerald in his place yesterday.  Today I'm beginning to think we should start changing the rules tomorrow," Aura said.

"Nope!  No time like the present," Nirvana said and pushed open the doors for Aura, giving her no choice but to walk inside or stand in the doorway and look stupid though.

There was no need for any more encouragement though, as soon as she saw the piles of food stacked high Aura stepped into the hall without second thought and walked up the the buffet of food.  Taking a plate she began walking down, picking what she liked out of the options.  Nirvana too hopped down from her shoulder and added her own selections to the plate, carefully picking through some fruit and inspecting it before placing it down.  At the end of the line Aura paused for a moment, her nervousness setting back in.  One of the cooks noticed and offered her a small smile and a nod of reassurance, giving Aura the confidence to turn around.  Securing her tray in her hands Aura took a breath and stepped out into the array of tables selecting one near the window that would give her a good view of where the sun was at so she could make sure she made it to class on time.  Just as she was starting to take her first bite though a dark shadow appeared over her.

"You're at our table," a boy's voice said above her.

"Okay," Aura responded simply and put her food into her mouth.

"So move." The boy demanded.

Annoyed Aura put down her fork and looked up at the boy for the first time, "Let's see, you're Baul right? From my year?  Well last I checked there are 12 seats at this table and I'm only in one so if you must insist on sitting here, then I'm sure you'll be able to fit, your ego might have to find another table though."

"Forget it boys, she's not worth the effort," the boy, Baul said to his friends who had been with him, before turning back to Aura and leaning down close to her, "This isn't over yet girl, this'll be our table yet, you hear me?  We'll get it back."

"I look forward to you trying," Aura responded with a smile, confusing Baul as he walked away with a puzzled look on his face to join his friends.  Satisfied with herslef Aura sat down and continued eating her breakfast, a small smirk on her face.

"Two take downs of overly arrogant me-, boys in two days, you were right Nirvana, no time like the present. I really am starting to feel like I can insert myself as the force I am here" Aura said happily as a shadow settled over her for the second time.

This time though the voice was friendly as it said, "That was great, what you said to Baul, he needed to be knocked down a few levels.  You mind if I sit?"

"Oh, hi Janson.  Yeah sure you can sit, if you don't mind being seen with me that is.  In fact if you want we can pretend you came over here to bother me, I wouldn't want to hurt your social status," Aura said, trying to protect her friend.

"What social status?" Janson asked, a joking look on his face.

"I'm serious, I consider you a friend and I don't want to do something that would hurt your image," Aura said.

"Well, I consider you a friend too.  And seriously don't worry, I don't have much of an image.  Well, not one worth protecting anyway.  Plus I'm already an outcast and I've had three years to prove myself, not that I care, I don't really want those guys to like me anyway.  Oh, sorry if I came off as over eager and kinda weird in the library, I just got so excited to actually meet you and your dragon, Helga did you say her name was?" Janson said as he plopped down next to her

"Yep," Aura said trying to hide her smile as Nirvana glared at her.

"Alright, well hello Aura, hello Helga," Janson said, taking a bite of his food.

"Hello, Janson," Aura said with a small smile, as she scooped up another forkful of food and began talking with her new friend.

A/N:  Hey readers!  Sorry I missed my second July update, I was on vacation for three of the four weeks so I didn't get a lot of writing time.  I am still on the two updates a month schedule though, I just missed one.  Anyway how are you guys liking Janson?  I know he was only in the end of the chapter, but I might have some plans for him... so comment how you like him and what you think those plans are.  Moving on I hope you all enjoyed this chapter because I had a lot of fun writing it.  Now I've got something I want you to do, if you've made it this far in the author's note (it's hard, I know) comment your favorite character and why you like them and I will give you a shout out in the next chapter!  That's all for today so as always I hope everyone enjoyed and I love every single one of you readers so much and I can't wait to see you guys in the next chapter!

Bye for now, Kat