{10 Years Ago}

We begin deep in the mountains of West Kazahana. The region is almost always dressed in white from the constant snowfall. The villages and towns in the area don't see many visitors because of it, though the people here don’t mind that too much. It’s a very tranquil and peaceful place.

Above one village there is a giant mountain and there were people living inside. They had the appearance of strange humanoid creatures. One of them was a male, about six feet tall, with long hair, grayish red skin, and horns. His name was Jafar. The other was his granddaughter, smaller in size with red skin and horns as well.

Inside the cave the man is watching the girl stare at some firewood with her mouth opened. She focuses on the wood for a few seconds longer before the man yells...

“BREATHE!”

The girl loses her focus and falls back. She begins to breathe heavily.

“You must breathe when trying to excite the energy in the air Shula. If you don’t breathe, then even if you do somehow start a fire, you will lose control.”

“You aren’t making things easier Grandpa! Why are you staring at me like that, you know that makes me nervous!”

“I’m just trying to see if I have to start up the fire by hand again. From the looks of it I’m guessing I do.”

“I don’t get it, when I was little you used to always just breathe fire unto the firewood before dinner. Why can’t you anymore?”

“Because I’m old and the older us dragons get, the more likely we are to scorch our throats.”

“Scorch?”

“Yes. Our throats have a layer of skin inside that protects us from the heat of our flames. That skin wears down overtime and when it's gone, you say that your throat is scorched.”

“Isn’t there a way to control fire without breathing it?”

“There is but most of us don’t ever awaken that ability and I’m getting way too old to be trying stuff like that.”

Shula looks down at the ground and begins to grow a sad look on her face.

“It’s all my fault. I’m a horrible dragon.”

“No you’re not Lizard.”

“Yes I am! You even call me Lizard because I can’t fly!”

“Yea I know and it’s brilliant!”

Shula pouts.

“Look, I understand that you’re probably feeling inferior to me right now. I’m a cool grandpa and that’s hard to handle. However, that doesn’t make you any less of a dragon than me. I can’t breathe fire anymore but you don’t see me complaining.”

Shula continues to pout.

Jafar begins to scratch his head in search of ways to cheer Shula up or lighten the mood.

“Do you know that It’s going to be a new moon tonight?”

Shula looks up at her grandfather.

“All the more reason we needed that fire”

Jafar lets out a big sigh and continues.

“The cycle of the moon is much like the cycle of life; both go through many changes to end up back where they began. When the moon begins it’s cycle, It’s a bit hard to call it an actual moon, but with time at some point it becomes a full moon. Eventually, that full moon will become a new moon again, and the cycle will start anew.”

Shula’s pout is replaced with a look of confusion

‘At least she isn’t upset anymore’

Shula looks at the cave entrance

“I wanna see outside, maybe there are places where people will make the food for us so that we don’t have to worry about it.”

“Maybe, but we won't be seeing the outside world very soon.”

“Why not? You told me that the world is dangerous but you haven’t even given me the chance to find that out for myself!”

Jafar’s tone becomes stern

“No. End of discussion.”

Shula remains silent.

Jafar follows up…

“You’ll understand when your older.”

{Present Day}

A group of knights walk into the small village near the mountain. They march in and stop at the heart of the village. After a short moment one of the knights steps forward. He is an extremely tall one with a non la tied around his neck. He begins to speak.

“It has been brought to our attention that there may be suspicious spiritual activity in the caves nearby. Does anyone here know the cave that we are referring to and if so, may we please get directions?”

An elderly lady approaches the knight and points to one of the nearby mountains. There was smoke rising into the clouds from a cave in the mountain. The knight instantly understood and ordered his men to follow him up the mountain.

-------------------------------

Shula and Jafar are making dinner in their cave. Jafar pauses, then tells Shula to stop. He can hear the footsteps of many coming up the mountain. He realizes that their location has been made known and that him and Shula must relocate.

He looks at Shula and says...

“Hey Lizard, I’m going to ask you to do your grandpa one HUUUUGE favor for me okay? I need you to run as far away from here as you can right now. Don’t look back, I’ll be right behind you. This may seem sudden but I believe there are people here to hurt us, so let your cool grandpa handle this.”

Shula was confused but understood the situation

“Promise you’ll make your way down the mountain too.”

Jafar grinned from ear to ear.

“I promise. If I left you alone, then I wouldn’t be as cool anymore.”

-------------------------------

The knights huddle near the entrance of the gate.

The one with the non la begins to walk into the cave. He finds Jafar by himself.

“WOAH, IT’S A REAL DRAGON IN THE FLESH! NEVER THOUGHT I’D EVER SEE ONE IN MY LIFETIME!”

Jafar’s fist are clenched with rage

“You people are no better than Vladmir. All I wanted to do was live in peace but I guess I can’t do that huh.”

The knight ignores Jafar’s statement.

“Hey you should probably turn into your dragon form now, since I’m going to kill you and all. I’m not really an executioner or anything so I would prefer it if you fought back.”

Jafar scoffs

“I can accept that”

Jafar’s body begins to transform. His face lengthens, his size grows, his teeth and nails sharpen, his hair becomes a mane, and wings sprout from his back. He takes on the appearance of a gray four legged dragon. He lets out a loud roar that can be heard for miles and charges at the knight.

The knight puts his right hand on his blade before leaping in the air to intercept Jafar.

“I apologize, but I gotta show off so that whoever else was here knows that you’re dead and has fear placed in their heart. I noticed the amount of plates set up near your pot of food, there was another plate. My gut feelings are usually never wrong, so let’s see how long this person lasts.”

Outside the mountain Shula is running.

‘Please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.’

She turns to look at the mountain to check if he was able to slip out or not.

The mountain had been cleanly cut through.

Shula begins to cry as she runs south into the forest. She eventually finds an abandoned cabin hidden in the woods and cries herself to sleep there. She is devastated. Jafar was her only family, the only person she knew or loved. And now, she was alone.

Shula struggled for the next month. Trying to hunt on her own and prepare meals by herself proved to be extremely difficult.

She had begun to make her way south bit by bit, moving her camp when she got too far.

After about a month of living off the land, one night, she had smelled food. Delicious food. So she decided to follow the scent. After a while, she came across what seemed to be a busy town. She had many questions, but ultimately, her hunger was more important to satisfy.