Stealing The DragonDeleted Scene
Tori's Kidnapping
This scene was too cute not to keep, but too redundant to have in the actual story. I present Tori's Kidnapping in the marketplace after Jerney is enjoying his new jail accommodations: The market was bustling as usual and Tori happily displayed his returned gem. He thanked the kind baker who had given him some sweets the other day and the equally generous jewelry maker who had offered to make him a new necklace to replace the one that was lost. He spent most of the morning in the market, thanking people and looking through the stalls for something nice to add to his hoard. "Sir Dragon!" a voice called just as Tori was contemplating buying lunch. "May I have a word?" a man asked as he hurried up to Tori's side. "Okay," Tori said. "I just wanted to say how glad I am that you recovered your necklace," the man began. Tori had heard dozens of people tell him that, but he smiled happily at the man anyway. "I was wondering if you might want to know who took your gem in the first place," the man added. "Oh, I know who took it," Tori explained. "It was Jerney's sister." "Well," the man said, looking taken aback. "Would you like to go meet with Jerney?" Tori nodded. He wouldn't mind seeing Jerney again. "His shop is on the next street over," the man explained. "Follow me." Tori followed the man into a side alley. There was a gust of wind that sent Tori's hair flying into his face just as he walked into the alley, but when he cleared his eyes the man was still there. "I didn't know he owned a shop," Tori said as he followed the man out of the alley and into the neighboring street. "He doesn't like to advertise," the man explained as he led Tori to a modest storefront that had a small cutout of a potion bottle in the front window as the only indication of what goods the shop sold. Inside, the shop was clean and organized with the hundreds of bottles on the shelves neatly labeled. The man pulled aside a curtain in the back of the shop that led to a small sitting area and preparation room. "I'll go tell him you're here," the man said. "Would you like some tea?" Tori nodded as he sat at the small table and craned his neck to look around the room. Ingredients for all sorts of potions were neatly stacked on the shelves and a large cauldron was set up on a stand near the gigantic fireplace. The man moved to a pot of water hanging on a hook over the fire and quickly prepared Tori some tea before heading back out into the main store. Tori sipped the hot liquid slowly, wondering if Jerney would like to go get lunch with him. The man returned a few minutes later. "He just has to finish up a spell he's working on," the man explained. "Can I get you more tea?" he asked, gesturing to Tori's half empty cup. Tori shook his head and rubbed his eyes before taking another sip. "No, I'm going to get lunch soon anyway," he tried to explain, but his words were cut short by a wide yawn. He took another gulp of hot tea to try to wake himself up. It was awfully strange that he was suddenly so tired. It must be all those sleepless nights worrying about his hatching gem catching up with him. Tori didn't think Jerney would mind if he took a small nap while he waited. The dragon put his head down on his arms and closed his eyes. "You're going to help us get him back," Tori thought he heard the man say before sleep overcame him entirely. |